History II / Towns and Commerce, Eleventh to Thirteenth Centuries
Practice question · True or false

The medieval prohibition on usury effectively prevented lending at interest in western Europe.

Hints
  1. Ask what a bill of exchange does to an interest charge.
  2. Prohibitions that are inconvenient tend to reshape practice rather than stop it.
Show the answer

False

Why

False. Credit was pervasive. The prohibition shaped its form, interest was buried in exchange rates, in partnership shares, in rent charges and in penalties for late repayment, rather than suppressing it. The doctrine changed the vocabulary of lending far more than it changed its volume.

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