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The
Church Condemns Jewish Moneylenders
Christians were
forbidden to charge interest for money they lent to other Christians,
but borrowing was becoming increasingly common in the late Middle
Ages. This created a "niche" for Jewish moneylenders. Their rates
of interest were widely regarded as "heavy and immoderate" by the
Church, which thought lending money should always be an act of charity,
never of business.
The accompanying statement is among those issued by the Fourth
Lateran Council (convened by the pope in 1215) to reduce Christian
dependence on Jewish loans.
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The
more the Christian religion refrains from the exaction of
usury,
the more does the Jewish perfidy become used to this practice,
so that in a short time the Jews
exhaust the financial strength of Christians. Therefore,
in our desire to protect Christians in this matter, that
they should not be excessively oppressed by the Jews, we
order by a decree of this synod that, if henceforth a Jew,
under any pretext, extort heavy and immoderate usury from
a Christian, all relationship with Christians shall be denied
him until he shall have made sufficient amends for his exorbitant
exactions. The Christians, if need be, shall be compelled
by ecclesiastical punishment without appeal to abstain from
such commerce.
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