Catalogue Roberti Fine Art, TEFAF Maastricht 2026 (1) compressed - Flipbook - Page 22
Albrecht of Brandenburg
The Cardinal Elector Albrecht of Brandenburg (149031545), Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg,
stood at the epicentre of political and religious life in early sixteenth-century Germany. As
Archbishop of Mainz he was Archchancellor of the Empire and one of the seven Prince-Electors
responsible for choosing the Holy Roman Emperor, a role that ensured his decisive influence
during the first decades of the Reformation, when he became the principal opponent of Martin
Luther.
His ecclesiastical advancement4he accumulated multiple sees at a young age4required
substantial papal dispensation fees. To finance these obligations he authorised the preaching of
indulgences in his territories, most famously through Johann Tetzel. The controversy surrounding
this campaign directly prompted Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Thereafter Albrecht
became a principal Catholic counterweight to Protestant expansion, defending orthodoxy and
supporting imperial resistance to Lutheran reform. Though more courtly statesman than
theologian, his political authority made him a linchpin of the Catholic position in Germany before
the Council of Trent.
The early 1520s 4 precisely the date of the present Book of Hours 4 represent one of the most
critical moments in Western Christian history. Luther’s attack on indulgences, entrusted by Pope
Leo X to Albrecht in 1517 to fund the rebuilding of St Peter’s in Rome, escalated into open rupture.
Excommunicated in 1520 and in hiding by 1521322, Luther nevertheless continued to denounce
the indulgence trade, even as its revenues were still being propagated in Albrecht’s territories. That
half of the proceeds were diverted to repay Albrecht’s debts to the Fugger bankers adds an
historical irony of striking force. It is entirely possible that this manuscript 4 a commission of
exceptional expense from the foremost Flemish illuminator of the age 4 was financed, at least in
part, by those same indulgences.
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