Western Civilization I / Unit 11 WC1 1018 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Guilds, Usury, and the Making of an Anti-Jewish Stereotype
Captions available
The idea
Craft guilds held legal monopolies, controlled quality and excluded outsiders. Merchants were resented by the poor, despised by nobles and condemned by the Church; usury was a sin the Church itself committed. Money-lending was among the few trades open to Jews, needed and despised.
In practice
A stereotype born of exclusion, the anchor says.
Where people slip
Guild protection and guild exclusion are one thing.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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