Les Nouvelles Ecclésiastiques (1728-1750) face à leurs opposants : quelques polémiques autour du prêt à intérêt

Abstract

The present article highlights the opposition of the most important clandestine journal of the eighteenth century, the Nouvelles Ecclésiastiques (1728-1750), in the spread of new "liberal" ideas, particularly around the controversies about interest-bearing loans. The clandestine nature of the publication process offers two advantages: a freedom of expression for authors, and a large dissemination by provincial printers. The article provides two important findings. First, the periodical develops an argument based on the social impact of credit that affected the thought of some first economists belonging to the Gournay circle. Second, by strongly decrying the theses of the "first philosophers", the periodical fostered the development of an irreligious philosophical thought and allowed a larger dissemination of the Encyclopédie.

Keywords

• Jansenism
• Nouvelles Ecclésiastiques
• interest-bearing loans
• Montesquieu (Charles Louis de Secondat
• baron de la Brède et de)