Antwerp

アントウェルペン ／ antwerp　—　People & places

A trading city of the Low Countries.

A port on the banks of the River Scheldt. It grew as the outport of Bruges declined due to silting, and with 1499 as a turning point, it became the meeting place for Portuguese pepper and South German silver and copper. A permanent exchange was built in 1531.

In 1557, the suspension of payments by King Philip II of Spain damaged the market, which had prospered by lending to the king. In 1576, unpaid soldiers plundered the city, and after its fall in 1585, ships from Holland and Zeeland blockaded the Scheldt.

⚠ Capital, bills of exchange, bookkeeping, and the practices of the exchange moved north with its people. The primary recipient was Amsterdam.