Johann Tetzel, the German Dominican friar and preacher of indulgences, is a favourite whipping boy for students of the Protestant “Reformation” (I prefer the more neutral term, “Revolt”). Martin Luther had a field day with him, for his polemical purposes, as did the Lutheran-produced film, Luther in 2003.
Admittedly, it’s fun to mock Tetzel as a buffoon and poster boy for late medieval Catholic excess, and Catholics freely admit that some of his rhetoric was over the top. But at the same time, the historical truth is complex and more nuanced than the garden-variety stereotypes. Indeed, Tetzel is similar in some respects to Luther himself, who exhibited a fascinating mixture of traditional orthodoxy and heterodox departures.
