Banco Rosso (Red Bank), Venice

In medieval Europe, career planning for Jewish communities was less “follow your passion” and more “choose from this very short list.” Laws and customs closed off most professions, leaving a narrow set of approved livelihoods. Dealing in secondhand clothing was one such option. Medicine was another—doctors were so essential that they were allowed an unusual privilege, getting out of the ghetto at night. And then there was money lending, a role Jews came to dominate for a simple reason: the Church forbade Christians from charging interest. When cash was needed, Jewish lenders stepped into the gap.

Venice turned this necessity into a system. The city licensed three official lending houses, known by their colors: red, green, and black. These were not banks in the modern sense but early hybrids of banks and pawnshops. Bring an object, leave it as security, walk away with cash—and a deadline. By any reasonable standard, these were among the earliest pawnshops in Europe, operating steadily until the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. Their presence was so embedded in daily life that they even found their way into literature, most famously in “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare, a play where finance, prejudice, and morality collide on stage.

Today, you can still step inside one of these historic spaces: the Red Bank, now restored and open to visitors. Its name came from the red receipt handed to customers when an item was pawned—a simple slip of paper with serious consequences. Some like to think that this is where the phrase “in the red” was born. It’s not proven, but it fits rather well. In Venice, even debt has a color—and a long memory...