In his book, Rowan Dorin examines the connection between the accusation of usury and expulsion. To this end, he combines investigations into the expulsion of Jewish and “foreign” moneylenders with a detailed analysis of the origin and dissemination of the Second Council of Lyon’s decree Usurarum voraginem (1274).
In chapter 1, Dorin analyzes the foundations of his study: the expulsion of “others” as a general concept, the role of the Jews in medieval Christian thought, and the development of the definition of usury as something “individually sinful, socially threatening, and economically destructive” (36). The chapter spans the period from early attempts to sanction usury (c. 1139) to later theologians arguing in favor of even more severe penalties (refusal of communion, alms, and church burial), such as Peter the Chanter and Robert of Courçon. While these discussions and sanctions were not primarily directed against Jews, Jewish moneylenders came increasingly into focus after the Fourth Lateran Council and its decree Quanto amplius; Cahorsins and Lombards were a center of ecclesiastical concern from the mid-thirteenth century onwards.
In the next two chapters, “Inventing Expulsion,” Dorin analyzes the expulsions in England (chapter 2) and France (chapter 3) from the mid-twelfth century to the 1270s. These expulsions targeted both Jews and other population groups, for example, mercenaries and merchants in England, where fiscal considerations and “outside pressure” from barons and xenophobic outbreaks (e.g., in 1263, pp. 77-78) were at the core of royal policy. In France, King Louis IX (the Pious)’s reasons centered more on the religious idea of the sinfulness of usury (and his fear of compliance as their overlord).
Chapters 4 and 5 are again devoted more to theoretical foundations, in particular, the Second Council of Lyon 1274 (chapter 4), which with the decree Usurarum voraginem more or less ordered “authorities across western Christendom […] to banish foreign usurers from their jurisdictions” (108), and the subsequent use of synods, summas, and sermons to spread these denouncements of usury, which as of 1298 were canon law, but received and accepted to differing degrees (chapter 5).
Chapter 6 focuses on the political translation of Usurarum voraginem, namely the expulsions of both the “merchant usurers” (England) and the Lombards (France), as well as the expulsions of Jewish inhabitants in 1290 (England) and 1291-1306 (France). In contrast, chapter 7 examines the many reasons why usury was rarely used as a reason for expulsion in Italy and the Holy Roman Empire, such as the territorial rulers’ claim of jurisdiction over the foreign and Jewish moneylenders, and the papal stance(s), which oscillated between strict enforcement (Boniface VIII, who in 1298 included Usurarum voraginem in his Liber Sextus) and “giv[ing] up the fight against usury” (Clement VI, p. 193). Chapter 8 is dedicated to the different interpretations of Usurarum voraginem in relation to the expulsions of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Italy and Spain.
Dorin’s book is much more than a (chronological) analysis of theoretical concepts of usury and their translation into actual policy. While anti-Jewish polemics and the expulsion of Jewish inhabitants have been and still are the focus of intense scholarly attention, the connection with Christian usurers has rarely been the subject of detailed investigation, and never before has it been examined in such a systematic and in-depth way. His analysis of the expulsion of “foreigners” as a political concept and instrument, which he traces from the twelfth century onwards with England as the pioneer, is also largely new academic territory.
Five maps help visualize the text; these and the appendices “Timeline of Expulsions of Jews and Christian Usurers” and “Usury and Expulsion in Local Ecclesiastical Legislation” are enormously helpful for further research and teaching. The end points of the two lists, 1350 and 1400, respectively, are understandable from a working point of view; a continuation up to 1492 (the time frame of the book) would of course have been desirable. The reviewer would also have liked the section on the German-speaking world to be more extensive, but she is aware that her wish is mainly based on her own geographical specialization. The only real criticism is the lack of a separate bibliography, which was probably beyond the author’s control.
Last but, in the reviewer’s opinion, definitely not least, Dorin’s book is exciting to read. With his well-chosen examples (which also show his detailed knowledge), Dorin not only illustrates his scientific statements but also arouses curiosity and keeps the reader in suspense; by embedding both examples and statements in larger contexts, his book is immensely enriching. It can therefore only be wholeheartedly recommended.
