Tue, 12.03.2024 17:00
Moral restraints on economic growth in sixth-century Italy
The late antique and early medieval church is often portrayed as a powerful engine for generating wealth, constantly increasing its landed properties. What is less known are the moral restraints that occasionally curbed this economic growth, bringing churches and monasteries to give up land or to refrain from acquiring it in the first place. This talk concentrates on the moral limits that Pope Gregory the Great imposed on economic activities in the late sixth century, looking especially at the alienation of church property.