The Bull Seller’s Second Scheme

This thread traces an additional indulgence-selling fraud in which a staged miracle turns compulsory attendance into a sales opportunity.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

An Audience Is Guaranteed

Official Rules Create an Opportunity Compulsory Attendance A regulation requires the community to hear the sermons introducing and withdrawing an indulgence. A Captive Audience The seller can rely on a congregation being present even when its members distrust his product.

A Public Quarrel

Conflict Is Set in Motion An Ostensible Dispute The seller and alguacil trade accusations and threats in public. A Reputation for Fraud The alguacil’s charge that the indulgences are false prepares the villagers to treat the conflict as genuine.

Denunciation From the Door

A Scripted Interruption The Official Renounces His Staff The alguacil enters church and publicly claims he helped a fraud, then disavows the seller. Doubt Intensifies His measured declaration gives the seller’s planned miracle a credible antagonist and apparent witness.

The Seller’s Prayer

The Performance Reverses the Accusation A Challenge Before the Crowd The seller asks God to reveal which man is lying and invokes a visible punishment. A Body as Evidence The alguacil falls into convulsions, making the seller’s fraud appear to have divine support.

Mass Purchase

Spectacle Produces Sales Repentance on Cue The alguacil attributes his conduct to the devil and asks forgiveness, completing the performance. Communal Participation Villagers buy indulgences in a rush, while Lázaro later learns that the two men arranged the fraud.

At the start of the seller’s collection sermon

The evening before the seller’s withdrawal sermon

During the withdrawal sermon the next morning

Immediately after the alguacil’s denunciation

After the alguacil recovers and confesses