But—a fact of far greater importance—their resources, which seemed practically inexhaustible, enabled them to supply money to the English Kings for nearly two hundred years.
They lent money at high rates of interest; but, as usury was forbidden by the Church, and a thing hateful and in bad repute, they disguised the real nature of their transactions. The actual money advanced was repaid without any interest; but the lender was paid by various arrangements called by different names, but all meaning the same thing, though of course there was no affectation of not understanding the true nature of the transaction. The Italians were regarded, especially by ecclesiastics, with detestation. Matthew Paris says of them:—
“In these days prevailed the horrible nuisance of the Caursines, to such a degree that there was hardly any one in all England, especially among the bishops, who was not caught in their net. Even the King himself was held indebted to them in an incalculable sum of money. For they circumvented the needy in their necessities, cloaking their usury under the show of trade, and pretending not to know that whatever is added to the principal is usury, under whatever name it may be called. For it is manifest that their loans lie not in the path of charity, inasmuch as they do not hold out a helping hand to the poor to relieve them, but to deceive them; not to aid others in their starvation, but to gratify their own covetousness.” (Giles’s translation.)
He gives also a specimen of their ordinary form of agreement:—
“To all who shall see the present writings—the Prior and Convent of .... Health in the Lord.... Be it known to you that we have received on loan, at London, for the purpose of usefully settling matters concerning us and our church, from such an one, and such an one, for themselves and their partners, citizens and merchants of the city of ..., 104 marks of good and lawful money sterling, each mark being computed at 13 shillings and 4 pence sterling. For which 104 marks, we, in our own name and in the name of our church, do declare that we are quit, and do protest that we are fully paid, altogether renouncing any exception of the money not being reckoned, and paid, and handed over to us, and also the exception that the said money has not been converted to our own uses and to the uses of our church. And the aforesaid one hundred and four marks sterling, in the manner and to the number aforesaid, to be reckoned to the said merchants, or to one of them, or to their certain emissary, who shall bring with him these present letters, on the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, namely, the first day of the month of August, at the New Temple, London, in the year of our Lord’s incarnation one thousand two hundred and thirty-five, we promise by lawful covenant, and bind ourselves, in our own name and in that of our church, that we will pay and discharge in full. Adding moreover this condition, that if the aforesaid money shall not be paid and discharged at the place and term aforesaid, as has been said, we promise from that time, at the term always before completed, and bind ourselves by the same covenant, to give and render to the aforesaid merchants, or their certain emissary, every two months, for every ten marks, one mark of the said money, in recompense for losses, which losses and expenses these merchants might incur or receive therefrom, so that the losses and expenses and principal may effectually be claimed, as they have been stated above, and the expenses of one merchant, with one horse and one servant, wherever the merchant shall be, until the full payment of all the aforesaid. And the expenses incurred and to be incurred, for recovering the same money, we will render and restore to the same merchants, or one of them, or their certain emissary. Which recompense for losses, interest, and expenses, we promise the said merchants in no wise shall be reckoned towards the principal of the said debt; and not to keep back the said debt under pretence of the above-mentioned recompense, against the will of the aforesaid merchants, beyond the term aforesaid. For all which articles aforesaid, firmly and wholly to be fulfilled, and inviolably to be observed, we bind ourselves and our church, and our successors, and all our goods and those of our church, movable and immovable, ecclesiastical and temporal, in possession and hereafter to be in possession, wherever they shall be found, to the said merchants and their heirs, until the full payment of all the aforesaid; which goods we hereby recognise that we possess from them by a precarious tenure. And we consent on all the aforesaid to be convened in all places, and before any tribunal, and do renounce, for all the aforesaid for ourselves and our successors, all the aid of law, both canon and civil, the privilege both of clerkship and of court, the letter of Saint Adrian, every custom and statute, all letters, indulgences, and privileges obtained, or to be hereafter obtained from the Apostolic See for the King of England and all the people of his kingdom, the constitution De duabus dietis, the benefit of full repayment, the benefit of appeal and of recusation, the inhibitory letters of the King of England, and all other exception, real and personal, which might be objected against this instrument or deed. All these things we promise faithfully shall be observed. In testimony of which matter we have thought it right to affix our seals to this present writing. Done on the fifth day of Elphege, in the year of grace MCCXXXV.”—(Matthew Paris, Giles’s translation, pp. 2-4.)
The rate of interest, it will be seen, was 60 per cent per annum.
In that same year—1235—the Bishop of London “perceiving that the Caursines openly multiplied their usury without shame and led a most filthy life, harassing the Religious with various injuries and amassing heaps of riches from the numbers who were forced to submit to their yoke,” arose and admonished them to desist from their practices and to do penance for their misdeeds. But what is a Bishop of London compared with the Pope of Rome? The Caursini laughed at the Bishop; they appealed to Rome; they procured an order that the Bishop, then old and ill, should repair to Rome with his complaints. The Bishop, therefore, said no more.
In the year 1251, proceedings were taken against some of them. They have the air of being a concession to popular prejudice, and also as a means of raising money for the King.
Again, to quote Matthew Paris:—
“The Transalpine usurers whom we call Caursins were so multiplied and became so rich that they built noble palaces for themselves at London, and determined to take up a permanent abode there, like the native-born citizens; and the prelates did not dare to murmur, as they, the Caursins, asserted that they were the agents of the Pope; nor did the citizens dare to express their discontent, as these men were protected by the favour of certain nobles, whose money, as was reported, they put out to amass interest after the fashion of the Roman Court. However, about this time, by the wish and instrumentality of the King, heavy accusations were made against them in the civil courts, and were brought to trial before a judge, and whilst some one in London sat as judge on the part of the King, who accused them, they were charged with being schismatics, heretics, and guilty of treason against the King, because, although they professed themselves Christians, they had most evidently polluted the kingdom of England with their base trade of usury; at which the most Christian King complained that he was deeply wounded in conscience, as he had sworn to preserve uninjured the holy institutes of the Church. As the Caursins could not deny the charge, some of them were seized and committed to prison, and others concealed themselves in out-of-the-way places. At this proceeding the Jews were rejoiced, as they had now participators in their state of slavery. At length, however, by the payment of a large sum of money, these Caursins, the rivals of the Jews, were allowed to be at peace for a time. One of them had told me, the writer of this work, of these matters, and declared on his oath, that if they had not built these costly houses at London, scarcely one of them would have remained in England.”