L'usura tra Santa Croce e Santa Maria Novella: Pietro de Trabibus e Remigio de’ Girolami a confronto

In the spell of time between 1290 and 1310, two Mendicant friars active in Florence dealt with the controversial issue of usury: the Franciscan lector Peter of Trabibus, who until now has been studied primarily for his relationship to Olivi’s teaching, and the much more famous Dominican Remigio de’ Girolami. In the mid-nineties of the thirteenth century, in the context of his quodlibetal questions, Peter of Trabibus discusses the social role of merchants and he broaches the question of the restitution of usurious gains. Some years later, Remigio also deals with similar issues in his quodlibetal questions and writes a treatise – critically edited by Ovidio Capitani – that bears the title De peccato usurae. These texts are only partially edited but offer the opportunity of comparing the positions held by two lectores who taught in Mendicant studia that played an essential role in the Florentine cultural milieu. On the one hand, this article contributes to a broader understanding of the relationship between Dominican friars and the making of Florentine identity; on the other, it provides new evidence for the scholarly debate concerning the differences existing between Dominican and Franciscan approaches to economic ethics in the late Middle Ages