18 Facts About Johann Tetzel

Johann Tetzel was appointed Inquisitor for Poland and Saxony, later becoming the Grand Commissioner for indulgences in Germany.

The main usage of the indulgences by Johann Tetzel was to help fund and build the new St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Johann Tetzel was born in Pirna, Saxony, and studied theology and philosophy at Leipzig University.

Johann Tetzel entered the Dominican order in 1489, became a famous preacher, and was in 1502 commissioned by Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, later Pope Leo X, to preach the Jubilee indulgence, which he did throughout his life.

Johann Tetzel acquired the degree of Licentiate of Sacred Theology in the University of Frankfurt an der Oder in 1517, and then of Doctor of Sacred Theology in 1518, by defending in two disputations the doctrine of indulgences against Martin Luther.

Johann Tetzel made much of his money by selling his indulgences throughout Leipzig.

Johann Tetzel was very good at his job, which led him to be paid very well.

Johann Tetzel was inspired to write his famous Ninety-five Theses in part due to Tetzel's actions.

Johann Tetzel overstated Catholic doctrine in regard to indulgences for the dead.

Johann Tetzel became known for a couplet attributed to him:.

Yet if Johann Tetzel overstated the matter in regard to indulgences for the dead, his teaching on indulgences for the living was pure Catholic teaching.

Johann Tetzel taught, in accordance with the opinion then held, that an indulgence could be applied to any given soul with unfailing effect.

Luther claimed Johann Tetzel had received a substantial amount of money at Leipzig from a nobleman, who asked him for a letter of indulgence for a future sin he would commit.

Supposedly Johann Tetzel answered in the affirmative, insisting that the payment had to be made at once.

However, when Johann Tetzel left Leipzig, the nobleman attacked him along the way and gave him a thorough beating, sending him back empty-handed to Leipzig, saying that was the future sin which he had in mind.

Luther claimed that at Halle, Johann Tetzel said that an indulgence could wipe away the sin of a man guilty of raping Mary, Mother of God.

However, Johann Tetzel obtained affidavits from authorities at Halle, both civil and ecclesiastical, who swore that Johann Tetzel never made any such claim.

Johann Tetzel has been portrayed on stage and screen by the following:.