The Economic and Social Research Council(ESRC) have awarded Professor Chris Brooks and Dr Adrian Bell a major research grant worth just over £350,000 to investigate the early and innovative use of credit finance by a succession of English medieval monarchs.

The study will examine in detail the credit finance arrangements used by Edward I, II and III from both a historical perspective and also utilise the approaches and models developed recently for modern-day sovereign borrowings. The project will employ one Research Assistant for three years, and the team will work on a number of publications as well as the production of the transcriptions and translations of many original sources. Dr. Bell, Director of Teaching and Learning at the ICMA Centre is delighted with the award saying ''We expect to be able show that modern financial practices for managing governmental expenses were understood by a succession of medieval monarchs, and these findings will draw out parallels with modern banking crises that have affected certain developing countries''.

The project will build upon the the work carried out by the same team during 2004/5 for another ESRC funded project entitled 'Modern Finance in the Middle Ages? Advance Contracts for the supply of wool'.

For further information about this project please email a.r.bell@icmacentre.rdg.ac.uk