monti di pieta,

The “Monti di Pietà” were charitable institutions that emerged in Italy during the Middle Ages, primarily to offer financial assistance to individuals in need, through the provision of low-interest loans secured by pawned goods. The first of such institutions was founded in Perugia in 1462. The concept was motivated by a desire to provide an ethical lending alternative to the usurious practices prevalent at the time, especially those conducted by moneylenders.

Monti di Pietà were a significant development in the history of banking and social welfare. They aimed to combat poverty and usury by providing a more humane lending service to the poor. Clients could pawn their belongings in exchange for loans at minimal interest rates, which were often used to cover basic needs or to get through difficult times until they could redeem their pawned items.

Over time, some of these institutions evolved into modern banks, while others continued their original charitable functions. The Monti di Pietà played a crucial role in the economic and social fabric of many Italian cities and had a profound impact on the development of ethical banking practices.

This was imitated by other princes. At that time, with the destruction of the Jews, the cruelest usurers, and the institution of monti di pieta, xxsury was almost totally extinguished and the common populace had thus
been calmed. At the same time, it was astonishing to see the sharpest minds emerge to protect and sustain usury, already dead by this time, and despite the fact that it had not been defended by anyone even when it
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R brief n&rration of the controvert sies on usury.
was alive.

In the sixteenth century, with the discovery of the new Indies, the growth of the arts, of industry, of trade, and of money, the institution of rents on the states debts was used for the first time, by
Francis, the first, the king of Franc

On rents

Since ancient times, men of wealth have drawn fruits from money by means of various forms of con­
tracts.