An Economic Model of the Medievil Church

Rome was an interesting place to say the most and in my opinion, I think this can be attributed to the tourism industry. Tourists are attracted to this ancient world power because of sites like the coliseum, pantheon, and most of all the country Vatican City. The Vatican located inside Vatican City was the most powerful governing organization in ancient Roman times.  This power can be attributed to the monopoly that they had over salvation which let them take fiscal advantage over their believers.

The Church’s monopoly over salvation is because of the revenue they were able to produce because of their power over salvation. Their revenue came from clergy men being able to buy their positions and setting high interest rates on loans. The clergy men were very eager and willing to pay high prices to be able to get into higher positions in the church because of the economic power they could achieve. The church eventually prohibited Usury which is lending money at high rates of interest but by doing this they decided what was right and wrong letting them to keep practicing Usury when it benefitted the church. An example of this shown by the interest rates they would charge the medici bank which was between 5-10 perecnt but when the church borrowed money from the medici bank they had interest rates of 2.3-6.6 percent. The power of the church was not just because of their connection to god but also because of their connection to the people’s pocket books.

The Vatican today still has a monopoly which is spurred on by the tourist industry. This monopoly was revealed when visiting the Vatican’s post office. Since Vatican City is their own country they have their own stamps that can only be bought there. Thus, letting the Vatican have a monopoly over Vatican City stamps. Although this might not be as severe as a monopoly they had in ancient Rome it still is a monopoly that is extremely successful because of the attraction of the Vatican.

The Vatican in ancient Rome was a very successful and powerful church and firm. This can be attributed to their monopoly over salvation which let them employ high interest rates on loans and dictate Usury. It was also fun to be able to visit the Vatican and make monopolistic connections from my article to somewhere as simple as a post office. In sum the Catholic church was extremely successful because of their monopoly over salvation but is this still the case?

               

The Vatican's Post Office