762 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
chests were often distributed to two or three parties, one of whom was apt to be the representative of the bankers.
Among the more famous indulgences for the building of German churches were those for the construction of a tower in Vienna, 1514, for the rebuilding of the Cathedral of Constance, which had suffered great damage from fire, 1511, the building of the Dominican church in Augsburg, 1514, the restoration of the Cathedral of Treves, 1515, and the building of St. Annaberg church, 1517, in which Duke George of Saxony was much interested. One-half of the moneys received for these constructions went to Rome. In most of these cases, the Fuggers acted as agents to hold the keys of the chest and transmit the moneys to the papal exchequer. The sees of Constance, Chur, Augsburg and Strassburg were assigned as the territory in which indulgences might be sold for the cathedral in Constance. No less than four bulls of indulgence were issued in 1515 for the benefit of Treves, including one for those who visited the holy coat which was found 1512 and was to be exhibited every 7 years. ^
Among the noted hospitals to which indulgences were issued — that is, the right to secure funds by their sale — were hospitals in Niirnberg, 1515, Strassburg, 1518 and S. Spirito, Rome, 1516.
Both of the churches in Wittenberg were granted indulgences and a special indulgence was issued for the reliquarymuseum which the elector Frederick had collected. An indulgence of 100 days was attached to each of the 5,005 specimens and another 100 to each of the 8 passages between the cases that held them. With the 8,133 relics at Halle and the 42 entire bodies, millions and billions of days of indulgence were associated, a sort of anticipation of the geologic periods moderns demand. To be more accurate, these relics were good for pardons covering 39,245,120 years and 220 days and the still further period of 6,540,000 quarantines, each of 40 days.
In Rome, the residence of the supreme pontiffs, as we might well have expected, the offer of indulgences was the most copi-
1 Treves also boasted of a nail of the cross, the half part of St. Peter's staff and St. Helena's skull.
§ 80. THE SALE OF INDULGENCES. 763
ous, almost as copious as the drops on a rainy day. According to the Niirnberger relic-collector, Nicolas Muffel, every time the skulls of the Apostles were shown or the handkerchief of St. Veronica, the Romans who were present received a pardon of 7,000 days, other Italians 10,000 and foreigners 14,000. In fact, the grace of the ecclesiastical authorities was practically boundless. Not only did the living seek indulgences, but even the dying stipulated in their wills that a representative should go to Assisi or Rome or other places to secure for their souls the benefit of the indulgences offered there.
Prayers also had remarkable offers of grace attached to them. According to the penitential book, The SouVs Joy^ the worshipper offering its prayers to Mary received 11,000 years indulgence and some prayers, if offered, freed 15 souls from purgatory and as many earthly sinners from their sins. It professed to give one of Alexander VI. 's decrees, according to which prayer made three times to St. Anna secured 1,000 years indulgence for mortal sins and 20,000 for venial. The SouVs Garden claimed that one of Julius II. 's indulgences granted 80,000 years to those who would pray a prayer to the Virgin which the book gave. No wonder Siebert, a Roman Catholic writer, is forced to say that " the whole atmosphere of the later Middle Ages was soaked with the indulgence-passion." ^
An indulgence issued by Alexander VI., in 1502, was designed to secure aid for the knights of the Teutonic Order against the Russians. The latter was renewed by Julius II. and Cologne, Treves, Mainz, Bremen, Bamberg and other sees were assigned as the territory. Much money was collected, the papal treasury receiving one-third of the returns. The preaching continued till 1510 and Tetzel took a prominent part in the campaign. ^
It remains to speak of the most important of all of the indulgences, the indulgence for the construction of St. Peter's in Rome. This interest was pushed by two notable popes, Julius II. and Leo X., and called forth the protest of Luther, which shook the power of the papacy to its foundations. It
^ Beliqrdenverehrung, pp. 33 sq., 60 sq.
2 A full account in Paulus, Tetzel, pp. 6-23.