The Bardi company traded oil and wine, and had close economic ties to southern Italy and Sicily.
Edward did not default on all his loans and repaid some with cash and others with royal grants of wool, a principal export of the English economy at the time.
At the time Florence was going through a period of internal disputes and the third largest financial company, the Acciaiuoli, also went bankrupt and they did not lend any money to Edward.
The Bardi company survived bankruptcy and subsequently provided significant funding for several of the voyages of discovery to the Americas.
[5] For a time, both the celebrated medieval author, Giovanni Boccaccio, and his father Boccaccino di Chellino, worked for the Bardi company.