The Summoner and the Knight are very different characters in many ways, the most important of which is the moral and spiritual differences between them. Although the Summoner is associated with the clergy, his job and method of carrying it out are not so holy: a Summoner was in charge of Summoning laymen to ecclesiastical courts for moral offences, but many took advantage of this position of power to swindle people, shown by the sentence, �Ful prively a fynch eek koude he pulle�, and often to win �a quart of wyn� in exchange for hushing up an offence. However, as becomes apparent later in the portrait, most of the Church system was corrupt, shown in this phrase spoken by the Summoner, �For in his purs he sholde ypunysshed be�, which exposes even the Archdeacon�s willingness to accept bribes. The Knight however, is harsh contrast to the villainous Summoner is full of �worthynesse�. He has fought in many great battles and recently returned �from his viage� (crusade), only to continue straight onto a pilgrimage. This shows us that the Knight is a far more spiritiually oriented character and is taking a pilgrimage for genuine reasons, unlike the more natural Summoner, who is perhaps aiming to make money. The Knight has many good qualities and adjectives to describe him, yet one stands out by its repetition: worthy (repeated in some form five times). This is the standpoint by which all the other characters are marked: whether they are �parfit� or unworthy.
