Religious / philosophical context

The Pardoner's Tale and underlying beliefs

The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale can be read at many different levels. To appreciate fully the humour and power of these texts, it is helpful to understand contemporary beliefs about God and about human behaviour, some of which may not be familiar to readers today. Awareness of these beliefs helps us to appreciate how the Pardoner would have been viewed by his contemporaries.

In this section:

• Medieval beliefs about sin and forgiveness
• Medieval attitudes to poverty and wealth
• The role of a pardoner
• Pilgrims and pilgrimage
• Death and mutability