764 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
seems paradoxical that the chief monument of Christian architecture should have been built in part out of the proceeds of the scandalous traffic in absolutions.
On April 18, 1506, soon after the laying of the corner-stone of St. Peter's, Julius II. issued a bull promising indulgence to those who would contribute to its construction, fabrica, as it was called. Eighteen months later, Nov. 4, ir)07, he commissioned Jerome of Torniello, a Franciscan Observant, to oversee the preaching of the bull in the so-called 25 Cismontane provinces, which included Northern Italy, Austria, Bohemia and Poland. By a later decree Switzerland was added.i Germany was not included and probably for the reason that a number of indulgence bulls were already in force in most of its territory. A special rescript appointed Warham, archbishop of Canterbury, as chief overseer of the business in England. At Julius' death, the matter was taken up by Leo X. and pushed.
The preaching of indulgences in Germany for the advantage of St. Peter's began in the pontificate of Leo X. and is closely associated with the elevation of Albrecht of Hohenzollern to the sees of Mainz, Magdeburg and Ilalberstadt. Albrecht, a brother of Joachim, elector of Brandenburg, was chosen in 1513 to the archbishopric of Magdeburg and the bishopric of Ilalberstadt. The objections on the ground of his age and the combination of two sees — a thing, however, which was true of Albrecht's predecessor — were set aside by Leo X., after listening to the arguments made by the German embassies.
In 1514, Albrecht was further honored by being elected archbishop of Mainz. The last incumbent, Uriel of Gemmin-
1 In a pamphlet entitled Simia by Andrea Guarna da Salerno, Milan, ir>17, as (iiioted by Klaczko, Home and the lienaissnnre, p. 25, IJraniante the arcliitect was refused entrance to heaven by St. Teter for destroying the Apo.stle's temple in Rome, whose very antiquity called the least devout to God. And when the heavenly porter charged him with a readiness to destroy the very world itself and ruin the pope, the architect confessed and declared that his failure was due to the fact that " Julius did not put his hand into his pocket to build the new church but relied on indulgences and the confessional. Paris de Grassis called Bramante " the ruiner," architectum liramantem sen potins Buinantem.
§ 80. THE SALE OF INDULGENCES. 765
gen, died the year before. The archdiocese had been unfortunate with its bishops. Berthold of Henneberg had died 1504 and James of Liebenstein in 1508. These frequent changes necessitated a heavy burden of taxation to enable the prelates to pay their tribute to the Holy See, which amounted to 10,000 ducats in each case, with sundry additions. By the persuasion of the elector Joachim and the Fuggers, Leo sanctioned Albrecht's election to the see of Mainz. He was given episcopal consecration and thus the three sees were joined in the hands of a man who was only 21.
But Albrecht's confirmation as archbishop was not secured without the payment of a high price. The price, 10,000 ducats, was set by the authorities in Rome and did not originate with the German embassy, which had gone to prosecute the case. The proposition came from the Vatican itself and at the very moment the Lateran council was voting measures for the reform of the Church. It carried with it the promise of a papal indulgence for the archbishop's territories. The elector Joachim expressed some scruples of conscience over the purchase, but it went through. Schulte exclaims that, if ever a benefice was sold for gold, this was true in the case of Albrecht.i
The bull of indulgences was issued March 31, 1515, and granted the young German prelate the right to dispose of pardons throughout the half part of Germany, the period being fixed at 8 years. The bull offered " complete absolution — • plenissimam indulgentiam — and remission of all sins," sins both of the living and the dead. A private paper, emanating from Leo and dated two weeks later, April 15, mentions the 10,000 ducats proposed by the Vatican as the price of Albrecht's confirmation as having been already placed in Leo's hands. ^ To enable him to pay the full amount of 30,000 ducats his ecclesiastical dignities had cost, Albrecht borrowed from the Fuggers and, to secure funds, he resorted to a two-years' tax of
1 See his account of the transaction, I. 115-121.
2 Schulte, I. 125. Leo's bull of March 31 is given by Kohler, pp. 83-93. Even the Rom. Cath., Paulus, Tetzel, p. 31, goes as far as to speak of "the miserable business which for both Leo and Albrecht was first of all a financial transaction."