I think we need to realize that just as we as 21st century citizens of mostly democratic nation-states don't really intuitively 'get' the whole 'natural order' of the aristocracy thing, we similarly don't intuitively understand the whole 'natural order' of religion thing either. Troop leaders may have the weight of [realm] law behind their troops, but a high ranked noble priest has the weight of God's Law [or equivalent] as well. Both are pretty important factors in premodern non-secular aristocratic societies.
