January 27, 1343 - Pope Clement VI Approves the Sale of Indulgences

On January 27, 1343, Pope Clement VI (pictured) approved the sale of indulgences within the Catholic Church. This essentially allowed members of the Catholic Church to purchase the merits of Christ or reduce the punishment for sin through payments to the church. These were most commonly bought to reduce the amount of time a person would spend in purgatory after death. These indulgences were the crux of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, a protest that he nailed to the doors of the Wittenberg church, sparking the Protestant Reformation.