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There were a few tricks and workarounds: for instance you could lend money for a very short period of time, say 30 days, and agree between lender and debtor upon penalties if the money was not paid back within these 30 days; the penalties would grow over time and thus you had the same economic effect as interest without having formally any interest rate. Another trick was already deplored by pope Clement IV in 1260s: Inorder to get 50.000 pounds credit he had to sign for 100.000 pounds. This disagio was of course nothing else than a disguised interest payable in advance.
Karl-Georg Schon
-----Original
Message-----
From: medieval-religion -
Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Rosemary Hayes-Milligan & Andrew Milligan
Sent: Freitag, 30. Dezember 2005
20:09
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] usury and the
church
The church continued to condemn usury and no Christian was supposed to be involved in it. This is reputedly why Jews became money lenders (one of the few occupations not barred to them) and thus unpopular. I forget how the later Itlalian bankers got round the rules but, no doubt, someone will enlighten us.
Rosemary Hayes
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask]">Sharon Dale
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 5:33 PM
Subject: [M-R] usury and the church
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Sapienti: In reading a book review this AM,
I came upon the following:
Mr. Stark sneaks in one of his most intriguing theories late in the book. He notes that soon after the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312, he began showering the church with money and privileges, making it an attractive career for the upper classes. The "church of piety," run by dedicated, poorly paid and ascetic clergy, gave way to the "church of power," which was far less likely to impede the growth of commerce. Had the church of piety prevailed, he writes, "Christianity probably would have continued to denounce usury and to oppose profit and materialism in general, just as Islam still does."
What was the Church's view of usury in the middle ages? Happy New Year to all. Best, Sharon
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