The indulgence with which Luther came into direct contact through his parishioners was the jubilee indulgence announced by Pope Julius II for the year 1510, the proceeds of which were to be used in building the new basilica of St. Peter in Rome. After the death of Julius II in 1513, Leo X revived this indulgence. In March, 1515, he commissioned Albrecht of Hohenzollern, archbishop of Mainz and of Magdeburg and bishop of Halberstadt, to sell the indulgence in his sees and in certain Brandenburg lands. Albrecht, who was heavily indebted to the papacy for the dispensation to hold the three sees and for the pallium, the symbol of his episcopal authority in Mainz, borrowed the money from the banking house of the Fuggers. In return for selling the indulgence the Fuggers and he were to get half of the proceeds while the other half was to go to the papal treasury. Albrecht appointed as subcommissary Johann Tetzel, a Dominican monk who had sold indulgences for the papacy and the Fuggers since 1504.
Luther, M. (1999, c1957). Vol. 31: Luther's works, vol. 31 : Career of the Reformer I (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (Vol. 31, Page 21-22). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
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