Leo's Indulgences

In 15 13, the 37 year old giovanni de medici was elected pope and assumed the name leo the tenth. Leo wanted to complete the building of the basilica of saint peter's in rome but had left it unfinished. He would need to raise a fair amount of capital to be able to pay for the best artists to work on it. And so in 15 17, leo launched a campaign to sell indulgences. Indulgences were a major source of church income. For this particular campaign, leo unleashed a squadron of expert indulgent salesmen across europe. And the money began to pour in.