Mont de Piété
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mont de Piété (also Monti di pietà, montes pietatis) is an institution to lend money to the poor at little or no interest, first established in the 15th century, a time when lending to the poor was as much a work of mercy as giving to them.
The Latin word mons = "mountain" here means an accumulation of wealth or money, now called capital, and seems to have been a generic term used in the fifteenth century to signify lending-houses in general; and hence the montes pietatis or monti di pietà were a species of charitable lending-establishments, similar to modern pawnbroker establishments, but possessing none of the 'sinister' features.
The name is still used to refer to a public pawnbroking establishment in France.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
