The Medieval Credit Crunch

September 21, 2016

In medieval England, credit and debt united all classes, from husbandman John Bygge of Stortford, Hertfordshire, who had bought £6 of goods from London haberdashers and fishmongers, to the greatest magnates in England such as the Earl of Shrewsbury, who owed money to a London mercer.  Even peasants like the shepherd John Rede of Soham, …