The Vices of the Clergy

A detailed Summary of The Vices of the Clergy

The Vices of the Clergy...

The period of the Medieval brought to a us a series of great literature. Much of the literature is now lost, due to many years of re-telling. The surviving tales, however, tell about the life of the era. The Medieval period, which lasted from 1100-1500, brought many stories and epic poems. Geoffrey Chaucer, during the period, had created his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales. This poem illustrates how the Medievel period was a time of corrupt, power hungry people, that were characters of sloth, greed, and gluttony.

The first sin often displayed by the characters is sloth. The Oxford Cleric demonstrated this particular sin throughout the poem. The Oxford Cleric was guilty of sloth in that "He found no preferment in the church, and he was too unworldly to make search for secular employment." (302-304) The Oxford Cleric was also a man of sloth due to the fact that, "Whatever money from his friends he took he spent on learning or another book and prayed for them most earnestly, returning thanks

to them thus for paying for his learning," (309-312) instead of advising them to repent for their sins. The Summoner, another character, was also a man of slothful value. "He would allow for just a quart of wine, Any young lad to keep a concubine," (665-666) demonstrates his sluggardly beliefs. The Summoner had created a way for himself to be a slothful person. Instead of punishing people for their sins, he let them go in return for some wine.

The characters of the tale were quite corrupted. Not only were they slothful, but perhaps even worse they were taken much by greed. The Pardoner, a greed hungry character, often would do bizarre activities in order to receive money. He was a greedy man in the way that , "He'd have to preach and tune his honey-tongue, And (well he could) win silver from the crowd, That's why he sang merrily and loud," (731-732) he would expect to gain money from his signing. He was also a greedy man due to the fact that, "He had a cross of metal set with stones and in a glass a rubble of pigs' bones, and with these relics

Some common words found in the essay are:
Oxford Cleric, Vices Clergy, Canterbury Tales, Cantebury Tales, Medieval Period, Geoffrey Chaucer, oxford cleric, medieval period, sloth greed gluttony, greed gluttony, sloth greed, characters sloth, cantebury tales, throughout poem, gain money, demonstrated gluttony,

Approximate Word count = 712
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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The Vices of the Clergy

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