Anticapitalism and the Emergence of Antisemitism. Stephanie Chasin
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Название: Anticapitalism and the Emergence of Antisemitism

Автор: Stephanie Chasin

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Банковское дело

Серия:

isbn: 9781433170850

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ the transport of people and goods. As pilgrims made their often arduous journeys to view the body parts of saints in cathedrals, and theologians anxiously contemplated the omens in the skies, amber, honey, beeswax, glassware, basalt, metal jewelry, pottery, wool, and wine were carried across Europe. Tastes grew for more exotic items, and so spices (cumin, ginger, cardamom, and saffron) and luxurious textiles, such as silk and toile, arrived at ports from the Mediterranean, Africa, and the Levant. Aristocrats filled their drafty castles with tapestries, lit them with tallow candles, and decorated them with ever more comfortable furniture. They adorned themselves with more colorful and sumptuous textiles and jewels and bought armor to protect themselves in war.1

      There was no power without wealth. Those with power—the monarch, the Church, and the nobility—were usually exempt from taxation and the economic burden in the form of taxation and fines generally fell on the rest of society. In the eleventh century, tallages, or tailles, tended to be imposed spasmodically ←3 | 4→in response to a particular need or event. As expenses grew, rulers looked at all possibilities to replenish their coffers to pay for their wars, household expenses, hospitality, building projects, and the daily running of the kingdom. By the thirteenth century, tallages were usually annual and fixed and yet it was a constant battle to garner more funds without incurring flight, protest, and revolt on the part of the tax-burdened populace. Anxious to avoid rebellion, and aware that taxation was an unpopular method of financing the realm, kings often turned to creditors for loans. But this had one major disadvantage. Moneylenders expected a profit on their cash advance and that, in the eyes of the Church and hence society, was usury.

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