The Medieval Pardoner
The role of the pardoner no longer exists today, but in Chaucer’s day Pardoners had three primary jobs: selling indulgences, selling relics, and preaching. If one were to purchase an indulgence, s/he would pray for the people in purgatory and make a donation to the church, and as a result, the purchaser’s allotted time in purgatory would be absolved. In other words, a direct route to Heaven could be purchased (if one had the money, of course). This practice, along with the selling of relics, was a blank check of sorts for con men, such as Chaucer’s Pardoner, who also used the preaching part of the occupation to extort money from his parishioners by telling them moral tales against avarice so they would feel guilty of their greed and give him more money. Isn't it ironic, don't ya think?
Kittredge, George Lyman. "The Pardoner and the Problem of Evil: how Chaucer creates character." The Atlantic Monthly 72
(1893): 829-33. Stjohns-chs.org. Web. 11 November 2015.
Kittredge, George Lyman. "The Pardoner and the Problem of Evil: how Chaucer creates character." The Atlantic Monthly 72
(1893): 829-33. Stjohns-chs.org. Web. 11 November 2015.