Canterbury

Did The Pardoner Sell Indulgences?

Chaucer’s Pardoner sold such indulgences, although it is not mentioned that he actually gave out written letters by way of receipt. For the Church, having indulgences printed meant a rationalisation of an otherwise labour-intensive procedure. What did the Pardoner sell? The cynical Pardoner explains in a witty prologue that he sells indulgences—ecclesiastical pardons of sins—and …

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