Editing Johann Tetzel

{{short description|German Dominican friar and seller of indulgences (c. 1465–1519)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Johann Tetzel
| honorific_suffix   = [[Dominican Order|OP]]
| image              = Johann-tetzel-1.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{c.}} 1465
| birth_place        = [[Pirna]], [[Electorate of Saxony]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1519|08|11|1465|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Leipzig]], Electorate of Saxony
| nationality        = 
| occupation         = [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] preacher
| known_for          = Selling [[indulgence]]s
}}

'''Johann Tetzel''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Dominican Order|OP]]}} (c. 1465 – 11 August 1519) was a German [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[friar]] and preacher. He was appointed [[Inquisitor]] for [[Poland]] and [[Saxony]],<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Tetzel |title= Johann Tetzel |website= Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date= 23 November 2018 |quote= Tetzel was appointed inquisitor for Poland (1509) and later for Saxony.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14539a.htm |title= Johann Tetzel |website= Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher= New Advent |access-date= 23 November 2018 |quote= At the request of the Polish provincial John Advocati, he was appointed inquisitor for Poland by the master-general, Cajetan…but after severing his relations with the Polish province he was appointed inquisitor of the Saxon province.}}</ref> later becoming the Grand Commissioner for indulgences in Germany. Tetzel was known for granting [[indulgence]]s on behalf of the [[Catholic Church]] in exchange for tithes to the Church. Indulgences grant a degree of expiation of the punishments of [[purgatory]] due to sin. However, the misuse of indulgences within the Church largely contributed to [[Martin Luther]] writing his [[Ninety-five Theses]]. The main usage of the indulgences by Tetzel was to help fund and build the new [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome.

==Life==
Tetzel was born in [[Pirna]], [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]], and studied theology and philosophy at [[Leipzig University]]. He entered the Dominican order{{sfn|Ganss|1912|p=539}} in 1489, became a famous preacher, and was in 1502 commissioned by Cardinal [[Pope Leo X|Giovanni de' Medici]], later Pope Leo X, to preach the [[Jubilee (Christianity)|Jubilee]] indulgence, which he did throughout his life. In 1509 he was made an [[Polish Inquisition|inquisitor]] of Poland and in January 1517 was made commissioner of indulgences for Archbishop Albrecht von Brandenburg in the dioceses of Magdeburg and Halberstadt.

He acquired the degree of [[Licentiate of Sacred Theology]] in the [[Viadrina European University|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]]. The accusation that he had sold full forgiveness for sins not yet committed caused a great scandal. It was believed that all of the money that Tetzel raised was for the ongoing reconstruction of [[St. Peter's Basilica]], although half the money went to the [[Archbishop of Mainz]], Cardinal [[Albert of Brandenburg]] (under whose authority Tetzel was operating), to pay off the debts incurred in securing Albert's appointment to the archbishopric.{{sfn|Pollard|1911}} Tetzel made much of his money by selling his indulgences throughout Leipzig.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lindberg |first=Carter |title=The European Reformation |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-405-18068-9 |edition=2nd |location=Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom |publication-date=2009 |pages=71}}</ref> The way that he persuaded many people to buy his indulgences was offering access directly to heaven even for people who were already dead and in purgatory.<ref name=":0" /> He was very good at his job, which led him to be paid very well. Men would even announce, weeks in advance, his arrival to town.<ref name=":0" /> Luther did not agree with Tetzel's practices and began to preach openly against him. He was inspired to write his famous ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]'' in part due to Tetzel's actions.{{sfn|Pollard|1911}} In the theses, he states,{{Blockquote|27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.<br>
28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.}}

Tetzel was also accused, but exonerated, of immorality. When [[Karl von Miltitz]] accused him of perpetrating frauds and embezzlements, he withdrew to the [[Paulinerkirche, Leipzig|Dominican monastery]] in Leipzig where, worn out by the controversies surrounding him, he died in 1519. Miltitz was later discredited to the point that his claims carry no historical weight.{{sfn|Ganss|1912}}

When Luther heard that Tetzel was mortally ill and on his deathbed, he wrote to comfort him and bade him "not to be troubled, for the matter did not begin on his account, but the child had quite a different father."{{sfn|Smith|1913|p=570}}
After his death, Tetzel was given an honorable burial and interred before the high altar of the Dominican Church in Leipzig.<ref>{{cite web |title= Johann Tetzel |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14539a.htm | access-date=31 October 2018 |publisher= [[New Advent]]}}</ref>

==Doctrinal positions==
[[File:Jüterbog Nikolaikirche Tetzelkasten.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Tetzel's coffer, on display at the [[St. Nikolai church (Jüterbog)|St. Nikolai church]] in [[Jüterbog]]]]

Tetzel overstated Catholic doctrine in regard to indulgences for the dead. He became known for a couplet attributed to him: <!-- UNSOURCED: "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings / the soul from purgatory springs." -->
<blockquote><poem>
As soon as the gold in the casket rings
The rescued soul to heaven springs{{sfn|Ganss|1912|p=540}}
</poem></blockquote>

This oft-quoted saying was by no means representative of the official Catholic teaching on indulgences, but rather, more a reflection of Tetzel's capacity to exaggerate. Yet if Tetzel overstated the matter in regard to indulgences for the dead, his teaching on indulgences for the living was pure Catholic teaching. The German Catholic historian [[Ludwig von Pastor]] explains:
<blockquote>
Above all, a most clear distinction must be made between indulgences for the living and those for the dead.<br>
As regards indulgences for the living, Tetzel always taught pure (Catholic) doctrine. The assertion that he put forward indulgences as being not only a remission of the temporal punishment of sin but as a remission of its guilt, is as unfounded as is that other accusation against him, that he sold the forgiveness of sin for money, without even any mention of contrition and confession, or that, for payment, he absolved from sins which might be committed in the future. His teaching was, in fact, very definite, and quite in harmony with the theology of the (Catholic) Church, as it was then and as it is now, i.e., that indulgences "apply only to the temporal punishment due to sins which have been already repented of and confessed"...

The case was very different from indulgences for the dead. As regards these there is no doubt that Tetzel did, according to what he considered his authoritative instructions, proclaim as Christian doctrine that nothing but an offering of money was required to gain the indulgence for the dead, without there being any question of contrition or confession. He also taught, in accordance with the opinion then held, that an indulgence could be applied to any given soul with unfailing effect. Starting from this assumption, there is no doubt that his doctrine was virtually that of the well known drastic proverb.

The Papal Bull of indulgence gave no sanction whatever to this proposition. It was a vague scholastic opinion, rejected by the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] in 1482, and again in 1518, and certainly not a doctrine of the Church, which was thus improperly put forward as dogmatic truth. The first among the theologians of the Roman court, [[Thomas Cajetan|Cardinal Cajetan]], was the enemy of all such extravagances and declared emphatically that, even if theologians and preachers taught such opinions, no faith need be given them. "Preachers", he said, "speak in the name of the Church only so long as they proclaim the doctrine of Christ and His Church; but if, for purposes of their own, they teach that about which they know nothing, and which is only their own imagination, they must not be accepted as mouthpieces of the Church. No one must be surprised if such as these fall into error."{{sfn|Pastor|1908|pp=347–350}}
</blockquote>
[[File: Portrait of Johann Tetzel Taking an Oath.jpg|thumb|Johann Tetzel Taking an Oath (1717)]]

==Luther's impression==
Luther claimed 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 Tetzel answered in the affirmative, insisting that the payment had to be made at once. The nobleman did so and received a letter and seal from Tetzel.

However, when 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. Duke George at first was quite furious about the incident, but when he heard the whole story, he let it go without punishing the nobleman.

==In popular culture==
Tetzel has been portrayed on stage and screen by the following:

*[[Jakob Tiedtke]] in the 1928 German film ''[[Luther (1928 film)|Luther]]''.
*[[Alexander Gauge]] in the 1953 film ''[[Martin Luther (1953 film)|Martin Luther]]''.
*In [[John Osborne]]'s 1961 play ''[[Luther (play)|Luther]]'', Tetzel was played by [[Peter Bull]] in the original London and Broadway productions, [[Hugh Griffith]] in the [[Luther (1973 film)|1973 film]] of the play, and [[Richard Griffiths]] in a 2001 National Theatre revival.
*[[Clive Swift]] in the 1983 film ''[[Martin Luther, Heretic (1983 film)|Martin Luther, Heretic]]''.
*[[Alfred Molina]] in the 2003 film [[Luther (2003 film)|''Luther'']].

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book
|last=Durant
|first=Will
|author-link=Will Durant
|year=1957
|title=The Reformation
|series=[[The Story of Civilization]]
|volume=6
|publisher=Simon and Schuster
}}
* {{cite Catholic Encyclopedia
|last=Ganss
|first=Henry George
|wstitle=Johann Tetzel
|volume=14
|pages=539–541
|noicon=yes
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Pastor
|first=Ludwig
|author-link=Ludwig von Pastor
|year=1908
|editor-last=Kerr
|editor-first=Ralph Francis
|title=The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages
|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpopesf07past
|volume=7
|location=London
|publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
|access-date=17 October 2017
}}
* {{cite EB1911
|last=Pollard
|first=Albert Frederick
|author-link=Albert Pollard
|wstitle=Tetzel, Johann
|volume=26
|page=672
|noicon=yes
}}
* {{cite book
|year=1913
|editor-last=Smith
|editor-first=Preserved
|editor-link=Preserved Smith
|title=[[wikisource:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters|Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters]]
|volume=1
|location=Philadelphia
|publisher=Lutheran Publication Society
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Vedder
|first=Henry C.
|author-link=Henry Clay Vedder
|year=1914
|title=The Reformation in Germany
|url=https://archive.org/details/reformationinger00vedduoft
|location=New York
|publisher=The Macmillan Company
|access-date=17 October 2017
}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book
|year=2017
|editor1-last=Bünz
|editor1-first=Enno
|editor2-last=Kühne
|editor2-first=Hartmut
|editor3-last=Wiegand
|editor3-first=Peter
|title=Johann Tetzel und der Ablass
|language=de
|location=Berlin
|publisher=Lukas Verlag
|isbn=978-3-86732-262-1
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Librivox author |id=15417}}


{{Subject bar |commons=yes |commons-search=Category:Johann Tetzel |s=yes |s-search=Author:Johann Tetzel |q=yes |d=yes |d-search=Q76873 |portal1=Biography |portal2=Catholicism |portal3=Germany}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tetzel, Johann}}
[[Category:1465 births]]
[[Category:1519 deaths]]
[[Category:German Dominicans]]
[[Category:Inquisitors]]
[[Category:Finance fraud in the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Leipzig University alumni]]