Sir Thomas Gresham, Elizabeth’s financial agent in…
November 1579 CE
Sir Thomas Gresham, Elizabeth’s financial agent in the Low Countries, has engaged in espionage, smuggled war materials and bullion, and negotiated with his government's foreign creditors.
The repayment of loans and interest owed by England had caused exchange fluctuations between countries which had increased the sums that the English government had had to repay; Gresham has operated in the foreign-exchange market to alleviate these fluctuations.
He understands the power of governments to affect the rate of exchange and has even suggested the creation of an exchange-equalization account.
He dies at around sixty on November 21, 1579, in London.