The term Lombard loan is well-known, but where does it come from? Here we have some information about a Lombard loan:
What are Lombards?
In the 13th century, the term "Lombards" was used to describe merchants, primarily from Piedmont, who became the epitome of the Christian usurer, unabashedly violating the prevailing church ban on interest. By the beginning of the 14th century, they had spread throughout Northwest Europe. In northeastern France, Flanders, Burgundy, Upper Lorraine, Switzerland, and the Rhineland, they created a dense network of branches, the so-called "loan tables" (Leihtafeln).
Their successful work in money trading and the credit business made them the most important competitors to Jewish moneylenders. Around 1400, the Lombards gave up their loan tables and returned to their homeland. Only in the Netherlands did they continue their work as moneylenders well into the 16th century.
Read also: Uses for modernization loans
Photo by Sabine, meinhaushalt.at
