A New Look at Tuscan Merchant-Bankers in England in the First Half of the Fourteenth Century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6093/1593-2214/11600Keywords:
Middle Ages, 14th century, England, origins of banking, Italian merchantsAbstract
This study deals with the relationships between the Tuscan merchant-bankers and the English Crown after the ouster of the Ricciardi in 1294. After a gap of some years, their position as ‘Bankers to the Crown’ was taken over by the Frescobaldi of Florence. They were in their turn forced out of England in 1311-2, due to a domestic political conflict between Edward II and his political opponents, the Ordainers. After further years of uncertainty, the role was won by the Bardi, the most powerful Tuscan banking company active in England at that time. Meanwhile, the birth of an English self-consciousness and the increased power of local merchants were changing the balance inside the insular financial market. In 1338, the outbreak of the Hundred Years’ War and the huge money needs associated with it led the Peruzzi to associate with the Bardi by providing joint loans to the Crown. In a few years’ space, they lent enourmous sums, but the financial demands of a war with France appeared to be beyond even their resources, and eventually both companies collapsed.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Angelo Nicolini
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