During which Pope did Tetzel sell the indulgences ?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 4:
The Pope during whose tenure Johann Tetzel actively sold indulgences was Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici), who reigned from 1513 to 1521. This period is historically crucial as it coincides precisely with the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Tetzel, a Dominican friar, was commissioned by the Archbishop Albert of Mainz and Pope Leo X to aggressively sell these indulgences—which promised remission of temporal punishment for sins—primarily to raise funds for the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Tetzel's controversial marketing slogans and methods in Germany were the direct catalyst for Martin Luther's protest, famously leading to the publication of the Ninety-five Theses in October 1517, thus marking the start of the Reformation.

The incorrect option is 1:
Julius II was Pope before Leo X, reigning from 1503 to 1513. While Julius II initially authorized the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica (and thus the underlying need for fundraising), he died before Tetzel's most notorious indulgence campaign began.

The incorrect option is 2 and 3:
Alexander I is not a recognized Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The closest Papal names, Alexander I (St. Alexander I, c. 105–115 AD) and Alexander II (1061–1073 AD), lived centuries before the Renaissance and the era of indulgence sales that sparked the Reformation, making them chronologically irrelevant to the question.