The interlocking set of English interests that attracted both the Frescobaldi and the Bardi was considerable. Most obviously, English kings borrowed heavily from Italian bankers, first relatively small sums—a few thousand pounds here and there—and later, from 1310 onward, huge ones, equivalent to multiples of the crown’s annual revenue, which were repayable out of revenues from the wool trade, which the Florentines were licensed to collect directly.
