150 Popes and Jews, 1095–1291
to the chroniclers Roger Howden and Guillaume le Breton, Robert and Fulk both
railed against money-lending while promoting the Fifth Crusade in France.92
Robert preached that usury was evil, that it should not be used to finance military
campaigns, and that the elimination of all usurers would benefit the Church and
Christian society.93 This antagonized not only members of the French clergy
but also Philip Augustus, who derived much money from taxing Christian and,
increasingly, also Jewish moneylenders,94 and was made anxious by Robert’s
inflammatory sermons.95 indeed his preaching had such an impact that the king
and various of his nobles made a formal complaint to Rome. in response innocent
attempted to reconcile and mollify the opposing parties;96 yet he also reproved the
king for condemning the actions of his legate, emphasizing that the rapid growth
of usury was of particular concern to the papacy because Christians were oppressed
by excessive interest, and stating categorically that unless immoderate usury was
prohibited, there would be insufficient money raised from churches, by knights
and by others, to subsidize the new crusade to the near east:
... since in your kingdom the pest of usury has grown to unusual proportions, con-
suming and devouring the potentialities of the churches, the knights, and of many
others to such an extent that, unless an effective medicine be found for so great a disease,
there would not be enough for a subsidy to the Holy Land... 97
This letter did not specifically mention money-lending by Jews, which may suggest
that innocent was primarily concerned to oppose any lending at interest.
nevertheless, both Robert of Courçon and innocent himself must have been well
aware of the existence of many earlier papal decrees and letters, such as ‘Quantum
praedecessores’ of eugenius iii, which prohibited Christians from money-lending
and which, by discouraging Christians from the practice, had helped ensure
increasing numbers of specifically Jewish moneylenders.98 Philip Augustus’s anger
at Robert’s preaching reveals just how much kings and nobles had come to rely on
taxing the profits of Jewish usury and the important role which Jews played in the
economic growth of the French kingdom.
92 Roger of Hoveden, Chronica 4, ed. w. stubbs, Rolls series 51 (London, 1871; Kraus Reprint,
1964), pp.76–7; Henri-François delaborde, Oeuvres de Rigord et de Guillaume le Breton, Vol. 1 (Paris,
1882), pp.303–4. see stow, Alienated Minority, pp.224–5; Jordan, The French Monarchy and the Jews,
p.79.
93 George Lefèvre, Le traité ‘de usura’ de Robert de Courçon: Texte et traduction publiés avec une
introduction’, Travaux et mémoires de l’université de Lille 10, Mémoire no. 30 (Lille, 1902), p.35.
94 stow, Alienated Minority, p.225.
95 innocent iii, ‘Quanto melior est’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.138–40; Jordan, The French Monarchy and
the Jews, p.73; Langmuir, Toward a Definition of Anti-Semitism, p.145.
96 innocent iii, ‘Quanto melior est’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.138–40. see Jordan, The French Monarchy
and the Jews, p.73; Baldwin, Masters, Princes and Merchants, Vol. 1, p.22.
97 innocent iii, ‘Quanto melior est’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.140: ‘... quia tamen in regno tuo plus solito
usuraria pestis increverit, in tantum facultates ecclesiarum, militum, aliorumque multorum devorans
et consumens, quod nisi tanto languori adhiberetur efficax medicina, intendere non sufficerent ad
subsidium terre sancte’.
98 Jordan, The French Monarchy and the Jews, pp.73–8, passim; stow, Alienated Minority,
pp.113–14.