Geoffrey Chaucer was a master of the "shady" character. But if you look closely at the General Prologue, one guy stands out as a total disaster of a human being. We’re talking about the Friar from The Canterbury Tales. His name is Hubert. Most people just skim past the middle English and see a jolly guy who likes a drink, but Hubert is actually a predator in a religious robe.
He’s a "limiter." That’s a specific job title. It means he had a licensed territory where he was the only one allowed to beg. Think of it like a franchise, but for God. Except Hubert wasn't interested in the "God" part as much as the "profit" part.
The Friar from The Canterbury Tales and the Art of the Grift
Hubert is smooth. Chaucer describes him as "wanton and merry," which is basically 1300s-speak for "this guy is a party animal who sleeps around." Honestly, the way he operates is brilliant in a terrifying way. He doesn't just ask for spare change. He targets the people who can't afford to give.
Chaucer tells us that Hubert would extract a farthing from a poor widow even if she didn't have shoes on her feet. That’s cold. He used his "sweet" singing voice and a feigned lisp—which he thought made him sound aristocratic and cute—to manipulate people into opening their purses.
He was also a regular at the local taverns. He knew the innkeepers and barmaids way better than he knew the lepers or the beggars he was actually supposed to be helping. Why? Because there's no money in helping sick people. Hubert followed the cash. He hung out with "franklins" (rich landowners) and "worthy women."
The Marriage Scandal You Probably Missed
Here is the darkest part of the Friar from The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer mentions that Hubert had "made full many a marriage / Of young women at his own cost."
At first glance, you might think, "Oh, what a nice guy, he’s paying for weddings!"
Wrong.
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The subtext here is scandalous. In the 14th century, a friar "paying for a wedding" usually meant he had gotten a girl pregnant and needed to marry her off quickly to someone else to cover his tracks. He was using the money he begged from the poor to pay for the dowries of the women he’d seduced. It’s a systemic abuse of power that feels shockingly modern.
Why Hubert Hated the Summoner
If you’ve read the actual Friar’s Tale, you know it’s basically one long middle finger to the Summoner. These two characters absolutely loathe each other. It’s a battle of the bottom-feeders.
The Summoner was an official who hauled people into church court for "crimes" like adultery. The Friar’s beef with him isn't about morality—it’s about market share. They were both competing for the same pool of "sin money."
Hubert’s story is about a summoner who meets the devil. They go on a little road trip together, and the summoner tries to teach the devil how to be better at extortion. Eventually, the devil drags the summoner to hell because the summoner is actually more heartless than Satan himself. It’s a classic "takes one to know one" situation.
A Master of Easy Penance
One reason the Friar from The Canterbury Tales was so popular with the wealthy was his "easy" approach to confession.
In the medieval church, if you committed a sin, you had to do penance. This usually involved fasting, praying, or some form of public shame. Hubert changed the game. He basically told his "clients" that if they gave him money, their repentance was proven.
"Instead of weeping and prayers," he’d say, "just give some silver to the poor friars."
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By "poor friars," he meant himself. He was essentially selling "Get Out of Hell Free" cards. This made him the favorite of every wealthy sinner in town. He was a "pleasant absolution-giver." If you were a rich guy who cheated on his wife, Hubert was your best friend because he wouldn't judge you as long as your gold was good.
The Physicality of Corruption
Chaucer uses physical descriptions to tell us who these people really are. Hubert has a neck that is "white as a lily."
Now, in 1387, having a lily-white neck didn't mean you used a lot of sunscreen. It meant you were soft. It meant you didn't work outside. It meant you spent your days indoors eating good food and drinking wine while the peasants you were supposed to be serving were out in the sun turning leather-brown.
He also wore a "double-worsted" semi-cope. This was a fancy, expensive cloak that held its shape like a bell. It wasn't the threadbare rag a vow-of-poverty friar should be wearing. It was a designer label. Hubert looked more like a Pope or a Lord than a humble beggar.
He even carried "knives and pins" to give to pretty young wives. He was basically a traveling salesman of trinkets, using small gifts to get his foot in the door (and more) with the local women.
Is the Friar Realistic?
You might wonder if Chaucer was just being a hater. Was the medieval church really this corrupt?
Historians like E. Power and G.G. Coulton have pointed out that "Friar-bashing" was a massive literary trend in the 1300s. People were frustrated. The Mendicant Orders (friars) had started out as a radical, poverty-focused movement under St. Francis of Assisi. But by Chaucer’s time, they had become a massive, wealthy bureaucracy.
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Hubert represents the peak of this decline. He’s the personification of the "corrupt professional." He takes a holy calling and turns it into a business model.
Spotting the Modern Hubert
The reason the Friar from The Canterbury Tales still resonates is that we see him everywhere today. He’s the "guru" who sells you a life-changing course that just happens to cost your entire savings. He’s the politician who claims to represent the working class while taking lobbyists' money for private jets.
Hubert is the "smooth talker." He’s the guy who uses his charm to mask the fact that he is taking everything you have.
Key takeaways from Hubert’s character:
- Professionalism as a mask. Just because someone has the "credentials" (the robe, the license) doesn't mean they have the integrity.
- The danger of "easy" solutions. Hubert’s "easy penance" was a scam. Real growth and restitution usually require more than just writing a check.
- Watch the neck. Metaphorically speaking, look for the "white necks"—the people who benefit from systems of labor they don't actually participate in.
If you want to truly understand Hubert, go back and read the General Prologue, but ignore the "religious" context. Read him like a profile of a modern-day white-collar criminal. The "tippets" full of knives, the lisp, the "twinkling eyes" like stars on a frosty night—it’s all a performance.
To dive deeper into this, compare Hubert to the Parson. The Parson is the only actually "good" religious figure in the book. He walks everywhere. He gives his own money to his parishioners. He lives the gospel he preaches. The Parson is the "control group" that proves just how radioactive the Friar really is.
Check out the The Friar's Tale next time you want a masterclass in how to use a story to destroy your enemies. It’s petty, it’s brilliant, and it’s why Chaucer is still the goat.
Analyze the Friar's speech patterns in the text; notice how he uses "courteous" language to distract from his predatory behavior. Pay close attention to his interaction with the Wife of Bath—it shows his social maneuvering in real-time. Finally, look at the "limiter" laws of the 14th century to see just how much Hubert was breaking the actual rules of his order.