The City That Made an Emperor and Was Burned by a King

Where Pepper and Silver Met

The commercial city of Antwerp in the Low Countries was where Portuguese pepper met South German silver and copper. Beginning in 1499, the port on the banks of the Scheldt grew, taking the place of Bruges's outer port as it declined due to silting.

Spices arrived in Lisbon, but that was not their final destination. The work of selling them throughout Europe was handled by northern merchants, and the cargo was sent to Antwerp. There, prices were set and finance was arranged. The business of transport was high-risk; the business of selling was low-risk. The side with less risk took a stable profit. In the sixteenth century, profits were to be shared with the northern merchants. A permanent exchange was also built in 1531.

The Financial Stage That Made an Emperor

A boy named Charles, born in the Flemish city of Ghent in 1500, would later become Emperor Charles V. When he was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, vast sums of money changed hands.

The funds were provided by South German merchants, including the Fugger family. And one of the financial stages for this was Antwerp in the Low Countries. The city of money played a part in making an emperor. The boy from Ghent, born and raised in the Low Countries, was carried by money to a world throne.

The Blow of the King's Suspension of Payments

The prosperous market was damaged by King Philip II of Spain. In 1557, the king's suspension of payments shook the market that had thrived on lending to him.

Then, in 1575, the king declared his third suspension of payments. This time, the freeze primarily affected contracts with Genoese bankers. The principal creditors had by this time shifted from German bankers to the Genoese. Research by Drelichman and Voth estimates that the debt involved amounted to 12.3 million ducats. This is estimated to have been 1.9 times the annual state revenue. The credit market of Castile froze.

Flames, and What Moved North

The unpaid armies of the empire mutinied in the Netherlands the following year, in 1576. On November 4, soldiers who had been cut off from their pay sacked the city of Antwerp. This tragedy is known as the 'Spanish Fury'. The financial city where Gresham had worked, mentioned in the story of the pound, was consumed by fire and sword in the aftermath of the king's bankruptcy.

After the fall of the city in 1585, ships from Holland and Zeeland blockaded the Scheldt river. Capital, bills of exchange, bookkeeping, and the customs of the exchange moved north with the people. The primary recipient was Amsterdam.