What was a pardoner like in the middle ages?

In the Middle Ages, a pardoner was a church official authorized to sell papal indulgences, which were documents that granted forgiveness of sins. Pardoners were often seen as corrupt and greedy, as they would sometimes exploit people's fears of damnation to make money. Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale" is a famous literary depiction of a pardoner's questionable morals and actions.