Indulgences and relics are two characteristics of medieval piety. Indulgences are tied to a certain idea of the pardon of God who is portrayed as an offended judge. Every fault, even a forgiven one, merits reparation. To avoid too great a punishment after death and obtain in some way the "indulgence" of the divine judge, the penitents are going to draw on "the treasure of graces" of the saints and cover themselves with their merits. By virtue of Christian solidarity (also called the communion of saints), the weakest lean on the strongest, so as to have access to God. This practice gave way to such excesses as trafficking in money, causes of scandal. But the practice of indulgences correctly understood remains strong in the church, as the Holy Year Jubilee 1983 reminds us.

As for relics, they were the object of very fervent devotions. In fact, people attributed to the remains of the saint a power like that possessed during their early life. Having the relics of a saint in a town was thus to be assured of the saint's protection. And those who didn't have any bought them, or got hold of them in some way. They did this so much that a veritable traffic in relics, real or fake, soon starts and even thefts will not be rare. The church reacted by recovering many, forbidding the veneration of any object not recognized by authorities. But popular fervor often won out in this area.