Michele Carcano
O.F.M. Obs. (Michael de Carcanis de Mediolano) (
Lomazzo
Lomazzo (Western Lombard: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Como, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is situated halfway between Como and Milan. The ancient historical center of the town was founded on the top of a hill situated in ...
, 1427- 20 March 1484) was an Italian
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
preacher. He is known for his part in founding the
montes pietatis banking system, with
Bernardine of Feltre
Bernardine of Feltre (sometimes Bernardinus of Feltre) was a Friar Minor and missionary, b. at Feltre, Italy, in 1439 and d. at Pavia, 28 September 1494. He is remembered in connection with the monti di pietà of which he was the reorganizer an ...
.
Background
The ''Montes Pietatius'' were charitable institutions of credit that lent money at low rates of interest, or without interest at all, upon the security of objects left in pawn, with a view to protecting persons in want from usurers. As Christians were forbidden to practice usury, i.e., taking loans on interest, the Jews took up much of the credit business. However, Christian lenders, often referred to as
Cahorsins
The Cahorsins were merchants and financiers from the French city of Cahors and the surrounding region of Quercy during the High Middle Ages. During their 13th-century heyday, they were among the most prominent communities of Christian long-dista ...
or
Lombards
The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...
, often charged interest much greater than Jewish lenders.
Life
Michele Carcano was born in 1427 to a noble family of Milan, he joined the Franciscans in 1442. After his ordination, he became an itinerant preacher.
The ''mons pietatis'' of Perugia was founded in consequence of Carcano's preaching in that city in 1461, in which he inveighed against the usury of the Jews. The fund for that charitable establishment was made up in part by voluntary contributions and in part by money lent by the Jews themselves.
He preached against usury, which he connected to the Jews. His anti-Semitic discourses did much to embolden persecution against Jews, particularly in the case of the
blood libel
Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...
concerning
Simon of Trent
Simon of Trent (; , also known as ; 1472–1475), also known as Saint Simon (or Simeon) of Trent, was a young boy from the city of Trento, Trent, in the Prince-Bishopric of Trent (now Trentino, Italy), whose disappearance and death were blamed on ...
. On Holy Thursday in the year 1475, the child, then about 20 months old, son of a gardener, was missed by its parents. On the evening of Easter Sunday the body was found in a ditch. Several Jews were accused of the alleged murder, cruelly tortured, and executed.
His sermons were later printed as ''Sermones quadragesimales fratris Michaelis de Mediolano de decem preceptis'' (1492). They include arguments in favour of
religious art
Religious art is a visual representation of religious ideologies and their relationship with humans. Sacred art directly relates to religious art in the sense that its purpose is for worship and religious practices. According to one set of definit ...
.
[Geraldine A. Johnson, ''Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction'' (2005), p. 37.]
Veneration
Carcano's spiritual writings were approved by theologians on 22 November 1939. He was later granted the title of
Servant of God
Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...
.
See also
*
Barnabas of Terni
References
External links
Franaut biographyIncomincia la Confessione Generale
From the Collections at the Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carcano, Michele
1427 births
1484 deaths
People from Lomazzo
Italian Franciscans