1. 1. First granted in the eleventh century, indulgences were eagerly sought by medieval Christians thereafter. An indulgence is a remission of temporal penalty for sin granted by a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Indulgences were granted for a variety of charitable works, such as the contribution of money, materials, or labor to the construction of churches. They were also granted for alms to the poor. Perhaps the most common type of indulgence was for the attendance at certain Masses and for the recitation of prayers believed to be especially efficacious. According to belief, each serious sin brought guilt (culpa) and penalty (pena) upon the sinner. Full atonement for sin, then, required two remissions. The guilt could be remitted in confession, but the penalty remained. By his mercy, God forgave the guilt for a sin which had been confessed with a contrite heart, but his justice, which had been offended by the sinner, remained in need of satisfaction. Furthermore, God's justice could be satisfiedonlyafter a valid confession had been made. Indulgences were one of a wide variety of penitential works medieval Catholics undertook to satisfy the divine justice. The standard treatments are Henry C. Lea,A History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences in the Latin Church, 3 vols. (Philadelphia: Lea Brothers, 1896); Nikolaus Paulus,Geschichte des Ablasses im Mittelalter, 3 vols. (Darmstadt: Primus Verlag, 2000; reprint of Paderborn, 1922-23); Bernhard Poschmann,Der Ablass im Licht der Bussgeschichte(Bonn: Peter Hanstein, 1948); A. Vacant et al., eds.Dictionnaire de theologie catholique(Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1927), 7: 1594-1636; Joseph R. Strayer, ed.Dictionary of the Middle Ages(New York: Scribner, 1985), 6: 446-50.
2. 3. Thomas Aquinas,Summa theologiae,Supplementum, 26.2.