Instructio summaria (Summary Instruction for the Indulgence Commissaries)
The handbook that Archbishop Albert of Mainz issued to the preachers and confessors of the indulgence for St Peter’s in Rome. It lists the graces offered and the scale of payments.
The Instruction was the official guide for those who preached the plenary indulgence that Pope Leo X had granted for the rebuilding of St Peter’s and for which Albert of Brandenburg was commissary in his provinces. It names four principal graces: full remission of sins for the contrite who have confessed, a letter allowing the choice of a confessor, a share in the spiritual goods of the whole church, and full remission for souls in purgatory by way of intercession. It also fixes what each rank of person should contribute.
Martin Luther’s letter to Albert of 31 October 1517 refers to it by name. It shows what was authorised, as distinct from what any one preacher may have said. Kidd prints extracts, not the whole text.
Cited in
- 31 October 1517, firm date