THE DECEIT OF THE PARDONERS

A pardoner, as depicted in a manuscript of The Canterbury Tales

    While the Catholic values of the Middle Ages preached purity and selflessness, many clerical members functioned under a corrupt system. The church members, blinded by greed, began to prioritize fortune and wealth over the inherent values of Christianity. Therefore, in times of need, churches turned to sleazy solutions that eventually had consequences for Europe as a whole. The role of the pardoner in the Middle Ages emphasized the need for financial gain that plagued many churches - and regular individuals - at the time.

 Church Indulgences

    Before defining what a "pardoner" is, it is important to lay the groundwork of what exactly sparked the pardoners into existence. When an individual commits a sin and performs the sacrament of Confession, they are then eligible for an indulgence from this sin. In its original context, according to the Catholic Dioses of Memphis, an indulgence can only be granted after Confession, and it wipes the person of the "temporal punishment" that would arise in Purgatory (1). In the Middle Ages, one way an indulgence could be earned was by performing a good deed, such as offering volunteer time, donating resources to the poor, or giving monetary donations to charity. However, with money involved in the indulgence process, corruption was bound to appear as those with wealth found a way to trick the system.

 The Beginning of Corruption

    As money became a factor, more people wished to be granted indulgence for financial donations. Without coincidence, the church also began to require more funding for projects such as the construction of buildings and religious missions. As a result, the church began to appoint "pardoners," which are defined by The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable as "[people] who [were] licensed to sell papal pardons or indulgences" (2). Essentially, these pardoners would be sent out to collect the donations of wealthy church members in exchange for an indulgence. As Alfred Pollard states in his notes on Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale," "a payment of money to an approved charitable purpose was accepted as an equivalent for so many days' penance, and a certificate of such payment" was given as an indulgence (3). With the growth of pardoners, the need for Confession withered away, and people now had the opportunity to simply buy forgiveness for their sins.

Monetary coins of the Middle Ages (Castellogy)

    While the church was on board with the gifting of indulgences in exchange for funding, the pardoners eventually branched off into their own corrupt deeds. People began to parade around as fraudulent pardoners, and they would take money from individuals in exchange for falsified indulgences. One of the key characteristics of fraudulent pardoners was their use of "relics" to draw people in. Pollard states in his notes that fake pardoners would carry false religious relics, which people could view for a price to inherit the "special indulgences [that] had been attached" (3). In an attempt to combat this, the church began giving licenses to approved pardoners. In her blog post for A Writer's Perspective, April Munday states, "In theory, that meant pardoners would be limited in where they could go and that they would have to show their license as they travelled" (4). However, with naivete on the subject, most people would never ask to see a license, or they wouldn't even know how to read the license. This led to the continuation of corruption through the Middle Ages, with documents showing false indulgences of "hundreds or even thousands of years," according to Father Enrico dal Covolo's L'Osservatore Romano article (5).

 Chaucer's Depiction of Pardoners

    At the time that Chaucer wrote his famous work The Canterbury Tales, pardoners were still causing issues across Europe. Hence, Chaucer expressed the general view toward pardoners in his story "The Pardoner's Tale" within The Canterbury Tales. In the tale, the pardoner describes his commitment to taking advantage of others. He explains how he carries fake holy relics that he charges people to see. He could not care less about praying for sinners and giving indulgences, and he is entirely absorbed by greed (6). 

A page from a 15th century manuscript of

The Canterbury Tales (Britannica)

    This portrayal  mirrors the values of the fake pardoners that existed at the time. With the widespread popularity eventually gained by The Canterbury Tales, the story of the corrupt pardoner also became more well-known. In fact, Chaucer's depiction appears to be one of the best surviving accounts of the pardoner, and it has greatly aided in shaping what pardoners are known as today.

                        

Works Cited

1) Clark, James. "Faith Topics: Indulgences." Catholic Diocese of Memphis, https://cdom.org/faith_topics-indulgences/

2) "Pardoner." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2nd ed. 2006, https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198609810.001.0001/acref-9780198609810-e-5229?rskey=Z5Vgmt&result=5201

3) Pollard, Alfred W. Notes. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: The Prologue, by Geoffrey Chaucer, Macmillan and CO, 1903, pp. 93, 

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Chaucer_s_Canterbury_Tales/dfjV8a75qV4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA93&printsec=frontcover

4) Munday, April. "What Did Pardoners and Summoners Do?" A Writer's Perspective, 10 May 2020, https://aprilmunday.wordpress.com/2020/05/10/what-did-pardoners-and-summoners-do/

5) Covolo, Enrico. "The Historical Origin of Indulgences." L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican, 19 May 1999, pp. 9-10. Catholic Culture, https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=1054

6) Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Pardoner's Tale." The Canterbury Tales, D. Appleton & Company, 1870, pp. 331-348, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Canterbury_Tales/cQlEAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA332&printsec=frontcover