Final answer:
The Friar in 'The Canterbury Tales' earns his living primarily through donations solicited due to his sociable nature and from the dispensations granted by the church. He is portrayed as using his ecclesiastical powers and charm to gain financial benefits, suggesting a mercenary-like approach to his clerical duties.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the Friar, named Hubert, is one of the characters introduced in the General Prologue whose means of earning a living is depicted with a mixture of admiration and satire. Chaucer describes the Friar as a lively and pleasant man well accustomed to the taverns and bars, thereby suggesting he is more familiar with the social scene than the solitary life of devotion expected of his vocation. This detail is key to understanding how he earns his living - using his sociable nature and the dispensations of the church.
While the text does not provide explicit line numbers to indicate precisely how the Friar earns his living, Chaucer tells us that he is the finest beggar of his batch, which implies that his income is largely derived from solicited donations ("He knew the taverns well in every town"), further accentuating that this clergyman prefers the company of wealthy sinners over the sick and needy.
Indeed, Chaucer notes that the Friar had arranged full many a marriage of young women, and done so at his own expense - albeit, laughter is implied here because 'expense' might mean earning something in return ("And he had power of confession, / As stated by his Order’s more and less, / And of his craft, from Berwick south to Ware, / There was no such another pardoner"). These lines convey that the Friar uses his ecclesiastical powers for financial gain.
The poem tells us that he was one to give easy penance if he saw a potential for monetary gain, indicating his mercenary nature ("For to a poor Order for to give / Is sign that a man is well y-shrive"). By emphasizing his amicable and indulgent character, Chaucer paints a picture of a Friar more interested in personal profit than spiritual guidance, with a practice built upon the manipulation of those seeking comfort and penance.