How did medieval bank work? short animated history

One of the more interesting things about the Medieval period when the Church dominated the social structure was that usury was forbidden to Christians and Muslims. For hundreds of years that meant ANY charging of interest for loans or keeping money. As the market economy starts to grow, the kings start minting coinage, but the need for some kind of banker evolved as people would pay their bills with objects or want to pay the taxes they owed their lords in something other than actual produce. So the Jewish community stepped in to serve. for six or seven centuries, jewish bankers and traders worked in the Mediterranean supplying credit, loans, pawn, financed trade and other forms of interest bearing means of doing business which was forbidden to Christians and Muslims. Trade went back and forth - silks and spices from Bagdad and furs and slaves from Northern Europe. As the Jewish money lenders became wealthy they became resented, especialky when they collected on debt. (See the vitriolic descriptions in the Merchant of Venice.). When the Rennaissance dawned the great banking families of Northern Italy (the Medici still run Italy in some ways) emerged and suddenly the Jewish community was less welcome to practice. By the 16th century, the Church has lifted its ban on charging interest - the age of exploration begins and the Dutch and the English get into the act

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