12세기 교회법학자 그라티아누스의 경제 윤리

This article aims to investigate Gratian’s economic doctrines by analyzing Decretum compiled around 1440s. This decretum representing the largest collection of canon law in its time was accepted as the most important and authoritative text of canon law. This text had a great influence on the developments of economic morals and doctrines in the Later Middle Ages. This article tries to show the opinions he expressed about four main economic issues including usury, merchants, profits and the just price. During the 12th century these economic problems were getting more attentions from theologians and canonists compared to the previous centuries. It is in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that the Church increased its ideological attack on rising merchants and theirs commercial activities. He defined whatever is added to the principal as usury and condemned it severely. According to his definition, all forms of loan should be considered as usury. He showed a rigorous and negative attitude towards merchants and their commercial activities. His negative opinion of merchants is to be found in a anonymous writer’s curse that “Homo mercator nunquam aut vix potest Deo placere”, which is written in Decretum. He said that all commercial profits should be condemned. His canonical teaching about commercial profits seemed too extreme compared to that of many other canonists and theologians of the twelfth century. He didn’t make a definite opinion about the just price which is considered as an important element characteristic of the medieval and religious moral economic doctrines. Until recently, a debate about the just price remains. Some historians interpreted that the just price was a kind of protection of the poor against the rich. On the other hand, some thought that the just price was determined by the demand and supply of the current market. Gratian’s position was much closer to the former opinion of the just price. Gratian’s economic doctrines were very rigorous and extreme in comparison with other canonists or theologians of the twelfth century. According to Gratian’s severe judgement of economic matters, medieval christian merchants could not lead a decent and honorable life in medieval society even if they were very careful in their commercial activities. This is because according to the economic world prescribed by him, usury should be condemned as a big sin, merchants could not avoid committing serious deadly sins, all forms of profit should be considered as illegal and the price should be determined not by the conditions of the market but by social and religious morals.