Anticapitalism and the Emergence of Antisemitism. Stephanie Chasin

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Anticapitalism and the Emergence of Antisemitism - Stephanie Chasin


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was growing and it would not be long before Christians would clamor to enter into the field of moneylending, even if it was officially prohibited to practice usury by religious and secular authorities. But, until that time, this meant that for a brief time at the end of the eleventh and early-twelfth century Jews were dominant in the field of moneylending in Western Europe. This is one reason why, despite the long and hostile association between Jews and usury that stretched back to antiquity, it was not until the twelfth century that serious debates about interest loans occurred in Western Europe. It was not until that time that the Lateran councils began to proscribe usury and issue punishment for those involved.

      In the Church’s efforts to keep Christians free from the sin of usury, an effort doomed to failure after the Italian Christians took up usury, the Jewish moneylenders played a key role. Theoretically, they provided the capital necessary for economic growth while ensuring that Christians kept their souls pure and their hands clean, spiritually untainted by the “immoral” profession. Christians could benefit from the results of usury, but they could not be seen to be practicing it. They could take loans off Jews while condemning them for immoral practices. They could assure themselves that participation in such a vile profession substantiated claims that Jews were spiritually bereft. It was a grand deceit. Because almost everyone—directly or indirectly—was involved in usury.

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