Credit, creditors, and moneylending in late Byzantine Constantinople

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the operations of Byzantine moneylenders and their relations with their debtors from the 6th to the 15th century, with a special focus on the 14th century. By examining the credit transactions in the Byzantine Empire, it intends to uncover the identities and motivations of the lenders and the borrowers. The Byzantine Empire was the only medieval state in which lending money at interest was permitted without any conditions. The Byzantine Church, on the other hand, forbade the clergy to charge interest due to its negative attitude toward usury. Many theologians and intellectuals condemned interest and usury, especially after the 11th century, on social and moral grounds. There were professional and non-professional moneylenders who provided cash for the money market. The jurisdictional decisions of the patriarchal court in 14th -century Constantinople offer vital information about the identities and the operations of both the creditors and the debtors. These documents show that the banking community of Palaiologan Constantinople consisted of people who came from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Similarly, the group of borrowers included not only people from the lowest social strata, but also members of the aristocracy. Moreover, the documents reveal that the Church tried to protect poor debtors who could not pay off their debts as well as wives of deceased debtors who were harassed by creditors trying to compensate the debt through their dowries.