And no one peddled them more zealously than Johann Tetzel, a German friar whose unabashed hawking incited much of Luther's rebellious fury.

In the 16th century, a friar named Johann Tetzel roamed Germany, selling indulgences for the dead, who neither sought forgiveness nor were able to express contrition but whose relatives could ...

Tetzel was the indulgence peddler. He was a Dominican friar, tapped by Giovanni de' Medici, who later became Pope Leo X, to preach on indulgences, which he embraced as his life's mission. Pope Leo ...

A quote from friar Johann Tetzel summarizes indulgences: "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."Luther outlines his problems with Catholic doctrine in general ...

“As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs,” ran an early advertising jingle attributed to Johann Tetzel, a 16th-century indulgence salesman. Funding the church ...