Anticapitalism and the Emergence of Antisemitism. Stephanie Chasin. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Stephanie Chasin
Издательство: Ingram
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Жанр произведения: Банковское дело
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781433170850
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barter, and service-in-kind, that gave the individual little, if any, ability to sell their labor freely. Founded on vassalage and inherited land held by the king and his favored nobles, fiefdoms were granted from lords to their vassals in return for personal service and allegiance. These self-sufficient manorial estates were worked by the villeins—peasants who were subject to the lords—and serfs (a term that came from the Latin servus meaning slave) who were bonded to the feudal estate. But between the twelfth and early fourteenth centuries, those feudal ties would be weakened. Even by the late eleventh century, many goods were being exchanged not by barter but according to the law of the market.2

      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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