[[270]]
These evils were so manifest, when trade began to revive throughout
Europe in the fifteenth century, that most earnest exertions were
put forth to induce the Church to change its position.
The first important effort of this kind was made by John Gerson.
His general learning made him Chancellor of the University of
Paris; his sacred learning made him the leading orator at the
Council of Constance; his piety led men to attribute to him _The
Imitation of Christ_. Shaking off theological shackles, he
declared, "Better is it to lend money at reasonable interest, and
thus to give aid to the poor, than to see them reduced by poverty
to steal, waste their goods, and sell at a low price their personal
and real property."
But this idea was at once buried beneath citations from the
Scriptures, the fathers, councils, popes, and the canon law. Even
in the most active countries there seemed to be no hope. In
England, under Henry VII, Cardinal Morton, the lord chancellor,
addressed Parliament, asking it to take into consideration loans of
money at interest.
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