 Antwerp: The First Global Trade Capital (16th Century)Mehmet Baha Karan ()
Chapter Chapter 4 in A History of Stock Exchanges, 2025, pp 99-130 from Springer Abstract: Abstract Antwerp became the most important business center in Europe in the sixteenth century because of its strategic location, the presence of helpful institutions, and its multicultural nature. The city's legal system combined local customs with well-known laws for international trade to keep the market secure and active. The exchange has been around since 1531 and has drawn traders from all around the world. It facilitates the exchange of money, goods, and financial products. Antwerp has long been a significant hub for banking and financial innovation. This is mainly because major Italian banks offered services like letters of credit and bills of exchange. These services facilitated trade across great distances, contributing to the region's economic growth. The city's wealth was a significant factor in the growth of Protestantism, which in turn led to improvements in education and culture, especially in the area of book creation. However, the city's collapse in 1585 and the Spanish Fury in 1576 hurt the economy. The arrival of professional merchants and artists in Amsterdam changed the way trade worked in Europe in a big way. This event signaled the start of the Dutch Golden Age. Date: 2025 There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:conchp:978-3-032-07788-2_4 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-07788-2_4 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Contributions to Economics from Springer |
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