While the church forbade Christians to lend money at interest, the expanding European economy required capital for investment. With few other professions open to them, Jews took a leading role in moneylending. The Christians who borrowed from them, sometimes at times of great personal need, often resented having to pay interest for loans.

A Jewish moneylender deceives a Christian customer
about the wieght of a silver goblet.
Detail from a manuscript, Spain, late 13th cen.
(J. Paul Getty Museum)