Canterbury Tales-A personal perspective on the Medieval Christian Church

Canterbury Tales-A personal perspective on the Medieval Christian Church In researching Geoffrey Chaucer’s collection of stories named The Canterbury Tales, an interesting illustration of the Medieval Church becomes evident. A crooked society exists within the corrupt, medieval church community. Not all of the clergy’s intentions were corrupt, but as Chaucer, through his character the Pardoner,so well put it,“Radix malorum est cupiditas”, ( Love of money is the root of all evil). Many …

…amount of good-faith and sincerity that lies within the church at that time. The significant point being that since the church did have such an influence on society, it was quite difficult to freely express one’s view on the church if it happened to be in a negative light. That’s why Chaucer is considered a pioneer. He was a realist that wrote about the truth of corruption that occurred in the religious world.