The idea was that there existed a `treasury of merit’ (also known as the ‘treasury of the Church’) built up by the sacrifice of Christ, the acts of the saints, the selflessness of the Virgin Mary, and the commitment of the martyrs, that one could draw upon for one’s own benefit in times of need. IndulgencesĪn indulgence (meaning “to be indulgent of” or “kind to” a sinner) was originally a sort of “letter of recommendation” – someone of spiritual merit was vouching for another who had fallen short of their commitment to Christ and His Church. This initial understanding of the indulgence seems to have changed by c. The indulgence was not a “get out of sin free” card but a writ assuring one of forgiveness of sin if one was truly sorry and would do penance. The indulgence was never originally intended to be any kind of scam or money-making venture and, according to some scholars, Tetzel was only preaching Church doctrine regarding a penitent believer’s willingness to make amends for some wrongdoing. Johann Daniel Lebrecht Franz Wagner (Public Domain) From this you could redeem us with small alms and yet you do not want to do so.” Why are you then standing there? Run for the salvation of your souls!ĭon’t you hear the voices of your wailing dead parents and others who say, “Have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me, because we are in severe punishment and pain.

Scholar Carter Lindberg includes a sample sermon by Tetzel in his work in which the preacher plays on the fear and guilt of his audience:īehold, you are on the raging sea of this world in storm and danger, not knowing if you will safely reach the harbor of salvation…You should know that all who confess and in penance put alms into the coffer will obtain complete remission of all their sins.

These sermons often emphasized the suffering of those in purgatory and the small sacrifice asked of the living to provide them comfort and help them move on toward heaven. In this position, he traveled throughout the region, arriving with great fanfare in towns and cities, preaching powerful sermons to crowds on the merits of indulgences and encouraging their purchase. The first record of Tetzel as a preacher of indulgences and salesman is in 1503 and, by 1509, he was the indulgence commissary in Strasbourg.

One of the first writs produced by Gutenberg was indulgences for the Church which were then sold in greater volume than before. 1398-1468), allowed for mass production of printed material. Indulgences – writs purchased for the forgiveness of sins for oneself or another to lessen time in purgatory - had once been handwritten slips before the printing press, invented by Johannes Gutenberg (l.c. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and pushed the sale of indulgences as a means to this end. 1516, Pope Leo X needed money to help rebuild St. Tetzel was a popular preacher early in his career and respected highly enough to receive notice from the pope. 1483-1546) wrote his 95 Theses protesting the sale of indulgences generally and Tetzel’s methods specifically, thereby challenging the authority of the Catholic Church. 1465-1519) was a Dominican Friar who became famous as one of the most effective indulgence salesmen and who inadvertently inspired the Protestant Reformation when Martin Luther (l.

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