Page 179 [179]
OCR
COMMERCE 157 #11,000; and the same firm obtained from Edward II £56,500 in payment of his father’s debts. On the other hand, Edward III was never able to repay the loans he had received from the Peruzzi and the Bardi, who, in consequence, became bankrupts. From that time the English bankers begin to come to the front, and many London merchants had dealings more or less extensive with the Royal Exchequer. Henry V borrowed at home what he required for his French wars, and Edward IV and Henry VII, by their commercial policy and by increasing the royal credit, did much to foster the growth of London wealth. The great house of Gresham began to come to the front in the reign of Henry VII. Exchange Court in Lombard Street marks the site of a place of business established in imitation of the bourses of
