Laws passed towards the end of the eighteenth and during the nineteenth centuries
allowed individuals to lend money or fungible goods at interest. These legal measures
were contradictory to the position of the Catholic Church, which prohibited any interest
charge on the repayment ofcapital. From the last decades ofthe eighteenth century until
about 1868, the Quebec clergy repeatedly discussed the question of lending at interest and
tried to adapt their teachings to the new legal and economic realities. This article is
intended to provide an account of the evolution of the clergy's attitude, placing it in its
original context.
