Beyond Liberalism

🇫🇷AGAINST HERESY OF SECULARISM🇻🇦 Not everyone, however, supported Napoleon's reforms or even acknowledged his right to rule. On Christmas Eve, 1800, he was nearly killed by a bomb planted by conspirators wanting to restore the old Bourbon line of kings. Although it was clear that the plot had been royalist in origin, Napoleon felt more threatened by the Jacobins and used the event to persecute and intimidate them. [...] reopened churches on Sundays, and in November 1800 began negotiations with Pope Pius VII. The signing of the Concordat, which overturned the Revolutionary principle of the separation of church and state and restored Catholicism to a privileged position 'as the religion of the majority of the French people' was signed in July 1801 reconciling Catholics who had formerly been ostracized by the Revolution. — Brown University library

The Holy See's representative in Paris, Cardinal Caprara, also intervened to try to convince the Curia of the importance of making the journey. In an attempt to flatter Napoleon, he suggested that the ceremony could take place on 25th December, “the very day Charlemagne received the imperial crown, […] the day of the Nativity of Our Lord”, an idea to which Pius VII agreed — French Historian, Thierry lentz.

Charles Martel's victory at Tours in 732 forever ended the Moslem menace to Western Christendom —"The Dark ages" by Isaac Asimov (1968) p.194

When the Viking raids ceased and governments grew more stable, it became essential that there be centralization, so that larger areas, through internal cooperation, might properly exploit the earth's resources and increase their own prosperity. By that time, however, the traditions of feudaHsm had struck deep and had come to seem the natural way of things and as something ordained by God. (There has never been any custom, however useless it may become with changing conditions, that isn't clung to desperately simply because it is something old and familiar. As a result the history of Europe for many centuries consisted very largely of attempts on the part of central governments to impose their will on a turbulent nobiUty holding firm to their feudal rights. —"The Dark ages" by Isaac Asimov (1968) p.193

The land in a kingdom was supposed, in theory, to belong to the king, who was its lord. He in turn divided that land into fiefs (portions) and invested them in the care of the leading nobles, who were his vassals. ( The latter is from an old Celtic word meaning "servant.'*) Each vassal then divided up his fief among lesser nobility. who were his vassals, and so on. Each vassal owed his own lord certain duties, such as having to supply a certain number of men-at-arms on demand. Each vassal was also supposed to show his lord absolute loyalty; failing this, their fiefs were forfeit ( if the lord was strong enough to take them) —"The Dark ages" by Isaac Asimov (1968) p.191-192

Nevertheless, the 12th canon of the First Council of Carthage (345) and the 36th canon of the Council of Aix (789) have declared it to be reprehensible even for laymen to make money by lending at interest. The canonical laws of the Middle Ages absolutely forbade the practice. This prohibition is contained in the Decree of Gratian, q. 3, C. IV, at the beginning, and c. 4, q. 4, C. IV; and in 1. 5, t. 19 of the Decretals, for example in chapters 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 13. These chapters order the profit so obtained to be restored; and Alexander III (c. 4, "Super eo", eodem) declares that he has no power to dispense from the obligation. Chapters 1, 2, and 6, eodem, condemns the strategems to which even clerics resorted to evade the law of the general councils, and the Third of the Lateran (1179) and the Second of Lyons (1274) condemn usurers. — Catholic encyclopedia

"The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," written by Max Weber, explores the relationship between Protestantism and the development of modern capitalism. [...] Weber contends that the Protestant Reformation introduced an ascetic lifestyle that valued hard work and reinvestment, contributing to capitalist growth. —ebsco research

Most traditional religions insisted that the well-off must be charitable to the poor. This changed with the rise of capitalism and the ideology that legitimated its institutions and practices.Following upon the works of Max Weber and Richard Tawney, the role of Protestantism in generating an ideology that blames the poor for their abject condition has been widely acknowledged. What has been less appreciated is that this ideology has its roots in a new bourgeois class’s struggle for respectability and social status and that this struggle was a principal force fuelling Protestantism’s doctrinal character and success. This ideology depicted the success of the bourgeoisie as the result of virtuous behaviour and the misery of the poor as a consequence of their moral failings. Secular political and economic thought that arose alongside Protestantism also expressed the attitudes and practices of the emerging bourgeoisie, equally blaming the poor for their poverty. —Cambridge Journal of Economics

In eastern Christendom during the early Middle Ages, the Code of Justinian capped interest at 8 percent, and Byzantines restricted the lending profession to the laity. In areas conquered by Islamic armies, clever credit systems among merchants replaced banking contracts. In the West interest-bearing loans were even less socially acceptable. Charlemagne banned usury altogether in the early 800s. Preaching was likely not the key factor here; loans dried up with shrinking cities and decentralizing society. New relationships between local lords and tenants formed, relationships that conveyed deep social indebtedness—albeit not in monetary, contractual terms. Usury no longer lurked as a great threat. Or so it seemed. — Christian History Institute Source🔗https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/brood-of-vipers#:~:text=In%20eastern%20Christendom%20during%20the,Or%20so%20it%20seemed.

Usury was prohibited in medieval Europe by the Church. Charging interest on a loan was not allowed anywhere in Europe until 1545, when Henry VIII legalised it in England. https://unsulee.com/Digital+Garden/Usury+was+not+allowed+in+Europe+until+1545

On The myth that entire Early medieval Europe was decentralized: Charlemagne as the proof Charlemagne initially gave Jews a monopoly on money lending but later outlawed it through the Capitulary for the Jews in 814. He carried out a number of microeconomic changes such as direct price regulation and tolls on certain goods and commodities. [...] Beyond the regna, where Frankish governance was based on the counts, were the marcher regions, which were governed by strong governors. source🔗https://schoolhistory.co.uk/medieval/carolingian-renaissance/#:~:text=Charlemagne%20initially%20gave%20Jews%20a%20monopoly%20on,and%20tolls%20on%20certain%20goods%20and%20commodities

NO PRIVATE OWNERSHIP IN MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN EUROPE Under feudal land tenure, which persisted through the medieval era, no one owned land as private property (except, perhaps, the owners of freehold land, which was available only in a few places). Neither peasants…