History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume I Part 23

This grand affair produced a lively sensation in the quiet cities of Germany.

[294] "Mit weissen Staeblein." (Instructions of the Archbishop of Mentz to the Sub-commissaries of Indulgence, etc. Art. 8.)

At these sales one personage in particular drew the attention of the spectators. It was he who carried the great red cross, and played the princ.i.p.al character. He was clothed in the dress of a Dominican, and had an arrogant air. His voice was Stentorian, and though in his sixty-third year,[295] he seemed still in full vigour. This man, the son of one Diez, a jeweller of Leipsic, was called John Diezel, or Tezel. He had studied in his native town, became bachelor in 1487, and two years after entered the Dominican order. Numerous honours had acc.u.mulated on his head. Bachelor in theology, prior of the dominicans, apostolic commissary, inquisitor, _haereticae pravitatis inquisitor_, he had discharged the office of commissary of indulgences, without intermission, from 1502. The skill which he had acquired as subaltern soon raised him to the office of commissary-in-chief.

He had eighty florins a month, and all his expences paid, together with a carriage and three horses; but his perquisites (it is easy to comprehend what they were) far exceeded his salary. In 1507 at Freiberg he gained two thousand florins in two days. If he discharged the functions, he had also the manners of a quack. Convicted of adultery and shameful misconduct at Inspruck, his vices had almost cost him his life. The Emperor Maximilian had ordered him to be put into a sack and thrown into the river; but the Elector Frederick happening to arrive, obtained his pardon.[296] The lesson which he thus received had not given him more modesty; for he had two of his children along with him.

[295] "Ingenio ferox, et corpore robustus." (Cochl. 5.) In mind fierce, and in body robust.

[296] "Welchen Churfurst Freiderich vom Sack, zu Inspruck erbeten hatte." (Mathes. 10.)

Milt.i.tz, the pope's legate, mentions the fact in one of his letters.[297] It would have been difficult to find in all the cloisters of Germany a man better fitted for the traffic with which he was entrusted. To the theology of a monk, to the zeal and temper of an inquisitor, he united the greatest effrontery; but the thing which, above all, made the task easy to him, was his skill in inventing extraordinary stories to captivate the minds of the people. To him all means were good that filled his coffers. Raising his voice, and giving free vent to his vulgar eloquence, he offered his indulgences to every comer, and knew better than any dealer at a fair how to set off his merchandise.[298]

[297] Luth. Op. (W.) xv, 862.

[298] "Circ.u.mferuntur venales indulgentiae in his regionibus a Tecelio Dominicano impudentissimo sycophanta." (Melancth. Vita Luth.) Indulgences for sale are carried about by the Dominican Tezel, a most impudent sycophant.

After the cross was erected, and the arms of the pope suspended over it, Tezel mounted the pulpit, and with a tone of a.s.surance began to extol the value of the indulgences in presence of the crowd who had been attracted to the church by the ceremony. The people listened and stared on hearing the wondrous virtues of which he told them. A Jesuit historian, speaking of the Dominicans with whom Tezel was a.s.sociated, says, "Some of these preachers failed not, as usual, to outrage the subject which they treated, and so to exaggerate the value of the indulgences as to make people suppose they were certain of their own salvation, and of the deliverance of souls from purgatory as soon as the money was paid."[299] If such were the scholars, we may judge what the master was. Let us listen to one of his harangues after setting up the cross.

[299] Hist. du Lutheranisme par le P. Maimbourg, de la Compagnie du Jesus, 1681, p. 21.

"Indulgences are the most precious and most sublime gift of G.o.d.

"This cross (pointing to the red cross) has the very same efficacy as the actual cross of Jesus Christ.[300]

[300] Luth. Op. (W.) xxii, p. 1393.

"Come, and I will give you letters under seal, by which even the sins which you may have a desire to commit in future will all be forgiven.

"I would not exchange my privileges for that of St. Peter in heaven; for I have saved more souls by my indulgences than the apostle by his sermons.

"There is no sin too great for an indulgence to remit; and even should any one (the thing, no doubt, is impossible) have done violence to the Holy Virgin Mary, mother of G.o.d, let him pay, let him only pay well, and it will be forgiven him.[301]

[301] Tezel defends and reiterates this a.s.sertion in his Anti-Theses published the same year. (Th. 99, 100, and 101.) "Sub-commissariis in super ac praedicatoribus veniarum imponere, ut si quis per impossibile Dei Genitricem semper Virginem viola.s.set, quod eumdem indulgentiarum vigore absolvere possent, luce clarius est." (Positiones fratris J.

Tezelii quibus defendit indulgentias contra Lutherum.) Moreover, to enjoin the sub-commissaries and preachers of pardon, that if any one should, by impossibility, have violated the Mother of G.o.d, always Virgin, they could absolve him in virtue of indulgences, is clearer than day.

"Think, then, that for each mortal sin you must, after confession and contrition, do penance for seven years, either in this life or in purgatory. Now, how many mortal sins are committed in one day, in one week? How many in a month, a year, a whole life?[302] Ah! these sins are almost innumerable, and innumerable sufferings must be endured for them in purgatory. And now, by means of these letters of indulgence, you can at once, for life, in all cases except four, which are reserved to the Apostolic See, and afterwards at the hour of death, obtain a full remission of all your pains and all your sins."

[302] "Quot peccata mortalia committuntur in die...." (Loscher's Reformations, Acten i, p. 418.) How many mortal sins are committed in a day?

Tezel even made financial calculations on the subject.

"Do you not know," said he, "that when a man proposes to go to Rome, or to any other country where travellers are exposed to danger, he sends his money to the bank, and for every five hundred florins that he means to have, gives five, or six at most, in order that, by means of letters from the bank, he may receive the money safely at Rome or elsewhere.... And, you, for the fourth of a florin, will not receive these letters of indulgence, by means of which you might introduce into the land of paradise, not worthless money, but a divine and immortal soul, without exposing it to the smallest risk."[303]

[303] "Si contingat aliquem ire Romam, vel ad alias periculosas partes, mitt.i.t pecunias suas in banco, et ille pro quolibet centum dat quinque aut s.e.x aut decem...." (Ibid.)

Tezel next pa.s.sed to another subject.

"But more than this," said he; "indulgences not only save the living: they also save the dead.

"For this repentance is not even necessary.

"Priest! n.o.ble! merchant! wife! young girls! young men! hear your departed parents and your other friends, crying to you from the bottom of the abyss, 'We are enduring horrible torments! A little alms would deliver us; you can give it, and yet will not!'"

These words, uttered by the formidable voice of the charlatan monk, made his hearers shudder.

"At the very instant," continued Tezel, "when the piece of money c.h.i.n.ks on the bottom of the strong box, the soul comes out of purgatory, and, set free, flies upward into heaven."[304]

[304] Theses, 56. (Positiones fratris J. Tezelii quibus defendit indulgentias contra Lutherum.)

"O imbecile and brutish people, who perceive not the grace which is so richly offered to you!... Now heaven is everywhere open!... Do you refuse at this hour to enter? When, then, will you enter? Now you can ransom so many souls! Hard-hearted and thoughtless man, with twelve pence you can deliver your father out of purgatory, and you are ungrateful enough not to save him! I will be justified on the day of judgment, but you, you will be punished so much the more severely, for having neglected so great salvation. I declare to you, that though you had only a single coat, you would be bound to take it off and sell it, in order to obtain this grace.... The Lord our G.o.d is no longer G.o.d. He has committed all power to the pope."

Then, trying to avail himself of other weapons still, he added, "Know you why our most holy Lord is distributing so great a grace? His object is to raise up the ruined church of St. Peter and St. Paul, so that it may not have its equal in the universe. That church contains the bodies of the holy apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and of a mult.i.tude of martyrs. Owing to the actual state of the building, these holy bodies are now, alas! beaten, flooded, soiled, dishonoured, and reduced to rottenness, by the rain and the hail.... Ah! are these sacred ashes to remain longer in mud and disgrace?"[305]

[305] Instruction of the Archbishop of Mentz, etc.

This picture failed not to make an impression on many who felt a burning desire to go to the help of poor Leo X, who had not wherewith to shelter the bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul from the rain.

Then the orator opened on the arguers and traitors who opposed his work. "I declare them excommunicated," exclaimed he.

Afterwards addressing docile souls, and making a profane use of Scripture, "Happy are the eyes which see what you see; for I tell you, that many prophets and many kings have desired to see the things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things which you hear, and have not heard them." And at last, showing the strong box in which the money was received, he usually concluded his pathetic discourse with this triple appeal to the people, "Bring! bring!

bring!" "These words," says Luther, "he uttered with such horrible bellowing, that one might have thought it was a mad bull making a rush at people, and striking them with his horns."[306] When his discourse was ended, he came down from the pulpit, ran towards the chest, and in presence of the people chucked a piece of money into it, taking care to make it give a very loud tinkle.[307]

[306] Resolut. on Theses, 32.

[307] Tenztel, Reformationsgesch; Myconii, Ref. Hist.; Instruction of the Archbishop of Mentz, etc.; Luther's Theses.

Such were the discourses which astonished Germany, heard in the days when G.o.d was preparing Luther.

At the termination of the discourse, the indulgence was understood "to have established its throne in the place in due form." Confessionals were set up adorned with the pope's arms. The sub-commissaries, and the confessors whom they selected, were considered to represent the apostolical penitentiaries of Rome at the jubilee, and on each of these confessionals were posted, in large characters, their names, surnames, and designations.

Then a crowd pressed forward to the confessor, each coming with a piece of money in his hand. Men, women, and children, the poor, even those who lived on alms, all found means of procuring money. The penitentiaries, after having anew explained the greatness of the indulgence to each individual, asked, "How much money can you afford to part with, in order to obtain so complete a forgiveness?" "This question," says the Instruction of the Archbishop of Mentz to the commissaries; "this question ought to be put at this moment, that the penitents may thereby be the better disposed to contribute."[308]

[308] Instruction, etc., 5, 69.

Four valuable graces were promised to those who aided in building the basilisk of St. Peter. "The first grace which we announce to you,"

said the commissaries, according to their Letter of Instruction, "is the complete pardon of all sins."[309] After this came three other graces,--_first_, the right of choosing a confessor, who, whenever the hour of death should seem to be at hand, would give absolution from all sins, and even from the greatest crimes reserved for the Apostolic See;[310] _second_, a partic.i.p.ation in all the blessings, works, and merits of the Catholic Church, in prayers, fastings, alms, and pilgrimages; and, _third_, the redemption of the souls which are in purgatory.[311]

[309] Ibid., 19.

[310] Ibid., 30.

[311] Ibid., 35.

To obtain the first of these graces, it was necessary to have contrition of heart and confession of the lips, or, at least, the intention of confessing. But for the three others, they could be obtained without contrition or confession, merely by paying. Previous to this, Christopher Columbus, extolling the value of gold, had said quite gravely, "He who possesses it may introduce souls into paradise." Such was the doctrine taught by the Archbishop-Cardinal of Mentz, and the commissaries of the pope. "As to those," said they, "who would deliver souls from purgatory, and procure for them pardon of all their offences, let them throw money into the chest. It is not necessary for them to have contrition of the heart or confession of the lips.[312] Let them only hasten with their money; for they will thus do a work most useful to the souls of the departed, and to the erection of the Church of St. Peter." Greater blessings could not be offered at a cheaper rate.

[312] "Auch ist nicht nothig da.s.s sie in dem Herzen zerknirscht sind, und mit dem Mund gebeichtet haben." (Ibid., 38.).

When the confession was over, and it did not take long, the faithful hastened towards the seller. One only had charge of the sale, and kept his counter near the cross. He carefully eyed those who approached him, examining their air, bearing, and dress, and asked a sum proportioned to the appearance which each presented. Kings, queens, princes, archbishops, bishops, were, according to the regulation, to pay twenty-five ducats for an ordinary indulgence. Abbots, counts, and barons, paid ten. Others of the n.o.bility, rectors, and all who had an income of five hundred florins, paid six. Those who had two hundred florins a-year paid one; others, only a half. Moreover, when the tax could not be followed to the letter, full powers were given to the commissary-apostolic, who was to arrange everything in accordance with the dictates of "sound reason," and the generosity of the donor.[313]

For particular sins, Tezel had a particular tax. Polygamy paid six ducats; theft in a church, and perjury, nine ducats; murder, eight ducats; magic, two ducats. Samson, who carried on the same traffic in Switzerland as Tezel in Germany, had a somewhat different tax. For infanticide he charged four livres _tournois_; for parricide or fratricide, a ducat.[314]