Almost overnight, word spread throughout Osnabrück that Archbishop Friedrich had been arrested by the Holy See.
Before long, vast numbers of pamphlets appeared from nowhere—twenty or thirty thousand copies in all.
They described in detail how Friedrich, a Protestant, had bribed the Vienna authorities to seize control of the Diocese of Osnabrück; how he had then oppressed Catholic clerics, amassed wealth like a madman, kept eight mistresses at once, and so on.
Naturally, the pamphlets had been printed overnight by Security Bureau agents. As for their contents, weren't such juicy scandals already flying everywhere among the nobility? All they had to do was pick up a few rumors and embellish them.
That very afternoon, angry speakers appeared in the streets, denouncing the "heretic" Friedrich for his criminal desecration of the sacred Diocese of Osnabrück.
By their account, every believer in the entire diocese might have had their soul tainted by heresy and thus be unable to enter heaven after death.
This organized propaganda spread with astonishing speed, and the people of the entire city began to seethe with rage.
By the following morning, more than a thousand people had gathered before Osnabrück Cathedral, chanting slogans demanding Friedrich's severe punishment.
Many clerics took the opportunity to join their ranks, leading the people in religious rites—under Friedrich's rule, respectable Catholic clerics like them had found it difficult to advance. How could they possibly pass up the chance to kick a man when he was down?
Friedrich never showed himself, leading his confidants and the city's Public Security Squad to believe the rumors were true. They therefore did not dare use force to disperse the demonstrators.
Then, with the support of Security Bureau agents, a fairly influential Catholic cleric led people into the cathedral, drove out the clerics loyal to Friedrich, and announced