Many rulers forbade their sale in their territories, because, as Duke George of Saxony, a good Catholic, expressed it, before Luther was heard of, "they cheated the simple layman of his soul." Hutten mocked at Pope Julius II for selling to others the heaven he could not win himself.

Pius II [Sidenote 1458-64] was obliged {25} to confess: "If we send ambassadors to ask aid of the princes, they are mocked; if we impose a tithe on the clergy, appeal is made to a future council; if we publish an indulgence and invite contributions in return for spiritual favors, we are charged with greed.

People think all is done merely for the sake of extorting money.

No one trusts us.

We have no more credit than a bankrupt merchant." [Sidenote: Immorality of clergy] Much is said in the literature of the latter Middle Ages about the immorality of the clergy.