In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer paints an interesting picture of the medieval church. The Christian Church provided leadership for the people of Western Europe. Saint Augustine was not the most diplomatic of men, and managed to antagonize many people of power who had never been particularly eager to save the souls of the Anglo-Saxons who had brought such bitter times to their people. When Augustine died, Christianity had only an unstable hold on Anglo-Saxon England. …showed first 75 words of 1476 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1476 total…renounced all their worldly belongings and by taking vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The friar used his profits from absolving sinners to buy trinkets for the women, and was only a companion to those who were wealthy. The pardoner, the worst of the bunch, sold pardons to the townspeople for economic reason only. The people of this society made up the church, and those same people became the personalities in the pilgrimage to Canterbury.