The councils on usury

Five councils in 170 years defining usury as a sin — and Lateran III conceding in its own text that the practice is so firmly rooted that many practise it as if it were permitted.

In plain words

From 1139 to 1311 five church councils call lending at interest a sin, and one admits in its own text that the practice is so rooted that many treat it as allowed. It was never a wall; it was a licence, held by the same body issuing the ban.

The mechanism

NOT A WALL, A LICENSING REGIME — and the licence was held by the body issuing the prohibitions. The canons are aimed at Christians; Lyon 1274's expulsion order meant Lombards, Cahorsins and Tuscans

How it was checked

• EvidenceT7 PRIMARY DOCUMENT / MEASUREMENT; Status: COMMITTED; a capture
• Letter eraTHE CAPTURE 313 to 1302
• SourcesPRIMARY DOCUMENT — the conciliar canons themselves