the indulgence system. Although the theses were intended
as an invitation to scholarly debate, rather than a state-
ment of public defiance, they soon circulated throughout
Germany and became an unofficial manifesto for those
who sought thoroughgoing reform of the Church. The in-
dulgence controversy raged throughout 1518; Rome pub-
lished a list of countertheses under Tetzel’s name (the
socalled Fifty Theses) and Luther issued a long defense of
his views. By the following year the dispute had moved be-
yond the immediate question of indulgences to wider is-
sues of sin, grace, justification, and (most crucially) the
true source of authority in matters of faith. When Luther
refused to submit to papal authority in 1519–20, the break
with Rome was inevitable.
Within the Roman Church it would be another 40
years before the worst abuses of the indulgence system
were tackled (1562) at the Council of TRENT. The practice
of granting indulgences for money payments was revoked
by papal decree in 1567.
See also: PILGRIMAGE AND PILGRIMAGE SHRINES
Inquisition The Inquisition has a long history, starting in
the 13th century. Following the crusade called (1208) by
the pope and led by the northern French nobility against
the Cathar heretics of southern France (which also re-
duced the southern French nobility), an inquisition was
set up to investigate communities for the Albigensian
heresy. Albigensianism, named for the town of Albi in
southern France, was an extreme form of dualism which
held that the material world was irredeemably evil and
showed implacable opposition to the Church hierarchy
and orthodox interpretations of the Bible; its adherents re-
ferred to themselves as Cathars, from Greek katharos,
pure. The most famous investigation was that in the Bas-
Pyrenées between 1294 and 1324, when Jacques Fournier
(later Pope Benedict XII) conducted an inquisition into
the diocese of Montaillou. The meticulous verbatim
records made by the inquisitors of the examinations of ac-
cused Cathars from this area have been preserved and give
an unparalleled insight into a segment of medieval FrenchIInnqquuiissiittiioonn 2 25533IndulgencesA 16th-century German woodcut showing Martin Luther posting his Ninety-five Theses against indulgences on the
church door at Wittenberg. The lion in the center of the picture represents Pope Leo X.
Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library