This thesis studies the results of Indulgences on Christian history, ideals, art, and architecture, especially the building and rebuilding of Saint Peter’s Basilica. The text argues that the sale of Indulgences, despite their exploitation of people all over Europe, affected history in a positive way. The author creates her argument by going through the history of the early Basilica of Saint Peter, early Indulgences, subsequent Popes and their use of Indulgences, then the financing of the new Basilica of Saint Peter, and finally the decisive abuse of Indulgences by Pope Leo X, which sparked the Protestant Reformation. The author uses first hand accounts of the history she just described as her evidence, citing many primary sources and journals