A Short Note on Pardon Selling

 For the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, the commercialization of indulgences — essentially promising a get-out-of-purgatory-free-card — was the historical equivalent of the prosperity gospel today. This was not merely the corruption of an isolated few. Importantly, the development of the indulgence system created systematic means for which the churchmen could line their own pockets at the expense of believers.

The indulgence system was formalized by Pope Urban II in 1095. When the Crusades began soon after, many people participated in the military campaign believing that this act would earn them indulgences. There were also other means — including charitable donations — through which one could be rewarded with indulgences.

By the late Middle Ages, abuses to the system were rampant. Some sought to extract the maximum amount of money they could for each indulgence. Others promised much more than remission from temporal punishment — granting salvation from eternal damnation and prosperity in one’s current life for great sums of money.

The sale of indulgences in the Middle Ages was satirized by Chaucer in 'The Pardoner's Tale', a pardoner being someone who sold indulgences. A rich criminal would earn more honor in society than a poor commoner in this way.