Usury In The Inferno: Auditing Dante's Debt To The Scholastics
Comitatus 42:89-114 (2011)
| Abstract | There is a close connection between Dante’s portrayal of usury in the Inferno and wider scholastic argumentation on the subject. Reading Dante’s account in light of the scholastic critique of usury reveals a conceptual depth and clarity to the former which has, in the absence of such a reading, remained unfortunately opaque. Dante’s treatment is informed by three of the four main scholastic arguments against usury, which are cen- tered around the themes of the nature and purpose of money, the relation between labor and a just recompense, and the medieval vision of society as an harmonious whole. Each of these themes are weaved by Dante into his poem in a range of diverse ways, yet the final (social) element is arguably a unifying factor. In this regard, his account of usury can be read in continuity with other critiques of ‘bad commerce’ which are in evidence throughout the Inferno. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Dante Alighieri Inferno Divine Comedy Scholasticism Scholastic Economics Usury Economic History Medieval Usury Prohibition Medieval Literature Medieval Theology | |||||||||
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