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The calamitous fourteenth century was a time of death and destruction due to famine, plague, peasant revolts, and the Hundred Years War. During this time, people looked to the church for comfort, leadership, and guidance. The church reached the height of its power, but could not provide the leadership needed because the religious leaders had become too concerned with secular affairs. Indulgences and bogus relics were being sold to supposedly raise money for the church, but the corrupt religious leaders pocketed the money. A prominent theme in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which is a collection of short stories, is appearance versus reality. He satirizes the corruption within the church and its religious leaders the prioress, the summoner, and the pardoner, all of whom had to take three vows poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Based on Chaucer's description of a nun, he obviously believed that nuns of his day were corrupt, and that they broke the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. A prioress is a nun ranking next below the head nun in an abbey. She was known as "Madam Eglantyne" which means "Lady Sweetbriar". The word "sweetbriar" is a contradictory word. This also indirectly shows that she wanted to be more of a lady of court rather than a lady of God. Chaucer's nun did not appear to uphold the vow of poverty, for she wore a fine cloak and had fine jewelry. She seemed to be very materialistic, as she had to look perfect with her fine jewelry and "handsome cloak". In addition, "She was indeed by no means undergrown"; Chaucer implies here that she had plenty of money for food, and ate a lot. Chaucer does not directly say that she broke the vow of chastity, but implies it in his description of her golden broach and her desire to be a lady of the world, rather than a lady of God. Inscribed on her golden broach were the words "Amor vincit omnia", Latin for "love conquers all", implying that she had a lover. In addition, Chaucer says that she was "straining to counterfeit a courtly kind of grace." This implies that she would go to the greatest measures possible and break any vows taken to be a lady of the court. Also, Chaucer's description of her soft, red mouth made her seem very voluptuous and coveted by men. The third vow, obedience, cannot be fulfilled if the vows of poverty and chastity are broken. To be obedient to God is to follow his example and live by the rules and laws of the Bible. In addition, the prioress is very envious and covetous of the ladies of the court and covetous of their lives. In the Bible, it states that one should not be envious or covetous of one's neighbor. Chaucer states that she was "straining to counterfeit a courtly kind of grace," implying that she would go to the greatest measures possible and break any vows taken to be a lady of the court and desirable to men.
Based on Chaucer's description of a friar, he obviously believed that friars of his day were corrupt, and that they broke the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The friar was a limiter a begging friar who was limited to a certain district in which he could beg. His name was Hubert, which is Latin for "hubris", which means pride; this implies that he was very prideful. Chaucer's friar did not appear to uphold the vow of poverty since he was not supposed to own anything except the clothes on his back, yet he owned a horse and wore a semi-cope, which was a cape of woolen fabric which was rather luxurious. He dressed nicely and rode on a horse to impress the young ladies. The friar did not stay true the vow of chastity either as he kept his hood stuffed with pins for hair and pocketknives to give to young, pretty girls to seduce them. In addition, "He knew the taverns well in every town, and every innkeeper and barmaid too, better than the lepers, beggars and that crew." Chaucer's friar was a very corrupt, immoral person who broke the vows of chastity and poverty, leading him to break the vow of obedience. Also, he was very prideful and put himself on a pedestal above the "wretched lepers" and "slum-and-gutter dwellers". He would only associate himself with the "rich and victual-sellers" so he could get them to pay money to the church (which he would pocket for himself).
Based on Chaucer's description of a pardoner, he obviously believed that pardoners of his day were corrupt, and that they broke the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. A pardoner is a church official that pardons people for their sins and sells indulgences and relics. Chaucer says that he "aimed at riding in the latest mode", which implies that he was very worldly instead of Godly, and that he also cared too much about his image, instead of the image of God. Chaucer's pardoner did not appear to uphold the vow of poverty since he sold bogus relics and indulgences for outrageous amounts of money. In Chaucer's description of the pardoner, he shows just how corrupt this pardoner is with this statement "His wallet lay before him on his lap, brimful of pardons come from Rome all hot." In addition, he rode on a horse, and horses are very expensive. This pardoner was gay with Chaucer's summoner, which rules out the possibility of fulfillment of the vow of chastity. The Bible speaks out about homosexuals. Since we know that Chaucer believed this pardoner to be very corrupt, we have reason to believe that if he would cheat people out of their money, he would cheat on his partner, the summoner. Being so corrupt, Chaucer's pardoner had no hope of fulfilling the vow of obedience. He first broke the vows of poverty and chastity, along with cheating people out of their money, and possibly on the summoner.
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In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, one can see that he was very correct and honest with his descriptions of the corruption found within religious figures in during the fourteenth century. He described the various religious figures as being the dirty, deceitful, corrupt, and immoral. One can also see that there were different levels of corruption ranging from the prioress to the pardoner. Whether it is the prioress, who ate a little too much, or the friar who dressed nicely and gave presents to seduce young women, or the pardoner who talked people into feeling that they needed to buy an indulgence or they would go to hell, one sees that Chaucer believed that all of the religious figures of the day were corrupt in some little way.
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