The first international banking crisis was triggered by an English king defaulting on loans
The collapse of Florence's Bardi Bank in 1343, triggered by an English king's massive loan default, created Europe's first international financial crisis and reshaped the continent's economic landscape.
King Edward III of England precipitated a global economic meltdown when he defaulted on a debt of 900,000 gold florins to the Bardi Bank of Florence. The king had borrowed the staggering sum—roughly equivalent to England's entire annual revenue—to finance the opening campaigns of the Hundred Years' War. To circumvent religious bans on usury, the Bardi disguised the 46 percent interest rate as currency exchange fees, a common practice among medieval merchant-bankers.
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