Financial experts from Reading University are to investigate how medieval credit finance arrangements have formed the basis for today's loans systems.
Chris Brooks and Adrian Bell have been awarded just over £350,000 by the Economic and Social Research Council to investigate the early use of credit by English medieval monarchs. "Credit Finance in the Middle Ages: Loans to the English Crown c 12-1340", will examine the credit finance arrangements of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III from a historical perspective, as well as utilising the approaches and models developed for the analysis of modern sovereign borrowings.