They were not getting on their knees "to Benedict."
How do you know that for sure? Everyone had their reasons for doing that. Bowing to him was undoubtedly one of those reasons.
They were not getting on their knees "to Benedict."
Well, that was who was before them when they got down!
Must be like when you guys knee before images, it isn't the image being worshipped, it is who it represents that is being worshiped.
So Benedict 'represented' God?