The Pardoner and the Commodification of Religion

Looking back on my first blog entry, where I discussed the economic aspects of pilgrimages to Canterbury, I have noticed the reemergence of this theme in the character of the Pardoner and his tale.
It is interesting that the Pardoner openly admits that the relics he peddles are fakes and forgeries (pig bones and common metals). The selling of religious items and relics, along with the related distribution of indulgences and pardons, was an important part of the medieval pilgrimage. Chaucer’s pilgrims would have encountered numerous examples of these practices en route and at their destination. Not only would it have been common along their path, it would have formed an important and integral part of social and economic practices in villages along the way. Canterbury itself would have been a veritable religious marketplace full of Pardoner-like characters.
Because the Pardoner is presented as such a poor example of spiritual purity, it is difficult not to view Chaucer’s inclusion of this character and his “business” as an indictment of the overt commodification of spiritual practices. When this is combined with the content of the Pardoner’s tale, the implications become even more damning. If greed for material possession is sufficient to lead to the demise of the three men, then what fate awaits those that combine this same greed with the corruption of religious traditions and offices?
I think that at this point in the tales Chaucer offers an indirect but scathing criticism of this commodification and by implication the inherent and growing corruption of the church.