Papers presented by Jessica Lomas since 2019

2024 Providence, Rhode Island

"Credit institutions as mechanisms to alleviate poverty: The case of Monte di Pietà (Perugia, Italy)"

Abstract:

Public urban credit institutions have spanned not only time but also geography, from money lending in the Principate Era (27 BC – 284 AD) to the Monte di Pietà in Italy (1462) through to the Grameen Bank in twentieth-century India. Monte di Pietà, whose literal translation is “Mount of Piety”, was established in the fifteenth century as an alternative to existing credit institutions, which took part in lending at high interest rates (approximately 30% at the time). Throughout this period, religiosity permeated every facet of societal structure, entwining itself within the tapestry of politics, governance, and daily conduct. It is within this intricate fusion that the Monte di Pietà was conceived. Indeed, the altruistic credit institution was geared to provide low-interest or interest-free loan options to economically disadvantaged individuals as a mechanism to alleviate short-term financial consumption needs. This paper highlights a very early example of the complicated relationship between social entrepreneurs (prior to the conception of the term) steered by moral imperatives, ethical leadership, societal exigencies, and religious convictions, aiming to ameliorate short-term poverty. Presently, limited research has been undertaken within Anglo-Saxon scholarship on the historical development of these institutions. As a result, this study provides a highly original contextual understanding from fifteenth-century Italy concerning the role of social entrepreneurs, grounded in religiosity, who drove regional socioeconomic transformations. This research will focus on the physical archives for the third Monte di Pietà (held in Scotland), established in the city of Perugia in the 1460s. The documentation includes foundational documents which will provide a crucial insight into the motivations and justifications behind the establishment of one of the earliest Montes. The resulting analysis will enable the creation of an interpretive narrative regarding the conception of these unique institutions.