Violated Balances and Reconstructed Salvation: Usury Restitutions in Venetian Wills (13th Century)

This paper examines a particularly interesting written device, both in form and content: testamentary provisions regarding the restitution of usurious assets in 13th-century Venice. Restitutions, often financially significant, reflected the widespread use of usurious practices in Venetian society, involving merchants, artisans, public officials, and women. Through an analysis of the various forms of restitution that emerged during the 13th century, it emerges that restitutions, beyond the prospect of individual salvation, acted as a means of social reconciliation, transforming illicit gains into resources for the common good, a tool for restoring violated social balances. By transforming illicit gains into resources for the collective good, restitutions thus became a legitimate "investment," allowing previously illicitly stolen goods to return to virtuous circulation.