This was designed by a hot Madison Avenue Ad Agency, right? Wrong, very wrong.
Back on the 11th century the Catholic Church found itself in a familiar situation, a severe lack of funds.
But they did not simply ask for donations, they actually designed a product. It was a roll of paper called an Indulgence and carried the Papal Seal. It offered the buyer something incredible - forgiveness of sins and the guarantee of going to heaven upon death.
The product was then loaded onto carts and sold through a massive retail distribution network (Churches). It sold like crazy, even Monarchs bought them, on a sliding scale of course where they paid a whole lot more.
Bingo. The product cost almost nothing to produce and raised staggering revenue for the Church. It was so popular it sold for over four centuries.
Tech Notes:
While Gutenberg is most famous for his Bible, printing Indulgences was his main revenue stream. He began printing Indulgence forms in the 1450s, allowing the Church to increase sales dramatically. By 1515, Pope Leo X launched a massive Indulgence drive to fund the construction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, featuring aggressive salesmen like Johann Tetzel.
Responding to widespread protest and internal pressure, the Council of Trent condemned financial abuses in 1563. In 1567, Pope Pius V issued a papal decree explicitly forbidding any grant of indulgences tied to money or financial transactions.
While the Catholic Church still grants indulgences today, they are strictly non-monetary spiritual acts (such as specific prayers, receiving the sacraments, or charitable works).
Content written and posted by Ken Abbott abbottsystems@gmail.com
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