To what extent can the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church contribute to the

Protestant 16th century reformation?

The Protestant Reformation and the Sale of Indulgences

Stephanie Bautista

0120

Due Date

World Religion

Ms Ainsworth

Word Count; 3,999

Abstract
The 16th century Protestant Reformation occurred due to the Catholic Churchs
sale of indulgences, their corruption and sale of indulgences angered Europeans. Martin
Luther played a key role in the Protestant Reformation as he started the movement to
fight against the churchs actions, believing that indulgences contradicted Catholic
beliefs. The public began to encourage Luther allowing him to become a leader figure
who would establish the Protestant religion branch. A lot of the Reformation was made
up by the publics hatred of the sale of indulgences- this led to the question: to what
extent can the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church contribute to the
Protestant 16th century reformation?

The scope and methodology of the research was focused on Martin Luthers
Ninety-Five Theses which he released to voice his opinion on the wrongs of
indulgences. Martin Luthers published works gave an insight to his opinions and the
future foundation of the Protestant Reformation. Also, sources about the sales of
indulgences helped show what the sales purpose was, and what occurred to anger
Luther. Looking into what happened before the reformation, like Tetzels actions, also
gave an insight to what was going on within the religious community during the 16th
century.

Research helped show that the Reformation occurred due to the sale of
indulgences as it sparked a powerful rebellion again the Church. The sale of
indulgences gave insight to the corruption within the Catholic Church, and showed there
was a leader to follow with the same beliefs. Luther played a key role as he was able to
display to the public what was actually occurring, also, Luther was able to create a new
religious branch, Protestantism, which was made up of his beliefs. (284 words)
Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1

Components in the Protestant 16th century reformation ........................................ 2

Catholic Churchs Practices Leading up To the Reformation ................................ 5

Tetzels Influence ....................................................................................................... 7

Martin Luthers Ninety-Five Theses.......................................................................... 8

The Protestant Reformation ...................................................................................... 9

Analysis of the Selling of Indulgences Impact on the Reformation .................... 12

Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 14

Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 15
 1

Introduction

World religions is a subject that involves good and evil, but there are cases

where religious leaders or systems cause the evil and corruption to occur, causing

an uprising of disagreements to occur. The Protestant reformation is an event where

the Catholic Church, religious follower, and reformers fought for a changed

uncorrupt Catholic Church system. Eventually by the end of the reformation, a new

religious branch was created.1 Martin Luther decided to fight against the most

powerful religious institute during the 16th century, the Catholic Church, to fight for

his beliefs and desire to have a reformed religious system with a different structure

and belief than the Catholic Church. The 16th century Protestant Reformation and

Martin Luther are the primary reasons Protestantism was able to be successfully

established, and from this hundreds of different religions branched out of

Protestantism.2

From viewing how drastic the corruption and anger occurred during this event, it

then led to the research question of, to what extent can the sale of indulgences

by the Catholic Church contribute to the Protestant 16th century reformation?

This event in history is worthy to investigate due to the major impact it would have

on modern religion. The Protestant reformation demonstrates how a religion may

contradict itself by preaching the evils of sinning as they themselves are sinning.

While investigating this topic, the sale of indulgences which the Catholic Church

promoted to have an economical gain, and Martin Luthers ideas against the

1
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Protestantism,"
2
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Protestantism,"
 2

Catholic Church system followed by his strong anti-views overall caused the

Protestant reformation to flourish and be as successful.

Components in the Protestant 16th century reformation

The Protestant 16th century reformation main components include, Martin Luther,

indulgences, the Catholic Church, and reformers. Martin Luther, a German theologian,

was born in 1483, he brought on the Reformation by demanding changes in the

Catholic Church. 3 Luther overall wanted to avoid creating a new branch of religion and

desired to witness a change in the structure of the Catholic Church, not approving of the

methods in which he claimed there was an obvious corruption going on within the

church system. Eventually, Luthers ideas began to gain popular support throughout

Europe, causing a wide spread rebellion against the Catholic Church. The rebellion

would be called the Protestant 16th century reformation and would then create a new

religion branch called Protestantism. Before the reformation occurred, Luther was raised

as a Catholic in Germany which is why later he would join a Catholic monastery due to

a traumatic life crisis he experienced.4 Luther got caught in a thunderstorm on the way

home and lighting struck near him, this caused him to change his job path after his

prayers of survival to St. Anne were answered.5 When Luther was in the monastery he

began to have conflicting views towards the Catholic Church, but what supported his

view during this time was a biblical passage he read. In the biblical passage, Romans

1:17, he read For it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is

3
Marius, Richard. Martin Luther: The Christian Between God and Death. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
2004.
4
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Martin Luther,"
5
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Martin Luther,"
 3

written, they shall live by faith.6 He believed the Catholic Church was basing their

system off of indulgences and money, not by ones faith which the biblical passage

stated as vital in ones personal relationship with God. The biblical passage then

encouraged Luther to spread his views in hopes to change the way the Catholic Church

system was working, he published his ideas and proceeded to post them on Catholic

Church doors to spark an educational debate7, he did not expect his actions to be of a

major impact.

Indulgences during the 16 century were not only seen in the Catholic Church but

also in large institutions which pursued money.8 But, individuals began to criticize that a

church should not sell indulgences, it was wrong for a religious institute to go after

money. The Catholic Church allowed Catholics to buy indulgences if they had

committed a sin, the individual would then be cleaned from their sins so they could

enter heaven after death, making it seem as if salvation could easily be bought.9

Besides salvation, the Catholic Church also sold indulgences so a priest could recite a

certain mass that an individual wanted, to reformers this made a Catholic priest appear

as an entertainer that can easily be rented out. Luther believed that indulgences

evolved as an autonomous institution which was capable of reducing, or even

eliminating, temporal punishment for sin.10 By Luther believing this it contradicted the

Catholic Churchs belief that one must not sin because paying your sins away defied the

point of trying not to sin. Also, an individual buying their way to salvation was nowhere

6
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Martin Luther,"
7
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Martin Luther,"
8
Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2003), [Page 656].
9
Blackwell, Amy. "Counter-Reformation." In World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2001
10
Cassone, Alberto, and Carla Marchese. The Economics of Religious Indulgences.Journal of Institutional and
Theoretical Economics (JITE) 1999.
 4

faithful to God, Luther believed that buying salvation took purpose away from being

religious. Luther potentially gained this knowledge due to the Germans which

proclaimed that indulgences were frauds, a way to deceive the people, and those who

buy them were fools.11 The Catholic Church system follows the belief that ones

salvation is achieved through faiths and works12, if ones faith and personal relationship

with God is strained they can do activities, which the Catholic Church approves of to

gain their salvation, Luther did not agree with this belief.

The Catholic Church has held a strong impact in society throughout history,

claiming more than 1 billion followers worldwide.13 Within Europes history, the Catholic

Church was seen almost as powerful as a leader of a nation as the Church was a

respected institution. This is an example of what angered, yet motivated Catholics to go

against the Catholic Church system, as individuals began to question papal power

towards nonreligious aspects and the amount of power the Catholic Church system

holds. Within the Churchs structure, the Pope is vital because he is seen as the Vicar of

Christ, he is a symbol of the connection between the people and God, he was seen to

have more power than Apostles or subjects of Christ .14 This made the pope a powerful

figure in the Catholic Church system, he was seen as the leader of the Catholic

meaning he had the power to control and establish any actions of the Catholic Church.

11
Indulgences. 1853. Indulgences. The Catholic Layman 2 (13): 67.
12
Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, s.v. "Roman Catholic Church,"
13
Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, s.v. "Roman Catholic Church,"
14
Durant, Will. The Reformation. Vol. 6 of The Story of Civilization. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1957. [Page
412]
 5

The Protestant church is based off of various religious branches which held

protestants, known as individuals that protested against Church practices, overall the

Protestant church is described as, European religious people rebellions against

Catholicism15 Protestantism contradicted the Catholic Church as they believed that

ones relationship to God is justified by faith alone, not through the use of church-

approved activities, Salvation is only gained through ones faith and cannot be bought

from indulgences.16 Protestantism got rid of a strict church structure which the Catholic

Church was portraying, Protestantism believed that personal salvation was not achieved

from an institutional church but from an individuals one on one relationship with God,

this removed the act of the priest and Pope being a middleman between God and the

people.17 The Protestant church was a less strict version of the Catholic Church, as they

did not regulate any actions the followers which required to do, the church was more

lenient.

Catholic Churchs Practices Leading up to the Reformation

The Catholic Church became a powerful institution causing anger within

Catholics, they believed that a church should not hold the amount of power the Catholic

Church system was holding during this era. For example, European Catholics began to

question the amount of power the Pope held because the Pope began to involve himself

in non-religious problems. The Pope began to work with the Holy Roman emperor

15
Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, s.v. "Protestantism,
16
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Protestantism,"
17
Ekelund, Jr., Robert B., Robert F. Hbert, and Robert D. Tollison. 2002. An Economic Analysis of the Protestant
Reformation. Journal of Political Economy 110 (3). University of Chicago Press: 64671.
 6

against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire because the Ottoman Empire began to

invade territories in the east which was worrisome to the churchs power.18 People

began to question the Pope and the Churchs motive because it seemed as if the

Catholic Church had begun to focus on the non-religious aspect of Catholics lives, this

made Catholics fear how much power the church system could have. People began to

believe that the church should focus only on religious aspects and not involve

themselves in political matters, this sparked a rebellion. Another action of the Catholic

Church which was a main reason why the reformation occurred would be the way the

church system was working. The Catholic Church would find ways to have Catholics

pay a sum to the church system, an example of this would be that if a Catholic wanted

to hold a mass for a departed loved one, they had to pay a Priest a certain fee to have

them give a mass.19 The Catholic Church system continued to do non-church like

actions, even though mass groups of people began to express dislike. This gave an

opposing view to the way the Catholic Church was working because it seemed as if the

church system was now focused on financial value than spiritual, this sparked a

rebellion over the way the Catholic Church has shaped their system. Individuals began

to feel a mistrust with the power the church system was holding, they questioned if the

churchs motives were religious or only for monetary value. The mistrust individuals

began to feel would grow and eventually lead t the Protestant Reformation.

18
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Protestantism,"
19
Brian Pullan, "Catholics, Protestants, And The Poor In Early Modern Europe," Journal Of Interdisciplinary History
35.3 (2005): [Page 7], accessed January 5, 2016, Academic Search Premier.
 7

Tetzels Influence

John Tetzel was a Leipzig Dominican who in 1517 was sworn as a general sub

commissary for indulgence sales at a Magdeburg Church, this would be the beginning

of Tetzel and his indulgences impact on religion.20 Eventually Tetzel would face

criticizes for his actions in regards to indulgences, he would be pictures as ignorant and

immoral. Tetzel was in charge of the selling of indulgences, he was seen as the money-

raiser for the Catholic Church.21 Tetzel stated that a plenary indulgence could be offered

to those who had to confess there sins, while doing so they would contribute to the

building of St. Peters.22 The indulgence gave the option for a Catholic to not be

questioned of their sins or hold confession, his rules for indulgences went against the

Catholics norms. Luther knew of Tetzels actions and his gains for being the churchs

salesman, Tetzel was paid well, had board, transportation, and a servant. Others began

to view Tetzel negatively due to his personal gains from actions which contradicted what

the Catholic Churchs belief. But, Tetzel was not Luthers insight in the churchs use of

indulgences, Luther experienced them with the Wittenberg indulgences and in 1514

Luther started expressing his view against the use on indulgences for heaven.23 Luther

20
Brecht, Martin, and James L. Schaaf. Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation, 1483-1521. Minneapolis, MN:
Fortress Press, 1993. [Page 182]

21
Durant, Will. The Reformation. Vol. 6 of The Story of Civilization. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1957. [Page
411]
22
Durant, Will. The Reformation. Vol. 6 of The Story of Civilization. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1957. [Page
411]
23
Brecht, Martin, and James L. Schaaf. Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation, 1483-1521. Minneapolis, MN:
Fortress Press, 1993. [Page 185]
 8

told Tetzel on his death bed, August 1519, that he did not blame Tetzel for the

malpractice of indulgences, instead he explained that he viewed the Pope as the only

who was responsible for them. Tetzel influenced the Protestant Reformation due to his

popular speeches which caused the public to start forming opinions in regards to the

sale of indulgences. Tetzel would then influence Luthers belief that the Church was at

fault with indulgences, which would then start the rebellion against the church.

Martin Luthers Ninety-Five Theses

Before the 16th century Protestant reformation occurred, Martin Luther published

his ideas and claims for reformation against the Catholic Church in 1517, his book

would be called First Principles of Reformation or Ninety-Five These within this he

stated what actions were wrong of the Catholic Church and how the Church system

should work. From Luthers Ninety-Five theses many spoke of the evil of buying

indulgences. He stated in theses seventy-five that indulgences were not obligatory to

buy from the church, that even if one is cleaned from their sins, the thought of entering

heaven after committing numerous sins is outrageous.24 Martin Luther also spoke of

how buying an indulgences due to guilt of committing the sin, is a greater sin to believe

that one can be able to deify the rules that come with Catholicism. Martin Luther stated

in a thesis that buying an indulgence makes one appear as an enemy of God, this

sparked fear in Europeans because they believed they were committing an act of wrong

to God, their purchases may negatively affect their salvation.

24
Luther, Wage, and Buchheim, First Principles of the Reformation, [Page 11].
 9

In the Ninety-Five theses, Luther also shed more light on the topic of

indulgences, theses forty-five stated how a Christian buying an indulgence is not only

buying away his sins, but they are also buying the anger of God. This continued

sparking fear into Europeans by making them repent their actions of buying

indulgences, Luther wanted Catholics to realize the wrongdoings the Catholic church

was doing by selling something that would anger God. The theses Luther wrote,

constantly spoke of how indulgences were an act of crime against God, he was trying to

make a statement about how indulgences were evil and that there should be a change

in the church system because they are no longer being faithful to the religion. This helps

support how indulgences in fact were the cause of the reformation because Luther

spoke the truth of indulgences by exposing the church as they were taking advantages

of the people and that indulgences were not religious at all. This would motivate Europe

to start a change in the church system and rebel against the actions of the Catholic

Church. Indulgences angered Catholics enough, but once Luther spoke of how

indulgences were evil to God, this made people fear of the possibility of never going to

heaven due to the major sin they were committing by purchasing indulgences. Martin

Luthers Ninety-five theses revealed the wrongdoings of the Catholic Church, and the

wrongdoings of the Catholic society who were committing more crimes of evil, without

this there would not have been a major push of rebellion against the Catholic Church

and a change in lifestyle to Catholics.

The Protestant Reformation

After the release and success of Martin Luthers First Principle of Reformation:

Ninety-Five Theses the Protestant Reformation was successfully spreading throughout

 10

Europe rapidly. Europeans understood the wrong of the Catholic Churchs actions

pushing them to fight for change. Martin Luther originally did not want this reformation to

create a new reformation, but Europeans began to follow Luthers ideals more than the

Catholic Churchs distancing themselves from their past religion. Luther, along with

John Calvin who also advocated for change within the Catholic Church, got more

support throughout Europe due to the 15th century printing press, the printing press

during the 16th century helped spread their ideas across Europe allowing all economy

classes to read their ideas.25 The success of the Protestant views being spread across

Europe was now being seen by the Catholic Church, Poland began to show interest in

allowing mass to be said in Polish, which at the time Catholic mass was only allowed to

be said in Latin, and to allow priests to marry. France, Scotland, and England also

began to go towards Protestantism instead of Catholicism26 this showed that the

Protestant reformation was spreading all throughout Europe. Due to the widespread of

change that was now occurring within churches in Europe, the Catholic Church became

worrisome over Luthers success with his Ninety-Five Theses, Luther was creating a

revolution.

Even while the reformation began in Europe, the Catholic Church continued their

actions of economic gain through the people, they did not stop selling indulgences or

other forms of payment towards the church while Luthers ideals spread and the public

displayed their want of change, Poland is an example of this. The Poland public

displayed their desire of change by openly discouraging the selling of indulgences, and

25
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Protestantism,"
26
Blackwell, Amy. "Counter-Reformation." In World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2001
 11

to demonstrate their separation of the Catholic Church they began to petition to allow

Priests to marry which was not allowed in the Catholic church.27 Throughout time more

individuals began to follow this reformation because Luther had used evidence to

support his new ideas, Luther used biblical passages to support his ideas of a new way

the church should be, this than began the formation of Lutheran Protestant churches

that specifically followed Luthers views due to the fact that the Catholic Church did not

change from the reformation.28 The Catholic Church did not change their structure nor

views, failing Luthers original plan of creating a new reformed Catholic Church. This did

not become a problem to those who participated in the reformation, instead new

modern ideals churches were established across Europe making the Catholic Church

lose their followers quickly.

The Protestant reformation continued even as the Catholic Church was trying to

attack Protestant leaders and reformers. The Catholic Church began to lose their

source of power in Europe as more people began to become Protestant reformers,

showing the Catholic methods of suppress failed. Once the Protestant Reformation

officially ended, alongside Catholicism a new religious branch was added,

Protestantism. Within Protestantism there are other religions that branch out of the core

Protestant belief and the main groups that were created after the reformation now make

up the Modern Protestant belief. The main religious groups that were established after

the reformation are Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists, and Anglicans.29 The Protestant

Reformation was successful and now had an official institution where their views were

27
Blackwell, Amy. "Counter-Reformation." In World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2001
28
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Protestantism,"
29
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Protestantism,"
 12

now permitted and worshipped. Martin Luther was able to successfully spread his ideas

throughout Europe and gain such a mass following that he was able to create a new

religion branch, which to this day still prospers.

Analysis of the Selling of Indulgences Impact on the Reformation

One of the principal reasons why the 16th century Protestant Reformation began

would be the selling of indulgences in the Catholic Church. In history there has been

reformations against the Catholic Churchs corruption, but none were as successful as

Luthers Protestant Reformation due to his success in finding evidence and tactics, like

biblical passages, to encourage the public to go against the church system.30 Selling of

indulgences is what originally sparked the reformation, it is the reason of the separation

of the Catholic Church and reformers which will form a new religious branch. The sale of

indulgences in the Catholic Church system was the main role that encouraged

competition and caused tension between the religions31, it is what motivated Protestant

leaders to speak out about what they felt was wrong in the church system, like the

excess amount of clergy and the luxurious living that the clergy and bishops were

getting from the church32, this is what angered the general public giving the Protestant

leaders a reformer following.

30
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Martin Luther,"
31
Ekelund, Jr., Robert B., Robert F. Hbert, and Robert D. Tollison. 2002. An Economic Analysis of the Protestant
Reformation. Journal of Political Economy 110 (3). University of Chicago Press: 64671.
32
Blackwell, Amy. "Counter-Reformation." In World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2001
 13

Martin Luther was able to use biblical evidence to show the evil of indulgences

because he believes it was a part of the widespread corruption and incorrect religious

belief that the Catholic Church was doing before and during the 16th era. By Martin

Luther and other Protestant leaders stating that the buying of indulgences was actually

sinning towards God, and it was offensive to God to believe that someone other than

himself had the ultimate power to salvage souls on earth. This sparked fear in Catholic

Europeans, making them repent their past actions which could now affect their

redemption. Also, another factor of how the selling indulgences affected the reformation

would be that during this time period not many Europeans had a high-quality education

allowing them to learn the Latin language and not many Europeans could afford the

high fees that came up with indulgences or other corrupt methods of the church. 33 Many

European Catholics could not read the bible due to the Vatican only publishing in it

Latin, and many couldnt afford the fees the church demanded, this motivated

Europeans to move and become a part of a new religious movement in which they

could afford and fully participate in. Also, the reformation could have been due to the

Churchs excess of fundraising causing a clash with faith. A reoccurring problem society

had with the Catholic Church was that the use of indulgences to collect money for the

churchs own personal gain does not correlate with their faith, they viewed it as sinful to

indulge in deceiving actions. The people viewed it unethical of the church to manipulate

the public, this caused the rebellion and later formation of a church that would abide by

their faith.

33
Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2003), [Page 694].
 14

Conclusion

The 16th century Protestant reformation was a rebellious event against the Catholic

Church commenced by Martin Luther to change the way the Catholic Church system

worked. Reformers hoped to end the corruption within the church and to see the church

system change, all this began by Luther expressing his ideas to the public, and as a

result a new religious branch was eventually formed. To a major extent the sale of

indulgences did contribute to the Protestant Reformation, research helped prove that

most of the reformation was provoked by Luthers opinions on indulgences stating the

evil that came from buying an indulgence from the church. Luthers published theses

primarily spoke of indulgences and how the Catholic Churchs sale of them contradicted

verses found in the bible.

Also, the discussion about the sale of indulgences is what brought to light the

corrupt nature of the church system, it is what overall sparked the rebellion to occur,

then forming the reformation. Tetzels speeches began to bring light into what the

Church was doing, although he was pro-indulgences, he would then help shape

Luthers thoughts. Although the actions of the Catholic Church did contribute to the

reformation, like their focus on political issues, the sale of indulgences is what sparked

individuals to act out against the church. The selling of indulgences became a base of

the Protestant Reformation, giving Europeans the encouragement to act against a

church structure, which during the 16th century held great power and influence in

society.
 15

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