WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -One particularly well-known Catholic method of exploitation in the Middle Ages was the practice of selling indulgences, a monetary payment of penalty which, supposedly, absolved one of past sins and/or released one from purgatory after death.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Church started granting two kinds of indulgence: ‘plenary’ (or full), which remitted all need for the punishment of sin, or ‘partial’ to deal with a part of one’s debt of sin. This was both a relief to Christians hoping to avoid purgatory, and also a way for them to be encouraged to fight in the Crusades.

Detailed explanation-3: -The first known use of plenary indulgences was in 1095 when Pope Urban II remitted all penance of persons who participated in the crusades and who confessed their sins. Later, the indulgences were also offered to those who couldn’t go on the Crusades but offered cash contributions to the effort instead.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Roman Catholic Church sold “letters of indulgence”. They were sold to people with the understanding that it would decrease the time one’s soul spends in purgatory. The higher the amount paid, the lesser the time spent in purgatory. The Church accumulated a lot of wealth this way.

Detailed explanation-5: -In the Roman Catholic Church, an indulgence is the remission of a temporal punishment brought about by sin. This punishment consists of either earthly sufferings or time spent after death in Purgatory.