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The Medieval Invention of Purgatory

Study medieval teachings on sin and salvation, and notions of purification and atonement. Learn how the practice of interceding for the dead through prayer and penitential rituals figured in the emerging Church doctrine of Purgatory. Trace the history of “indulgences” for absolving sins, which were sold by clerics, the abuse of which fueled the Protestants’ stance against the ideology of Purgatory.

English