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Bernardino e il pensiero economico dell’Osservanza: bene comune e interesse privato

Summary: Starting from the Franciscan Observance and the socio-economic characteristics of the 1400’s, this study underlines the contribution of Bernardine of Siena regarding the activity of some market actors who were his contemporaries. The merchant and the lucrum of commerce are no longer condemned a priori, but are rather considered indispensable to the good of the communitas, where avarice and the unproductive concentration of riches are being defeated. This constitutes and important and eminently Franciscan novum in theological and canonical reflection. Moreover, Franciscan thought here goes beyond the merely theoretical and hortatory, giving birth to the Mons Pietatis, an institution extraordinarily relevant to our own time, as it is compared with today’s microcredit, and one that is capable to make tangible the fruitfulness of the virtuous circulation of wealth, through the creation of civil credit. Economic historiography of the transition from the late Middle Ages to the modern period, as achieved with the Franciscan contribution, is particularly fertile with intuitions and categories that are valid for our time too.

Sumario: Partiendo de la observancia franciscana y de las caracteristicas socio-economicas del 1400, el ensayo subraya la contribucion de Bernardino de Siena acerca del comportamiento de algunos actores del mercado de su tiempo. El mercante y el lucrum de la mercancia ya no son condenados de modo aprioristico, sino que son considerados indispensables para el bien de la communitas, donde la avaricia y la concentracion improductiva de la riqueza sean superadas. Eso constituye un novum importante y eminentemente franciscano en el ambito de la reflexion teologica y canonistica. Ademas, la especulacion minoritica atraviesa la pura dimension parenetica y teoretica, dando lugar al Mons Pietatis, una institucion extraordinariamente actual, si se la compara al microcredito actual, capaz de hacer tangible la fecundidad de la circulacion virtuosa de la riqueza, por el nacimiento del prestamo civil. La historiografia economica en la transicion entre baja edad media y edad moderna, gracias a la contribucion franciscana, es particularmente fecunda de intuiciones y categorias validas aun para nuestro tiempo.