Letter of indulgence

The letter of indulgence certified to the purchaser a drain, that is the " estate of penalties imposed, which are to be served by the sinner after his reversal yet ." Other designations are Indulgenzbrief (from Latin litterae indulgentiales ), drain sheet, or particularly for larger image panel, drain picture.

The discharge letter formally belongs to the broadsheets, which were made in the 15th century by painters letter as woodcuts or engravings with Christian figures and accompanying prayers and sold.

Was issued the letter of indulgence in the name of a bishop or cardinal appointed by the Pope, the Church granted the buyers a discount of temporal punishment due to sin or a plenary indulgence. In contrast, a drain bull issued by the Pope himself. Stipulations were performing certain prayers ( for example, with a rosary ) or godly works (about donations for the building of churches ). With the proliferation of these letters, the Dominican monk Johann Tetzel played an important role, especially with the famous sentence: " If the money rattles in the chest, the soul jumps out of the fire. "

For Martin Luther practice, for example, to finance through letters of pardon the construction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, was one of the main criticisms of the Catholic Church and motivated him ultimately to the Constitution of 95 theses.

On February 8, 1567 lifted Pope Pius V in the constitution Etsi Dominici all Almosenablässe on and decreed on January 2, 1570 the constitution Quam plenum excommunication for those who wanted to trade with the indulgences trade, which by even the Code of Canon Law 1917 Can. 2327 led to the penalty of excommunication.