14 Jun 2022 5:22 pm
The Roman Catholic Church was opposed to Christians lending money at interest.Monderegal » 14 Jun 2022, 2:58 pm » wrote: ↑ Hebrews were the only source for loans in Europe for a period (I think it was the Middle Ages) from I have read. That's probably why there are so many Jewish banking families in Europe such as the Rothschilds. You had to go to the Jews for money and a lot of Jews got rich. I hope I'm using good terminology here.
The Jews were prohibited from lending money at interest--- but to other Jews.
So economic development was very constrained until the Protestants came along.
I do not think that all Jews, or even most Jews, got rich from lending money.
Jews were permitted only a few careers, such as buying and selling used stuff, clothing in particular. From there tailoring became a common profession. They also pioneered the pawnshop business and that is how they got into the diamond cutting trade.
The less control the Church had over the people, the more careers opened up for Jews.