#Vatican was kind of a wild west back then and in the end it's within Pope's power to grant these titles however he sees fit

[canisalbus]

Almost forgot to look at the tags in that Giordano post, I'm glad that Cardinals being higher than Archbishops was something you mentioned, and that I was remem that fact correctly :). And I love that Machete surpasses someone who thought him to be a "good for nothing". Go white boy go!

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#that sure pissed off that old man Giordano #didn't see that one coming #becoming a bishop is a very big deal #archbishop is an extra prestigious bishop that leads a particularly important diocese #and above both are cardinals #you usually have to be a bishop first to become one but it hasn't always been strictly mandatory there's lots of rules and exceptions #I think Machete is a bishop but largely in name only #in practice he kind of shortcutted from being a priest to a cardinal with very little bishophood in between #Vatican was kind of a wild west back then and in the end it's within Pope's power to grant these titles however he sees fit #and Machete was Pope's trusted personal assistant for years #moreover if you compare church ranks to secular royalty/nobility cardinals are equal to princes #so when you look at the power dynamics they're only second to pope as well as actual kings and queens #at least that's the case in Machete and Vasco's times I'm not sure about the present day #Vasco is a count so he's actually significantly lower in the hierarchy despite being blue-blooded #but neither of them have really internalized that #when they met Vasco came from a rich family and Machete was a no-name social climber #answered #anonymous