Credit for the poor. Trust, regulation and charity in the Roman Monte di Pietà

The scope of this article is twofold: firstly, it explores the application of “trust” as a heuristic category. Secondly, it examines how the Roman Monte di Pietà was established as a reliable and trustworthy Christian institution. Applying different approaches due to Ogilvie, Luhmann, etc. the paper shows the Monte as a trustworthy institution of urban elites using professional personnel as well as a strict accounting system. This institutionalisation process was accompanied by a discourse led by Franciscan authors, thematizing a Christian economic ethics, and marginalising Jewish moneylenders. Thus, trust in the institution was not only based on its successful ad-ministration but also on religious aspects