Amsterdam

The Dutch city of Amsterdam was the leading commercial center of Northern Europe from the late 1500s to the late 1600s. Located at the point where the Ij and Amstel Rivers meet, Amsterdam dominated shipping between ports of the Baltic Sea and northeastern Europe. A network of dikes and dams, built in the 1200s, controlled the rivers' flow. A meeting place for people of many different cultures, the city attracted a large number of thinkers and artists.

Founded around 1300, Amsterdam was a fairly young city at the beginning of the Renaissance. Its population rose from about 3,000 in 1400 to 30,000 in 1580, making it the largest city in the province of Holland. Like other provinces in the Netherlands, Holland was controlled by the Roman Catholic monarchs of Spain. In 1568 Dutch Protestants rebelled against Spanish rule and took over large parts of Holland. However, Amsterdam's leaders were Catholic, so the city remained loyal to Spain. As a result, it became cut off from the rest of the province, seriously hurting its trade.

Amsterdam surrendered to the rebels in 1578. A new city government took over that included both Protestants and Catholics. Throughout the 1600s, the city encouraged religious tolerance. Although it declared the Dutch Reformed Church the official religion, people were free to practice other faiths privately. In 1650 about one in every five Amsterdamers was Catholic, even though the Catholic Church was officially banned.

From about 1620 to 1700 the Dutch Republic basked in a "golden age." The Netherlands had become the most important economic power in Europe, and Amsterdam was its leading city. Amsterdam's merchants dominated trade with Asia and the Americas. Two large companies, the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, controlled trade in these regions. Dutch commercial power made Amsterdam one of Europe's leading financial centers.

By 1700 the city had a population of about 205,000, but its influence in European affairs was declining. Rivalry with other countries was wearing down the Dutch Republic. The English harassed the country by sea, while the French attacked it by land. After 1700 the Netherlands was no longer a major European power, and Amsterdam lost its position as the continent's economic center.

Although known mainly as a commercial city, Amsterdam emerged as a major cultural center during the 1600s. It was particularly famous for its painters, led by the great master Rembrandt von Rijn. Rembrandt and his pupils developed the art form known as still life, which featured inanimate objects such as flowers or fruit. Amsterdam was also a literary city. While it produced few important writers of its own, it was home to many thinkers and writers from other countries. The city's publishing houses produced more than 1,400 titles between 1639 and 1650.

(See alsoArt in the Netherlands; Asia, East; Economy and Trade; Printing and Publishing. )

see color plate 11, vol. 3