London’s Triumph: Merchants, Adventurers, and Money in Shakespeare’s City

Alford (The Watchers), a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, reveals how increased trading activity and bold speculation resulted in London’s significant economic and physical growth over the 16th century. Alford avoids delivering a dry financial account; instead, his swift chronology of fiscal maturation highlights the specific acts and lives of men such as Royal Exchange founder Thomas Gresham and the unfortunate Michael Lok, who financed Martin Frobisher’s failed search for Cathay. Daring merchants of varying economic means appear as worried yet energetic investors, moneylenders, and explorers. Their stories offer a glimpse into the merchant class as a whole, as Alford explores the specific homes and businesses of notable figures. Sources include family histories, official records, and a 15-page Flemish panoramic sketch. Tradecentric Antwerp and its ties to London receive the initial focus, contextualizing Londoners’ understanding of textiles and trade tactics. Alford then covers the fruitful forays of Englishmen Anthony Jenkinson to Russia and Richard Hakluyt to the New World. Fraught negotiations over Asian trade receive scant attention, with substantive trade gains getting more emphasis than unproductive diplomatic efforts. Alford eloquently shows how Renaissance merchants and global exploration allowed London to come of age, transforming from a city subordinate to other European hubs into an ambitious player with financial might. It’s a vibrant depiction of London’s rising merchant class during the Tudor era. (Dec.)