ABSTRACT
The capitalism that emerged in Catholic Europe was predicated upon a vision of the economy and society that lay at the heart of the monastic movements, first and foremost the Franciscans and the Dominicans, and Dominican Thomas Aquinas in particular. Fanfani’s writings help cast light on another meaningful difference in the socio-economic perspectives of north and south. Classic voluntarism, especially in its medieval and proto-modern articulations, begins with the idea that the human being is ill with selfishness, but remains a social animal capable of relationality. The northern cities then gave rise to a capitalism of their own, just as the southern cities saw the reinstatement of an earlier set of values, static, conservative and anti-modern, enforced by newly established institutions, like the High Office and the Inquisition. Theology is very relevant for understanding the differences between two spirits of capitalism in Europe: the Anglo-Saxon version and the Latin version.
