Usury

While Jews certainly did prosper in medieval western Christendom - in Spain, England, France and the Holy Roman Empire - it is arguable whether this occurred during times of true Christian persecution, for this phrase implies a coherent, general and importantly, state-backed, form of oppression, which did not exist until late in the period. Indeed, even though anti-semitism did exist, the two distinct phases of Jewish prosperity during the Middle Ages were marked rather with tolerance and…

Their system of administration combined both their own as well as Roman elements. The new social order saw the dominance of the military commander, who became the monarch & a new nobility, drawn from warriors and an educated, Romanised elite. Peasants, who constituted their armies, became impoverished due to continual warfare. This led to their enserfment to feudal lords. There existed 2 kinds of groupings in feudal Europe- serfs and lords in villages and craftsmen & journeymen or apprenti who…

Although Adam Smith has a popularized reputation as a staunch advocate of laissez-faire, this reputation does not reflect his own views. Smith believes that while self-interested individuals should be able to freely carry out economic transactions within a society, limited government intervention is also necessary in ensuring the individuals are pursuing the best of their interests without causing externalities to others. I. Introduction Although Adam Smith has a popularized…

“You would say this was the end of the story of Muhammad: He and a tiny group, shut away in the sand, alone on the planet, encircled by men so wild they buried children alive as a point of honor, who killed casually, and who – because His teachings meant the destruction of the national religion and the loss of their own wealth and power – had for thirteen long years been waiting to shed His blood. An enemy of His has written: ‘We search in vain through the pages of profane history for a parallel…