was further enacted, that any one who should take more than ten per cent., should forfeit " treble the value of the wares, or other things sold, and should suffer imprisonment and be fined, and ransomed at the king's pleasure;" one-half of 1 11 Henry VIZ, c. 8.
" 37 Benry VIII., c. 9, (A. D. 1545.) " Tom. Jacob's Law Die.) art. Usury.
the fine and forfeiture to go to the king, and the other half to the prosecutor. The common law, and ecclesiastical jurisdictions, were by this statute en- tirely taken aw.ay, and the benefits it conferred were soon felt throughout the kingdom ; commercial enter- prise advanced, and the doctrine of loans upon interest, now no longer degraded by the law, came to be regarded with favor, and soon triumphed over the bigoted decrees of the Church and the ignorant prejudices of mankind.
All this, however, was not afiected without meeting strenuous opposition ; but the loud murmurs of the Church availed nothing with Henry VIII., for he had already denied the power of the Pope, and abolished all his authority in England, and declared himself the supreme head of the Church.