"Jvdicandum de vsuris esse non ex joarticulari aliquo scriptura loco, sed tantum ex equitalis regula."^ Melancthon, Beza, Musculus and others were of this opinion.
The See of Rome still endeavored to keep up the ancient prejudices against usury ; and Pope Alexander the Vllth, in 1660, and Innocent the Xlth, in 1679, stood foremost among the crusaders against this " horrible and damnable sinne j" but their discourses ' Gers. de Contr., p. 1., Conf. 16. ^Jd., Con. 19. ^ Episl. de Vsura.
and writings threw no new light on the subject, and gained little attention. At this period too, when commerce was firmly established, and its importance acknowledged by all, few would give heed to opinions which threatened to stand in the way of its advancement, and thus the " inseparable cornjpanion of com- merce" as Blackstone calls the doctrine of loans upon interest, rapidly grew into credit, and became a neces- sary part of the commercial system. Half a century later, interest received the sanction of Pope Benedict the XlVth, who, in 1730, addressed a brief to the subjects of his own states, in which he, in effect, dis- claimed the right of the Church to interfere on the sub- ject of usury, allowed the practice, and settled the rate of interest. It seems, however, that under certain restrictions, loans of money and other things for interest or hire, had been negotiated throughout every state in Italy, including the Papal dominions, since early in the 12th century;^ but the practice does not appear to have been openly recognized.
' Gibbon.