Letter of Indulgence with Twelve Seals

Indulgences absolved the faithful from punishment for their sins. During the Avignon Exile of the papacy, indulgences were an important source of income for the curia. During this period, the Abbey of St Gall obtained such a document, which was embellished with richly decorative figures. In it, twelve bishops granted an indulgence of 40 days to people visiting the abbey and all its altars and chapels, as well as 16 affiliated parishes. The bishops’ seals gave the document legal validity. To protect the seals, they were sewn into valuable fabrics from Islamic southern Spain.

Letters of indulgence were often hung in churches so that they could be seen by the faithful. In this case, such documents were displayed not only in the abbey church of St Gall, but also in the churches of Berneck, Appenzell, Gais, Hundwil, Wil, Herisau, Gossau, Berg, Wattwil, Marbach, Altstätten, Elgg, Rorschach, Sommeri, Steinach and Höchst. Since many churchgoers were illiterate, such documents were frequently illustrated. After the indulgence was received from Avignon, a local artist inserted bust portraits of Christ, Gall and Otmar at the top of the page. These are among the oldest depictions of the abbey’s two patron saints.