Monaldus of Koper (ca. 1210–ca. 1280) was a friar minor who in the 13th century published an influential encyclopedia of law titled Summa de iure canonico, addressing a wide range of legal topics. The entry on usury is one of the more important ones. In six sub-entries, Monaldus addresses the definition of usury, its classification, cases of licit and illicit interest, restitution of usury, usury of the pledge and licit forms of social contract (the latter most likely being a later addition). It is discernable from the content that Monaldus was more lenient in his views of usury than some earlier writers and that he especially emphasizes the intention of the lender. The main source for Monaldus' text was Summa of Raymond of Penyafort along with the gloss authored by William of Rennes. Monaldus joined the two texts into a single one. He also inserted his own additions and excerpts from other canonists. In Monaldus' approach to compilation, we see a general tendency of making the text as accessible as possible. In this regard, the most important innovation in the Summa of Monaldus is the alphabetic order of entries. Moreover, Monaldus omits concepts too foreign and replaces the references of localities which are too obscure with better known ones. He quotes only the essential sources, omitting other quotes. This approach matches his declared wish to improve the comprehension of the law, especially among the uneducated. The Summa of Monaldus had a fairly large influence, as is evident from the praise expressed by later authors and from relatively high number of extant manuscripts (at least 69).
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