Answer · confidence: partial
How did Catholic jubilee pardons change from 1300 to the 1500s, and touch debts?
Research question: How did the Roman Catholic jubilee indulgence practice develop between 1300 and the 1500s, and did any part of it touch creditor-debtor obligations or debt enforcement?
The records show that the Jubilee began in 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII issued the bull Antiquorum habet fida relatio granting a plenary indulgence to pilgrims who visited the basilicas of Saint Peter and Saint Paul 1618. Over the next two centuries the practice grew more formalized: a 1350 Jubilee was held without the pope 19, Martin V called an extraordinary Jubilee in 1423 25, the 1450 Jubilee drew large sums of money 21, and Paul II set a 25-year cycle in 1470 23. By the early 1500s indulgences were tied to fundraising, as Julius II's campaign supported rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica 8, Tetzel required a wealthy woman to pay one hundred florins in advance 6, and Leo X relied on indulgence income 7. The Jubilee's definition includes the remission of debts 2, and the biblical model it draws on forgave debts every 50th year 3, but none of the verified facts show that medieval indulgences were applied to creditor-debtor obligations or debt enforcement. The financial link documented here concerns church fundraising, and historian Lunt found papal indulgence revenue in England was hard to measure or negligible 13.
Checked 2026-10-18. Only documented and supported facts are used.
Dig deeper on this questionSources
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The Roman Catholic jubilee tradition began in 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII convoked a holy year.
"In Western Christianity , the tradition dates to 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII convoked a holy year"Jubilee in the Catholic Church
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A jubilee is defined as a special year involving the remission of sins, debts, and universal pardon.
"A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins , debts and universal pardon."Jubilee in the Catholic Church
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In the biblical origin of the jubilee, debts were forgiven and slaves and prisoners were freed every 50th year.
"In the Book of Leviticus , a jubilee year is mentioned as occurring every 50th year (after 49 years, 7×7, as per Leviticus 25 :8) during which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven, and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest."Jubilee in the Catholic Church
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The number 50 was associated with remission in the early 13th century, exemplified by the 1220 translation of Thomas Becket's body, which occurred 50 years after his martyrdom.
"The translation of the body of Thomas Becket took place in the year 1220, 50 years after his martyrdom. The sermon on that occasion was preached by Cardinal Stephen Langton , who told his hearers that this coincidence was meant by Providence to recall "the mystical virtue of the number fifty, which, as every reader of the sacred page is aware, is the number of remission.""Jubilee in the Catholic Church
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The 1500 Jubilee was convoked by Pope Alexander VI.
"See Pope Alexander VI: The Jubilee (1500) ."Jubilee in the Catholic Church
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Tetzel required a rich lady to pay one hundred florins in advance before he would absolve her, demonstrating the financial nature of the practice.
"For instance, he refused to absolve a rich lady unless she would pay one hundred florins in advance."Book 3 - The Indulgences and the Theses (1517-May, 1518) | Reformed ...
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Pope Leo X relied on income from indulgences to fund his lavish lifestyle and the construction of St. Peter's Basilica, spending money he did not have.
"He spent money he did not have on advancing the Renaissance, and relied on the capital coming in from the Indulgence to continue to fund his lavish reign."Book 3 - The Indulgences and the Theses (1517-May, 1518) | Reformed ...
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Indulgence campaigns were sometimes authorized to encourage charitable contributions for the rebuilding of Saint Peter’s Basilica under Pope Julius II.
"Some indulgence campaigns were authorized partly to encourage charitable contributions toward the project. While the official teaching remained unchanged, abuses in the promotion of these campaigns became increasingly controversial."Indulgences in the Catholic Church: A Complete History from the Early ...
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Johann Tetzel, a famous indulgence preacher in early 16th-century Germany, is associated with the slogan suggesting that payment immediately released souls from purgatory.
"Tetzel preached indulgences in parts of Germany during the early sixteenth century. He became famous for promotional methods that many contemporaries considered excessive. A popular slogan traditionally attributed to him states: “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”"Indulgences in the Catholic Church: A Complete History from the Early ...
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The Church officially taught that indulgences concerned only temporal punishment and derived from Christ's merits, not the forgiveness of sins or replacement of repentance.
"The Church officially taught that indulgences: did not forgive sins, could not replace repentance, required sacramental confession, depended upon sincere conversion, concerned only temporal punishment, and derived entirely from the merits of Christ."Indulgences in the Catholic Church: A Complete History from the Early ...
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Nineteenth-century historian Henry H.C. Lea argued that the rapid growth of papal indulgences in the 14th and 15th centuries was driven by greed and a desire for power rather than spiritual necessity.
"Especially pernicious for Lea was the rapid growth in the number of papal indulgences in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the purpose of which he believed was financial gain born of greed and a lust for power."Indulgences and Solidarity in Late Medieval England (2015)
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German Catholic scholar Nikolaus Paulus identified the transformation of indulgences from ritual intercessory prayer to juridical grants as the key link between early Church practices and medieval indulgence practices.
"Paulus also marked the transformation of indulgences from ritual intercessory prayer to juridical grants as the essential connection between the early Church and medieval Church practice."Indulgences and Solidarity in Late Medieval England (2015)
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Lunt's research found that papal revenue generated by indulgences in England, excluding crusading indulgences, was difficult to determine or negligible, challenging the assumption that they were a major revenue source.
"Lunt clearly assumed that a large portion of the revenue received from England by the papal camera originated from indulgences, yet he found papal revenue generated by indulgences other than crusading indulgences difficult to determine, if not negligible."Indulgences and Solidarity in Late Medieval England (2015)
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The practice of indulgences was used to promote public works such as the construction of roads, bridges, ports, hospitals, and churches, as well as the collection of funds for crusades.
"Per es., costruzioni di strade, ponti e porti, ospedali o chiese, l’osservanza della tregua di Dio, la partecipazione alle crociate, la raccolta di fondi per la loro organizzazione, ecc. In questi casi, tali opere potevano sostituire parzialmente o totalmente la soddisfazione tradizionalmente tariffata."Le indulgenze, di Zoltán Alszeghy, s.j. - Diario
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The 1967 reform of indulgences, announced by Pope Paul VI, shifted the focus from merely helping the faithful satisfy penalties for sins to encouraging greater fervor in charity.
"Infatti il Papa, annunziando alla Curia Romana la riforma imminente delle indulgenze (attuata poi con la Costituzione «Indulgentiarum doctrina»), indica come innovazione principale che « la Chiesa intende venire incontro ai suoi figli non solo per aiutarli a soddisfare le pene dovute ai loro peccati, ma anche e soprattutto per spingerli ad un maggiore fervore di carità. Questo è stato il principio"Le indulgenze, di Zoltán Alszeghy, s.j. - Diario
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Pope Boniface VIII issued the bull Antiquorum habet fida relatio on 22 February 1300, announcing the first Jubilee in Church history.
"Antiquorum habet fida relatio è una bolla pontificia promulgata da papa Bonifacio VIII il 22 febbraio 1300 a indizione del primo Giubileo della storia ."Antiquorum habet fida relatio
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Pope Boniface VIII instituted the first Jubilee in 1300 with the bull Antiquorum habet fida relatio, granting a plenary indulgence.
"papa Bonifacio VIII , istituì il primo Giubileo con la Bolla Antiquorum habet fida relatio , emanata il 22 febbraio 1300"Giubileo universale della Chiesa cattolica
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To earn the plenary indulgence, Romans had to make 30 visits to the basilicas of Saint Peter and Saint Paul during the Holy Year, while pilgrims from outside Rome needed only 15 visits.
"Con la bolla si richiedeva, per poter lucrare l' indulgenza plenaria , l'effettuazione da parte dei romani di 30 visite alle due basiliche di san Pietro e di san Paolo durante l' Anno santo , mentre ai pellegrini che venivano da fuori Roma erano richieste solo 15 visite."Antiquorum habet fida relatio
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In 1350 the Jubilee was held without the pope, because Clement VI stayed in Avignon rather than coming to Italy.
"Il Giubileo del 1350 fu senza Papa poiché Clemente VI , viste le circostanze politiche del momento, non scese in Italia e restò nella sua sede ad Avignone ."Giubileo universale della Chiesa cattolica
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The bull did not impose any almsgiving (elemosina) as a condition for the indulgence.
"Non era imposta alcuna elemosina."Antiquorum habet fida relatio
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The 1450 Jubilee was called the 'Golden Jubilee' because a great deal of money flowed into it, largely invested in patronage works by Pope Nicholas V.
"Fu anche il "Giubileo d'oro" perché vi affluì moltissimo denaro in gran parte investito in opere di mecenatismo da papa Niccolò V ."Giubileo universale della Chiesa cattolica
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The plenary indulgence for temporal punishments was also granted to pilgrims who could not finish their visits due to force majeure, and to those who died on the journey or before completing the visits.
"Inoltre l'indulgenza plenaria per le pene temporali fu concessa anche ai pellegrini che non avevano potuto finire le visite per cause di forza maggiore, come pure a quelli deceduti lungo il viaggio o prima di terminare le visite."Antiquorum habet fida relatio
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In 1470 Pope Paul II set the Jubilee cycle at every twenty-five years with the bull Ineffabili providentia.
"Nel 1470 il papa Paolo II stabilì la scadenza venticinquennale del Giubileo con la bolla Ineffabili providentia ."Giubileo universale della Chiesa cattolica
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The bull established that the Church should hold a Jubilee every hundred years in the future.
"Nella bolla si stabiliva anche che, in futuro, la Chiesa avrebbe dovuto tenere un Giubileo ogni cento anni."Antiquorum habet fida relatio
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In 1423 Martin V called an extraordinary Jubilee to mark the return of the papacy to Rome after the Avignon exile.
"1423: Giubileo straordinario indetto da Martino V per il ritorno del papato a Roma dopo l' esilio avignonese ;"Giubileo universale della Chiesa cattolica