By Michael Gryboski, Editor Friday, October 31, 2025
7. Johann Tetzel
Friar Johann Tetzel (1465-1519), preacher and inquisitor whose support for indulgences led Martin Luther to write the 95 Theses. | Wikimedia Commons
Johann Tetzel was a friar and popular preacher whose preaching in favor of indulgences inspired Martin Luther to write his 95 Theses and jumpstart the Protestant Reformation.
In the 1510s, Tetzel was assigned to help raise funds for the construction of a new St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which he did by encouraging people to purchase indulgences, or documents that promised forgiveness of sins and a shorter time in purgatory.
Tetzel became infamous for his pro-indulgences declaration, sometimes rendered “a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from Purgatory springs,” and at other times, “When the gold in the casket rings/The rescued soul toward heaven springs.”
Following Luther’s denunciation of his methods, Tetzel became increasingly unpopular among Catholic Church leaders, and was eventually stopped from preaching altogether.
As Tetzel was near death in 1519, Luther sent him a letter of consolation telling him “not to be troubled, for the matter did not begin on his account.”
Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter or Facebook
