Thomas More, joint keeper of the exchange: a forgotten episode in the history of exchange control in England

Thomas More was appointed joint keeper of the exchanges in London for foreign exchange and at Calais in 1520, in partnership with a Genoese merchant, George Ardison. This article explores the background to this appointment, investigating the regulation of exchange payments to the Roman curia and the business links between Ardison and the London bank of his fellow Genoese Antony Vyvold. Ardison was the last in a series of Genoese farmers of the exchanges. The exchanges were granted to Thomas Boleyn in 1509, and from 1511 to 1520 Ardison was in partnership with another courtier, John Sharp.