The Lacuna Project

lacuna (n.) a gap in a record where something should be

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Person

Albert of Brandenburg (Archbishop of Magdeburg and Mainz)

Documented money flows

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • REL-1.1: Pope Leo X's bull Sacrosanctis Salvatoris et Redemptoris nostri of 31 March 1515 opened an eight-year indulgence for the rebuilding of St. Peter's in the provinces of Mainz and Magdeburg and the Brandenburg lands. It named Archbishop Albert of Brandenburg and the guardian of the Observant Franciscans at Mainz as commissioners and granted plenary remission of sins in return for alms put into the chests, tied in the text to confession and absolution by a chosen confessor.
  • REL-1.2: According to Aloys Schulte's German translation of the Vatican documents, the envoys' petition of 1 August 1514 offered Leo X 10,000 ducats and asked that half the proceeds go to St. Peter's and half to Albert and the churches of Mainz, Magdeburg and Halberstadt. The motu proprio of 15 April 1515 records that Albert paid the 10,000 ducats and that no revocation or competing plenary indulgence would be allowed for eight years.
  • REL-1.3: A debt bond of 15 May 1514, printed by Schulte, records that Albert of Brandenburg owed Jakob Fugger about 21,000 ducats de camera, at 100 ducats to 140 gulden, plus 500 gulden for exchange, which Schulte reports was for the fees for confirming Albert's election as archbishop of Mainz. The bond sets the first instalment at St. James's day (25 July) and the second at Michaelmas (29 September) 1514. Schulte gives the total as 29,000 Rhenish gulden and glosses the second date as 29 October.
  • REL-1.4: Schulte reports that the commissioners' order of 28 May 1517 gave Jakob Fugger one of the keys to the indulgence chests and directed that, after costs, one half of the contents go to the Fugger as the papal share and the other half to the Fugger in payment of Albert's debt.
  • REL-1.5: Albert's Instructio Summaria set a contribution by rank: at least 25 Rhenish gulden for kings, queens, archbishops, bishops and other great princes, 10 for abbots, counts and wealthy nobles, down to half a florin for others. It told those without money to supply their contribution by prayer and fasting.
  • REL-1.6: In the excerpt printed by Kidd, the Instructio Summaria declares that to obtain the two principal graces it names it was not necessary to confess or visit churches, only to redeem the confessional letter, which cost a quarter of a Rhenish gulden in addition to the ordinary tax. It also stated that those contributing for souls in purgatory need not be contrite or confessed.
  • REL-1.7: Martin Luther wrote to Albert on 31 October 1517 that indulgences for St. Peter's were circulating under Albert's name. He reported that the Instruction to the Commissaries issued under that name said contrition was not necessary for those who bought souls out of purgatory or bought confessionalia, and asked Albert to withdraw it.
  • REL-1.9: Schulte's 1904 archival study concluded that the proposal for the St. Peter's indulgence reached Albert's envoys through the papal Datary and did not originate with Albert, that the procedure of chests opened under a notary with Fugger's key left the preachers no opportunity to enrich themselves, and that the venture was a poor business for Albert.

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 399 31 October 1517. Martin Luther: Luther's letter to Archbishop Albert of Mainz
  • Exhibit 400 1517. Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, and the Guardian of the Mainz Observant Franciscans (papal commissioners): Instructio Summaria ad sub-commissarios (Albert of Mainz's instruction to indulgence preachers and confessors)
  • Exhibit 401 31 March 1515. Pope Leo X: Bull Sacrosanctis Salvatoris et Redemptoris nostri (St. Peter's indulgence for the provinces of Mainz and Magdeburg)
  • Exhibit 402 15 April 1515. Pope Leo X: Motu proprio to the Apostolic Chamber on the Mainz-Magdeburg indulgence
  • Exhibit 403 1 August 1514. Envoys of Albert of Brandenburg to the Roman Curia: Petition (Supplik) of the Brandenburg envoys for an indulgence for Mainz and Magdeburg
  • Exhibit 404 15 May 1514. Albert of Brandenburg; Fugger bank: Albert of Brandenburg's debt bond to Jakob Fugger for the Mainz confirmation fees
  • Exhibit 405 28 May 1517. Papal commissioners for Mainz-Magdeburg: Commissioners' order of 28 May 1517 giving Jakob Fugger a key to each indulgence chest
  • Exhibit 406 1904. Aloys Schulte (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot): Die Fugger in Rom, 1495-1523, mit Studien zur Geschichte des kirchlichen Finanzwesens jener Zeit