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Indulgences were not the big money maker for people at the top, it was selling benefices that made Popes and other church leaders rich, i.e. selling Church offi
by coldcode 5y ago
Indulgences were not the big money maker for people at the top, it was selling benefices that made Popes and other church leaders rich, i.e. selling Church offices for huge sums (hey you want your nephew to be a Bishop or Cardinal, sending in X ducats). Why fleece poor people when you can fleece the rich, they have all the money.
- dmurray 5y agoWell, yeah, but you wanted your nephew to be a bishop or a cardinal not just for the prestige, but because he could sell or rent lower positions in his own diocese, or collect indulgences himself. It's feudalism all the way down.