Monetary Paradoxes

XXXVII.

That at the courts of lords, no Clituses or Papinians Clitus the Black and Aemilius Papinianus were historical figures from antiquity celebrated for their integrity and willingness to tell the truth to powerful rulers, even at the cost of their lives. are to be found, but instead plenty of back-alley preachers Winckelprediger: unauthorized or low-status preachers who operated outside the official church hierarchy, often associated with spreading dissent or sycophancy.

XXXVIII.

That it has now come to the point where preachers and clergy original Latin: "Clerici" must use their church censures and spiritual bans to punish the money-merchants original: "Müntzhändler," referring here to those profiting from the debasement of currency, while the authorities allow their secular arm Brachium seculare: the physical and legal power of the state to enforce laws and maintain order to falter original Latin/German: "claudiciren," literally "to limp."

XXXIX.

That in exchange for a written pledge Revers: a formal legal obligation or written guarantee, often provided by mint-masters to the sovereign to promise future repayments, land and people are allowed to be ruined, even though property and lives cannot be restored original Latin/German: "restituiren" with such pledges.

XL.

That there are "pious" princes who suffer or tolerate such things, even though another pious, God-fearing prince said in a proverb original Latin: "in proverbio":

A good prince must be recognized
by good coinage,
clean roads, and good faith.

original Latin: "Proceres censore opus est, an aruspice nobis?" A quote from the Roman satirist Juvenal. It suggests that the behavior of the ruling class is so scandalous or unnatural that it requires either a moral judge (censor) to correct it or a priest (soothsayer) to interpret it as a divine omen.