A World Lit Only by Fire – Part II
After Rodrigo Borgia died, soft-spoken but cunning Leo de Medici became pope, after bribing cardinals ended up strapped for cash. A German prince said he wanted to be an Archbishop.
Leo told him that would cost him 12,000 gold ducats – 1000 for each of the Apostles.
The prince frowned: How about 7000, one thousand for each of the 7 deadly sins.
Leo settled on 10,000 – a thousand for each of the 10 commandments; cut a deal with the prince to sell indulgences – granting sinners forgiveness – in Germany. Leo split the money with the archbishop.
Church bells rang, acrobats juggled in town squares, waving indulgences signed by Leo – a P.T. Barnum showman told burghers, peasants, noblemen, he held the passport to the joy of paradise in his hand and the fee was dirt cheap. Told widows their dead husbands’ souls would fly out of purgatory and go straight to heaven. Money rolled in.
A German prince banned the sale of indulgences in Saxony; returning home, feeling a murmur of doubt, pointing to the indulgence he’d paid for, a merchant asked a tonsured monk: Is that true, are my sins forgiven?
Martin Luther told him no – dropped a match on a powder keg.
*****
To be continued – Part III: Martin Luther
A World Lit Only by Fire – Part II
After Rodrigo Borgia died, soft-spoken but cunning Leo de Medici became pope, after bribing cardinals ended up strapped for cash. A German prince said he wanted to be an Archbishop.
Leo told him that would cost him 12,000 gold ducats – 1000 for each of the Apostles.
The prince frowned: How about 7000, one thousand for each of the 7 deadly sins.
Leo settled on 10,000 – a thousand for each of the 10 commandments; cut a deal with the prince to sell indulgences – granting sinners forgiveness – in Germany. Leo split the money with the archbishop.
Church bells rang, acrobats juggled in town squares, waving indulgences signed by Leo – a P.T. Barnum showman told burghers, peasants, noblemen, he held the passport to the joy of paradise in his hand and the fee was dirt cheap. Told widows their dead husbands’ souls would fly out of purgatory and go straight to heaven. Money rolled in.
A German prince banned the sale of indulgences in Saxony; returning home, feeling a murmur of doubt, pointing to the indulgence he’d paid for, a merchant asked a tonsured monk: Is that true, are my sins forgiven?
Martin Luther told him no – dropped a match on a powder keg.
*****
To be continued – Part III: Martin Luther