In an Odd Twist of History
Indulgences were official church pardons that had been part of Roman Catholic doctrine for centuries, but were only to be given under the condition of contrite confession. Unfortunately, the indulgence system was easily corrupted, and the practice of “selling forgiveness” for all sorts of things in the 16th century was “very, very widespread,” says Kirsi Stjerna, Professor of Lutheran History and Theology at the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. For Luther, these clergy selling indulgences represented the larger sin of a church that convinced poor peasants that forgiveness came at a price.
2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. In fact, if not for a butter ban, Protestantism might have had a much slower growth. In an odd twist of history, butter may have played an outsized role in stoking an outspoken German monk named Martin Luther’s frustration with the Roman Catholic Church. And as part of the 500th-anniversary celebrations, we need to talk about butter. If you liked this short article and you would such as to obtain additional facts relating to cheap condo for sale in bangkok kindly browse through our own page. The story begins in Medieval Europe, where “fast days” were a big deal. Yes, the tasty stuff you spread on toast and tuck into a baked potato.
According to “A History of Food” by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, some Southern Europeans believed that butter caused leprosy and packed their own supply of oil if traveling abroad. After losing meat and cheese, there was pretty much nothing left. For well-connected royalty and other wealthy faithful, the church was known to grant reprieves or “dispensations” on the butter ban. Up north in dairy-farming countries like France and Germany – where Luther lived – cutting butter from the diet was a much bigger deal. And since fast days covered almost half the calendar year, the butter ban was akin to starvation.
Other powerful petitioners made contributions to Rome – alms for chapel construction and money to fund the crusades – in return for exemptions to eat butter. Not only was the oil much more expensive compared to local butter, but it was low quality. Meanwhile, the poor saps in Luther’s parish were stuck with the “no butter” rule. Even worse, enterprising exporters from Southern Europe were selling oil to the northern countries to use on fast days. But the worst offense, according to Luther, was that some clergymen were traveling around Germany selling indulgences for the sin of eating butter on fast days.
