Chaucer's Disapproval of the Church

Disapproval of the Church

When reading “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffry Chaucer you get an insight into how Chaucer viewed the church and his feelings on the clergy. Chaucer communicates through “The Prologue” how he felt about the corrupt practices among the clergy, that my his time had already damaged the reputation of the church.
Chaucer used devices such as irony and satire as tools of commentary, mocking religious figures. Mockery toward the church can be seen in “The Prologue” when the monk is introduced, showing how he bent the rules of his cloister to go hunting, and the pardoner, who sold indulgences. In Chaucer's time the church was selling indulgences, or certificates issued by the pope claiming to reduce or cancel punishment in the next life. When the Canterbury Tales introduces the pardoner you get a glimpse of what Chaucer thought about the practice of selling indulgences and relics, which were just props used to shake the crowd for more offering money. Many preachers in real life, like Chaucer's pardoner, sold both indulgences and relics, at the same time abuse in the church was leading to the selling offices of the church to the highest bidder, which would let unmoral, uneducated, or even illiterate people gain standing in the church. Chaucer gives the impression through “The Prologue” and the introduction of characters that he does not trust the clergy. Showing how the pardoner used his relics and sermons to drive the crowd to give him more money, and how the monk bent the rules of his cloister, a place for religious seclusion, to leave and go hunting. I don't feel Chaucer was at all to harsh in his criticism of the church, in the time of Chaucer corrupt actions in the church had damaged it's reputation enough that even as the powerful institution it was at the time, it was in no way uncalled for. Reading “The Prologue” Chaucer criticizes the clergy but he cannot easily be labeled as a critic simply because he never sketched what a better clergyman would be. Only guesses can be made at what he would have thought a better clergyman would have been by the virtues he criticizes in his story. Perhaps Chaucer would have thought that a good clergyman would be charitable, like the parson even though not a member of the clergy, a man who truly practiced what he preached so to speak.
It is apparent throughout “The Prologue” of “The Canterbury Tales” that Chaucer held the church in low respect. In a contradiction he also told deeply moving, sincere tales of the church, and had a personal devotion to the virgin Mary. Chaucer had more than enough reason to criticize the church as hard as he did. Considering the corruption in church such as the selling of relics and pardons to the selling of offices in the church. Partially because of this corruption and the way he wrote characters who were involved in the church you get a feeling Chaucer neither trusted or liked the members of the church. The nun is the only character associated with the church in “The Canterbury Tales” that he doesn't write to be corrupt and only caring about money, if a member of the clergy had similar traits to this character and the parson Chaucer may have believed them to be a good clergyman, but as Chaucer himself never said we can only speculate, and will never truly know.