Amsterdam (Renaissance and Reformation)

Introduction
Amsterdam was the biggest and the most important commercial metropolis of 17th-century Europe. Its wealthy merchants provided a booming market for luxury industries, making Amsterdam a European-wide production center and market for art and other luxury products, as well as books, prints, maps, and atlases. The largest, richest, and most powerful city in the Dutch Republic by far, it often played an independent role in international politics and diplomacy. Promotion of trade interests prompted Amsterdam’s burgomasters to tolerant policies toward Catholics, Jews, Mennonites, and other religious minorities. Originating as a modest settlement near a dam built in the river Amstel (hence its name), Amsterdam soon became the most important port in the Low Countries for trade with the Baltic, importing mainly grain and timber. The Reformation gave rise to fierce controversies. Anabaptist and Reformed risings in 1535 and 1566 provoked brutal repression by the Catholic city government. During the Dutch Revolt, Amsterdam initially remained loyal to church and king but switched allegiance in 1578 and adopted the Protestant Reformation. The capture of Antwerp by the Spanish army in 1585 heralded Amsterdam’s age of greatness. With Antwerp’s harbor closed and the southern provinces wracked by warfare, Amsterdam took over Antwerp’s function as the center of the highly integrated economy of the Low Countries. Amsterdam enlarged its one-sided mercantile economy with new trade routes to Russia, the Mediterranean and the Levant, the Atlantic world, and the Indies. Its newly found wealth led to an unprecedented wave of immigration, increasing its population from about 30,000 in 1578 to over 200,000 by the end of the 17th century. The urban government facilitated trade by the institution of an exchange bank and a commodity exchange, the construction of dockyards, and two bold and ambitious town-planning projects including Amsterdam’s celebrated ring of canals. This article contains only works specifically dedicated to the history of the city of Amsterdam. Only a few of them are in English. Since Amsterdam was by far the biggest, wealthiest, and most powerful city of the Dutch Republic, much valuable information about Amsterdam is to be found in general works about the Dutch Republic listed in the Oxford Bibliographies articles on The Netherlands (Dutch Revolt / Dutch Republic) and Reformations and Revolt in the Netherlands, 1500–1621. For studies on artists working in Amsterdam and the Amsterdam art market, see the Oxford Bibliographies article on 17th-Century Dutch Art.
General Overviews
The place to start is the first three volumes of Geschiedenis van Amsterdam (history of Amsterdam) edited by Marijke Carasso-Kok and others (Carasso-Kok 2004–2007), authored by several specialists in the field and based on original research. Knegtmans 2011 provides a concise summary of this work. The older multivolume histories of Amsterdam, Brugmans 1972–1973 and ter Gouw 1879–1893, remain useful because they provide a mass of detailed information, although their interpretations cannot always be trusted. Kistemaker and van Gelder 1983 still offers a very good general and short introduction, while Mak 2001 is advisable for general reading only but not for research or teaching purposes. Kistemaker and van Gelder 1983 and Mak 2001 are the only general introductions available in English.
Brugmans, Izaak Johannes. Geschiedenis van Amsterdam. 6 vols. Utrecht, The Netherlands, and Antwerp, Belgium: Het Spectrum, 1972–1973.
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Aiming at a broad audience, this is a revised edition of the work by the author’s father, Hajo Brugmans, Geschiedenis van Amsterdam: Van den oorsprong af tot heden (8 vols., Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Joost van den Vondel, 1930–1933). The first four volumes take the history to 1795. Although the interpretation of historical events and institutions is sometimes outdated, this book offers a more detailed view than Carasso-Kok 2004–2007.
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Carasso-Kok, Marijke, ed. Geschiedenis van Amsterdam. 5 vols. Amsterdam: SUN, 2004–2007.
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This richly illustrated work is the most recent as well as the most scholarly overview of the history of Amsterdam. Vol. 1 covers the period until 1578; Vols. 2.1 and 2.2, 1578–1650 and 1650–1813, respectively. On the basis of secondary readings as well as archival research, and with extensive references, this is the place to start research into all aspects of Amsterdam’s history.
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Kistemaker, Renée, and Roelof van Gelder. Amsterdam: The Golden Age, 1275–1795. Translated by Paul Foulkes. New York: Abbeville, 1983.
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Lavishly illustrated and covering the period up to c. 1800, this is a useful short introduction to almost all aspects of the history of the medieval and early modern city. English translation of Amsterdam 1275–1795: Buon governo e cultura in una metropoli di mercanti (Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori, 1982). The original text in Dutch has been published as Amsterdam 1275–1795: De ontwikkeling van een handelsmetropool (Amsterdam: Meulenhoff Informatief, 1983).
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Knegtmans, Peter Jan. Amsterdam: Een geschiedenis. Amsterdam: SUN, 2011.
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The first three chapters of this concise summary of Carasso-Kok 2004–2007 cover the period up to 1813.
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Mak, Geert. Amsterdam: A Brief Life of the City. Translated by Philipp Blom. London: Harvill, 2001.
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This is a smoothly written introduction aimed at a broad audience, full of lively detail and without scholarly pretension. English translation of Een kleine geschiedenis van Amsterdam (Amsterdam: Atlas, 1994).
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ter Gouw, Jan. Geschiedenis van Amsterdam. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Scheltema & Holkema, 1879–1893.
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This history in eight volumes by Amsterdam’s 19th-century municipal archivist covers the period only up to 1578. Indispensable for minute details and references to archival sources, but outdated in terms of interpretation and analysis.
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Archival Resources
Amsterdam’s municipal archives (Stadsarchief Amsterdam) increasingly facilitates online access to its holdings. Many documents have been scanned and can be viewed and downloaded digitally for a small fee. Users may also request that additional documents be scanned and made available digitally. Especially valuable are the digital indexes to genealogical sources such as baptism registers, marriage registers, and burial registers. The beeldbank (image database) contains an enormous stock of topographical images that can be viewed and downloaded. The Stadsarchief website has an interface in English.
Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Archives Database.
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This database gives access to the inventories of all archives. From here, for a modest fee, users can either view scanned documents or place a request for documents to be scanned.
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Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Genealogische zoeksystemen.
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This database contains indexes to a large number of archives. For early modern Amsterdam the following indexes are especially useful: Doopregisters (baptismal registers), Ondertrouwregisters (marriage banns registers), Begraafregisters voor 1811 (burial registers before 1811), Confessieboeken 1534–1731 (registers of confessions, containing judicial interrogations of prisoners), and Transportakten voor 1811 (deeds of conveyance of real property before 1811). Users can consult the scanned documents online.
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Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Image Bank.
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More than 320,000 images can be viewed and downloaded.
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Source Editions
Given Amsterdam’s economic, political, and cultural preponderance in the Dutch Republic, a good number of documents in Amsterdam’s municipal archives (Stadsarchief) have been made available in source editions. Nevertheless, these cover only a fraction of the overwhelming richness of its holdings. The notarial archives, in particular (over 2 miles of shelf length and over 28,000 inventory numbers), contain an enormous wealth of information, largely untapped.
The Economy
Amsterdam’s key position in international commerce during the golden age has motivated historians to dedicate several source editions to the city’s economic history. The most-important sources, the trade and charter agreements in Amsterdam’s notarial archives, remain largely unpublished, due to the immense size of these archives (over 2 miles of shelf length and over 28,000 inventory numbers). Valuable editions are van Dillen 1929–1974, with sources on Amsterdam’s industry and craft guilds; van Dillen 1925, on the Wisselbank (Exchange Bank); Winkelman 1971–1983, on the Baltic trade; and the electronic database on trade with Russia, Notariële akten over de Archangelvaart 1594–1724.
Notariële akten over de Archangelvaart 1594–1724.
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An electronic database containing information on Dutch trade with Russia, almost all of which was conducted from Amsterdam, during the period 1594–1724. Summarizing roughly 4,700 notarial deeds (mostly charter agreements) in the Amsterdam municipal archives, it systematically provides data on ships, skippers, charterers, sea routes, and freightage.
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van Dillen, J. G., ed. Bronnen tot de geschiedenis der Wisselbanken (Amsterdam, Middelburg, Delft, Rotterdam). 2 vols. Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën 59–60. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1925.
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More than a thousand documents, almost all of them from the archives of the Amsterdam Exchange Bank (Wisselbank), founded in 1609. On the basis of the bank’s ledgers, yearly balance sheets, and various accounts, it contains a wealth of numerical data, as well as materials pertaining to the history of the bank, giro transactions, loans in specie, and credit facilities. Available online.
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van Dillen, J. G., ed. Bronnen tot de geschiedenis van het bedrijfsleven en gildewezen van Amsterdam. 3 vols. Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën 144. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1929–1974.
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A selection of 4,645 documents from the Amsterdam municipal archives, this source edition contains a wealth of materials on the city’s trade and industry in the period 1510–1672. The editor has consulted statute books, Vroedschap resolutions, and documents in the archives of Burgomasters, craft guilds, and treasurers (Thesaurieren ordinaris). Limited use has been made of notarial records due to the immense volume of these holdings. Available online.
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Winkelman, P. H., ed. Bronnen voor de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Oostzeehandel in de zeventiende eeuw. 6 vols. Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën 133. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1971–1983.
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Covering the period 1588–1625, this source edition contains information on trade with the Baltic, virtually monopolized by Amsterdam. Key sources are the Pound-Toll Registers of Koenigsbergen (Kaliningrad) and notarial charter agreements from Amsterdam. Contains information on ships, trade routes, charterers, merchants, and trade and financing practices. Many deeds are from the archives of Jan Franssen Bruyningh, a notary who almost monopolized the execution of deeds regarding the Baltic trade. Available online.
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Social Structure
Three published tax registers provide insight into the social structure of Amsterdam’s wealthy elite at various points in time: van Dillen 1941 for 1585, Frederiks and Frederiks 1890 for 1631, and Oldewelt 1945 for 1742.
Frederiks, J. G., and P. J. Frederiks. Kohier van den tweehonderdsten penning voor Amsterdam en onderhoorige plaatsen over 1631. Amsterdam: Ten Brink & De Vries, 1890.
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The tweehonderdste penning was a 0.5 percent tax levied on movable and immovable property, valued at 1,000 guilders or more, from inhabitants of Amsterdam and surrounding villages. The register lists names, addresses, and tax assessments of Amsterdam’s economic elite.
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Oldewelt, W. F. H., ed. Kohier van de personeele quotisatie te Amsterdam over het jaar 1742. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Genootschap Amstelodamum, 1945.
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The personele quotisatie was a tax levied from individuals with a yearly income of six hundred guilders or more. Listing names, occupations, number of servants, house value, the possession of country estates, coaches and vessels, horses, stocks and bonds, and annual incomes, the register provides a fascinating social and economic picture of Amsterdam’s elite in the mid-18th century.
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van Dillen, J. G., ed. Amsterdam in 1585: Het kohier der capitale impositie van 1585. Amsterdam: De Bussy, 1941.
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The capitale impositie was a tax levied in 1585 from Amsterdam’s wealthy elite. Recording names, professions, addresses, and tax assessments of almost 3,000 individuals, this source provides insight into the city’s socioeconomic structure.
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Politics and Religion
The resolutions of the Vroedschap, or town council, which discussed all important political, diplomatic, economic, social, and religious issues, are a key source for the history of Amsterdam. The municipal archives hold a complete series running from 1490 to 1795, but only the resolutions from 1490 to 1565 have been published in a modern text edition (van Iterson and van der Laan 1986 and van der Laan and Bessem 2008). The private notes by Hans Bontemantel provide a detailed insider’s view of political practices during the period 1653–1672 (Bontemantel 1897). The town’s turbulent religious history can be studied from several source editions. The 16th-century Anabaptist movements are amply documented in Mellink 1975–1988 (Vols. 5 and 2). Van Eeghen 1959–1960 is the edition of a unique and fascinating document, the diary of a conventual who has found asylum in Catholic Amsterdam between 1572 and 1578, and reports on the horrors of civil and religious war. Van Dillen 1938 provides an interesting collection of documents on the struggles between Remonstrants and Counter-Remonstrants from 1613 to 1630, while van Gelder 1871–1925 looks at Amsterdam’s religious and political turmoil from the humanist and tolerant viewpoint of burgomaster Cornelis Pieterszoon Hooft.
Bontemantel, Hans. De regeeringe van Amsterdam, soo in’t civiel als crimineel en militaire (1653–1672). Edited by Gerhard W. Kernkamp. 2 vols. Werken / Historisch Genootschap 3, 7. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1897.
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During the period 1653–1672, Hans Bontemantel, a member of Amsterdam’s magistrate, kept private notes about everything that went on in the city’s government and law courts. Providing copious information about individuals, institutions, and political intriguing as seen by an insider, this source is indispensable for understanding the daily practice of government during the first “stadholderless” era and the revolution of 1672. Available online.
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Mellink, Albert F. ed. Documenta anabaptistica Neerlandica. 6 vols. Kerkhistorische Bijdragen 6. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1975–1988.
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An excellent source edition on the Anabaptist movement in Amsterdam in the 16th century. Vol. 5 covers the period 1531–1536 (when the city became a revolutionary Anabaptist stronghold); Vol. 2, the period 1536–1578.
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van der Laan, P. H. J., and R. Bessem, eds. Resoluties van de vroedschap van Amsterdam 1551–1565. Publikaties van de Gemeentelijke Archiefdienst van Amsterdam 28. Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2008.
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The resolutions of the Amsterdam town council (Vroedschap) from 1551 to 1565 are a key source for the history of Amsterdam as well as the Netherlands as a whole. The Burgomasters consulted the Vroedschap on all important political, diplomatic, economic, social, and religious issues, and especially on finances and public works. Continuation of van Iterson and van der Laan 1986.
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van Dillen, J. G., ed. “Documenten betreffende de politieke en kerkelijke twisten te Amsterdam (1614–1630).” Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historisch Genootschap 59 (1938): 191–249.
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A collection of sources relating to the fierce political and religious controversies between Remonstants and Counter-Remonstrants during the period 1614–1630, with an extensive introduction.
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van Eeghen, Isabella H., ed. Dagboek van broeder Wouter Jacobsz (Gualtherus Jacobi Masius) prior van Stein: Amsterdam 1572–1578 en Montfoort 1578–1579. 2 vols. Werken / Historisch Genootschap 4.5–6. Groningen, The Netherlands: Wolters, 1959–1960.
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Wouter Jacobsz was an Augustinian friar who had fled the violence of William of Orange’s Calvinist rebels in 1572 and found a safe haven in Amsterdam, a city firmly on the side of the king of Spain until 1578. His diary provides a unique and fascinating insight into Amsterdam’s turbulent history during the early phases of the Dutch Revolt.
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van Gelder, H. A. Enno, ed. Memoriën en adviezen van Cornelis Pieterszoon Hooft. 2 vols. Utrecht, The Netherlands: Kemink, 1871–1925.
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Edition of the private notes of Cornelis Pieterszoon Hooft (b. 1547–d. 1626), a wealthy grain merchant, eight times burgomaster of Amsterdam, and famous for his tolerant attitude in religious issues. Available online.
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van Iterson, P. D. J., and P. H. J. van der Laan, eds. Resoluties van de vroedschap van Amsterdam 1490–1550. Publikaties van de Gemeentelijke Archiefdienst van Amsterdam 14. Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw, 1986.
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The resolutions of the Amsterdam town council (Vroedschap) from 1490 to 1550 are a key source for the history of Amsterdam as well as the Netherlands as a whole. The Burgomasters consulted the Vroedschap on all important political, diplomatic, economic, social, and religious issues, and especially on finances and public works.
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Collective Biographies
Providing a wealth of biographical data, Elias 1963 is indispensable for studying Amsterdam’s oligarchic government and social elite. This work has been complemented in the early 21st century with a collection of biographical data on the city’s Catholic patriciate, the descendants of the political elite before 1578 (Dudok van Heel 2008).
Dudok van Heel, Sebastien A. C. Van Amsterdamse burgers tot Europese aristocraten: Hun geschiedenis en hun portretten; De Heijnen-maagschap 1400–1800. Edited by A. M. W. Bulk-Bunschoten, R. J. van der Maal, and M. B. de Roever. 2 vols. Werken 17. The Hague: Koninklijk Nederlandsch Genootschap voor Geslacht- en Wapenkunde, 2008.
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A biographical overview of all direct descendants until 1800 of the members of the Heijnen clan, Amsterdam’s 15th-century elite. After the 1578 Alteratie, many former Catholic regents remained prosperous and socially prominent. Containing a wealth of biographical data, this work is complementary to Elias 1963. It has six highly informative introductory chapters exploring Amsterdam’s ruling oligarchy before 1578 and the Dutch Republic’s “invisible” Catholic patriciate.
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Elias, Johan E. De vroedschap van Amsterdam, 1578–1795. 2 vols. Amsterdam: N. Israel, 1963.
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First published in 1903–1905 (Haarlem, The Netherlands: Loosjes), this extremely useful work offers biographical data about more than 14,000 members of Amsterdam’s political elite between 1578 and 1795, arranged in entries on about 460 members of the Vroedschap (town council). It contains a long introduction on the political history of Amsterdam, later published separately (Elias 1923, cited under Politics). Available online.
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Journals
Amsterdam’s oldest historical society, Amstelodamum publishes a journal (Amstelodamum: Orgaan van het Genootschap Amstelodamum) and a yearbook (Jaarboek van het Genootschap Amstelodamum) dedicated to all aspects of the history of the city, mostly on the basis of original archival research. Volumes up to the year 2000 can be searched digitally.
Amstelodamum: Orgaan van het Genootschap Amstelodamum.
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Published since 1914 by Amsterdam’s oldest historical society, the journal Amstelodamum (issued monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly, with varying subtitles) is dedicated to scholarly research into the history of the city.
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Jaarboek van het Genootschap Amstelodamum.
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The yearbook of Amsterdam’s oldest historical society has appeared since 1902 and contains scholarly articles on the history of the city, usually the result of research in the city archives.
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Chorography
Chorography, or the systematic description of the topography and the history of a city, became a popular genre in the 17th-century Dutch Republic. Typically, chorographies consist of sections describing a city’s history, its notable buildings, and its government. The final section often contains lists of magistrates. Providing all kinds of topical information that can not readily be found elsewhere, chorographies are valuable sources. Van der Zande 1985 is a useful introduction, discussing Amsterdam’s 17th-century topographical works and their authors. Pontanus 1614 is the oldest work, its publication being motivated by civic pride, the city’s recently booming economy, and the construction of an ambitious town extension (the first part of the famous ring of canals). Four chorographies were published in the short period between 1662 and 1665, when preparations for the second large town extension were well underway, and during the heyday of Amsterdam’s economic, political, and cultural flowering. Fokkens 1662 is the only work paying attention to the private elite mansions bordering the canals. Dapper 1663 is the most original work, but the author’s historical description skips the period 1587–1650. Von Zesen 1664, written by a German immigrant and based mostly on the works of his predecessors, has the character of a tourist guide, while van Domselaer 1665 is merely a compilation from various sources. Commelin 1693, an updated version of van Domselaer 1665, is the best choice for researchers of the end of the 17th century. Wagenaar 1760–1767 provides the best historical account by far, but the author’s works reflect 18th-century enlightened views rather than the perspective of the 17th century. All books listed here have been digitized.
Commelin, Caspar. Beschryvinge van Amsterdam, zynde een Naukeurige verhandelinge van desselfs eerste Oorspronk uyt den Huyse der heeren van Amstel en Amstellant. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Wolfgang, Waasberge, Boom, Van Someren and Goethals, 1693.
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The most extensive, as well as the most popular, chorography before Wagenaar 1760–1767, this late-17th-century work is an updated and thoroughly revised edition of van Domselaer 1665. The author-compiler was a bookseller who had obtained permission to explore the papers in the town clerk’s office (secretarie). Second edition (Amsterdam: Oossaan, 1693–1694); third edition (Amsterdam: Van Damme, Ratelband, Weduwe van Aaltwyk, Uytwerf, 1726). Available online.
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Dapper, Olfert. Historische beschryving der stadt Amsterdam. Amsterdam: Jacob van Meurs, 1663.
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Written by a learned medical doctor, this is the best contemporaneous work before Wagenaar 1760–1767, although it inexplicably skips the entire period 1578–1650. Van Domselaer 1665 was to include Dapper’s Book 5 and part of Book 6, while Book 4 in Commelin 1693 is largely based on Dapper’s work. Facsimile reprinted in 1975 (Amsterdam: Buijten & Schipperheijn). Available online.
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Fokkens, Melchior. Beschrijvinge der wijdt-vermaarde koop-stadt Amstelredam, van hare eerste beginselen, oude voor-rechten, en verscheyde vergrootingen. 2d impression. Amsterdam: Marcus Willemsz. Doornick, 1662.
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Description and history of Amsterdam during its heyday, authored by an obscure playwright. Containing mostly topographical descriptions (e.g., a long section on the new town hall), this is the only chorography describing the opulent private houses bordering Amsterdam’s canals. Second impression, but a first impression is not known. A third impression (1664) is probably largely composed by Tobias van Domselaer. Available online.
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Pontanus, Johannes Isacius. Historische beschrijvinghe der seer wijt beroemde coop-stadt Amsterdam. Amsterdam: Jodocus Hondius, 1614.
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A translation into Dutch of Pontanus’s Rerum et urbis Amstelodamensium historia (Amsterdam: Jodocus Hondius, 1611), this is the oldest published contemporaneous description and history of Amsterdam. Pontanus was a humanist scholar and a professor of philosophy at the University of Harderwijk. Facsimile edition published in 1968 (Amsterdam: Facsimile Uitgaven Nederland). Available online..
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van der Zande, J. “Amsterdamse stadsgeschiedschrijving vóór Wagenaar.” Holland: Regionaal-Historisch Tijdschrift 17 (1985): 218–230.
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Exploring Amsterdam’s 17th-century chorographies, this introductory article is useful reading for all those wanting to use these works as a source.
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van Domselaer, Tobias. Beschryvinge van Amsterdam, haar eerste oorspronk uyt den huyze der heeren van Aemstel en Aemstellant. Amsterdam: Marcus Willemsz. Doornick, 1665.
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This description and history of Amsterdam during the zenith of its economic and political power was authored by a merchant and regent of Amsterdam’s municipal theater. It is mostly a compilation of other authors (e.g., Arnoldus Montanus, Pieter Cornelisz Hooft, Olfert Dapper, Isaac Commelin, and Lieuwe van Aitzema). Available online.
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von Zesen, Philipp. Filips von Zesen Beschreibung der Stadt Amsterdam: Darinnen von derselben ersten ursprunge bis auf gegenwärtigen Zustand, ihr unterschiedlicher Anwachs, herliche Vorrechte, und in mehr als 70 Kupfer-stükken entworfene führnehmste Gebeue. German Baroque Literature. Amsterdam: Joachim Noschen, 1664.
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This tourist guide, based largely on the works by Dapper, Pontanus, and Fokkens, provides the view of a German author, “Europe’s first Baedeker,” on golden-age Amsterdam. It is structured around the description of two imaginary walking tours—one around the city, the other one crossing it. A modern text edition appeared as Vol. 16 of Philipp von Zesen, Sämtliche Werke (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2000), which is available online.
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Wagenaar, Jan. Amsterdam, in zyne Opkomst, Aanwas, Geschiedenissen, Voorregten, Koophandel, Gebouwen, Kerkenstaat, Schoolen, Schutterye, Gilden en Regeeringe. 3 vols. Amsterdam: Isaak Tirion, 1760–1767.
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Written in the mid-18th century, this is by far the best contemporaneous history and description of Amsterdam. Wagenaar, a wood merchant and a Collegiant, was commissioned by the burgomasters as official city historian and had unlimited access to the city archives. Reprinted in thirteen volumes in 1760–1768; facsimile reproduction published in 1971–1972 (Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Repro-Holland). Available online: Vol. 1; Vol. 2; Vol. 3.
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The Economy
Specialized originally in the import of grain and timber from the Baltic, Amsterdam in the 17th century became the European entrepôt for commodities from the entire world. Much information about the city’s key economic position can be found in general works about the economy of the Dutch Republic. Researchers are advised to consult the relevant sections in the Oxford Bibliographies article on The Netherlands (Dutch Revolt / Dutch Republic) to study the economy of Amsterdam in its full Netherlandish, European, and global context. Traditionally, scholarship has focused on the question of whether Amsterdam’s economic upswing c. 1600 was due to the influx of merchants from Antwerp and the southern provinces or to structural factors. Gelderblom 2000 and Lesger 2006 shed new light on this issue, the latter strongly underscoring contingent factors and arguing that Amsterdam should be regarded as a market for information rather than a staple market for commodities. Klein 1965 is a classic study exploring monopolistic practices in Holland’s staple market. Lesger 2013 explores the spatial layout of Amsterdam’s retail trade. Nusteling 1985 is a useful study on demography, wages, and standard of living over a long period of time, while Posthumus 1971 explores Amsterdam’s export trade during the first half of the 16th century.
Gelderblom, Oscar. Zuid-Nederlandse kooplieden en de opkomst van de Amsterdamse stapelmarkt (1578–1630). Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2000.
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A thoroughly researched collective biography of roughly 850 merchants from the southern Netherlands who settled in Amsterdam during the period 1578–1630. Documenting their place of origin, occupation, religion, age, wealth, migration, and trade activities, this work sheds new light on the old controversy whether the upsurge in Amsterdam’s economy was due to the influx of elite merchants of Antwerp or to structural developments in the economy of the Low Countries.
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Klein, Peter W. De Trippen in de 17e eeuw: Een studie over het ondernemersgedrag op de Hollandse stapelmarkt. Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 1965.
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Classic study arguing that merchants from the Trip family monopolized the trade in copper, tar, and guns, and that their monopolistic behavior was representative of merchants active in Amsterdam’s staple market.
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Lesger, Clé. The Rise of the Amsterdam Market and Information Exchange: Merchants, Commercial Expansion and Change in the Spatial Economy of the Low Countries, c. 1550–1630. Translated by J. C. Grayson. Aldershot, UK, and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006.
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This brilliant study argues that the rise of Amsterdam as a commercial metropolis was not due to inherent, structural factors but to the Dutch Revolt, which definitively disrupted the highly integrated spatial economy of the Low Countries. Rather than a staple market for commodities, Amsterdam became a center for the distribution of information. Indispensable reading for research and (graduate) teaching. Translation of Handel in Amsterdam ten tijde van de Opstand: Kooplieden, commerciële expansie en verandering in de ruimtelijke economie van de Nederlanden ca. 1550–ca. 1630 (Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2001).
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Lesger, Clé. Het winkellandschap van Amsterdam: Stedelijke structuur en winkelbedrijf in de vroegmoderne en moderne tijd, 1550–2000. Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2013.
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Innovative study mapping the spatial economy of Amsterdam’s retail trade and the changing exteriors and interiors of shopping facilities over a prolonged period of time.
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Nusteling, Hubert. Welvaart en werkgelegenheid in Amsterdam, 1540–1860: Een relaas over demografie, economie en sociale politiek van een wereldstad. Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw, 1985.
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This study, based on original archival research as well as a synthesis of existing historiography, provides useful information on the demography, economic structure, wages, and standard of living of the population of Amsterdam during three centuries.
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Posthumus, Nicolaas W. De uitvoer van Amsterdam, 1543–1545. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1971.
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A thorough analysis of the export trade of Amsterdam in the early 1540s, on the basis of the registers of a 1 percent tax on exported commodities. Chapter 2 explores the economic development of Amsterdam during the first half of the 16th century.
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The Financial Markets
Amsterdam’s town government facilitated the booming economy, with new institutions such as the Exchange Bank (Wisselbank) and the Commodities Exchange (Bourse), and encouraged the development of novel financial services, such as the trade in stocks (shares in the Dutch East and West India Companies), bonds or obilgaties issued by the States of Holland, and shipping insurance facilities. Two early-21st-century studies explore institutional innovations in Amsterdam’s financial markets: Petram 2011 studies the trade in East India Company shares, while Dehing 2012 analyzes the workings and impact of the Amsterdam Exchange Bank. Gelderblom and Jonker 2004, exploring the rise of a market for transferable shares, argues that private finance took precedence over public finance. Taking a different approach, Israel 1990 underlines the significance of political events for the movement of Dutch East India Company (in Dutch, Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, or VOC) share prices.
Dehing, Pit. Geld in Amsterdam: Wisselbank en wisselkoersen, 1650–1725. PhD diss., University of Amsterdam, 2012.
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This study of the Amsterdam Exchange Bank explores the monetary policies of the town government, the operational management of the bank, and the impact of both on European currency markets. Commercial edition published under the same title (Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2012). Available online.
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Gelderblom, Oscar, and Joost Jonker. “Completing a Financial Revolution: The Finance of the Dutch East India Trade and the Rise of the Amsterdam Capital Market, 1595–1612.” Journal of Economic History 64.3 (2004): 641–672.
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An analysis of the evolution of the Amsterdam capital market as a consequence of overseas expansion and the introduction of transferable Dutch East India Company shares. Offering investors prospects of speculative gains without loss of liquidity, these instruments created a booming secondary market offering a wide range of credit techniques. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Israel, Jonathan I. “The Amsterdam Stock Exchange and the English Revolution of 1688.” Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 103 (1990): 412–440.
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Seminal article exploring the noticeable impact of political developments (in this case, the 1688 Glorious Revolution) and the perception thereof on Dutch East India Company share prices.
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Petram, Lodewijk Otto. “The World’s First Stock Exchange: How the Amsterdam Market for Dutch East India Company Shares Became a Modern Securities Market, 1602–1700. PhD diss., University of Amsterdam, 2011.
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Exploring the market for Dutch East India Company shares, the author argues that the world’s first modern market for corporate shares originated in Amsterdam between 1630 and 1650. A commercial edition in Dutch, aiming at a broader audience, appeared as De bakerrmat van de beurs: Hoe in zeventiende-eeuws Amsterdam de moderne aandelenhandel ontstond (Amsterdam: Atlas, 2011).
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Politics
Surprisingly, only a handful of works are dedicated to the political history of the most powerful city in the Dutch Republic and, arguably, early modern Europe. Researchers are advised to start with the chapters on politics in Carasso-Kok 2004–2007 (cited under General Overviews) and consult the relevant sections in the Oxford Bibliographies article on The Netherlands (Dutch Revolt / Dutch Republic). Elias 1923 still provides the only general overview. Van Nierop 2006 explores the reasons why Amsterdam remained loyal to the king of Spain during the Dutch Revolt. Groenveld 1967 investigates the conflict between the city and stadholder William II of Orange in 1650, and its reflections in the popular press. Salomons 1991 emphasizes the significance of popular politics in the revolution of 1672. Franken 1966 is an excellent study on the activities of an Amsterdam burgomaster as a diplomat in the second half of the 17th century, while Porta 1975 explores the activities of two powerful burgomasters during the first half of the 18th century.
Elias, Johan E. Geschiedenis van het Amsterdamsche Regentenpatriciaat. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1923.
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This work, the revised introduction to Elias 1963 (cited under Collective Biographies), continues to be valuable because it provides the only general political history of Amsterdam and its government from the 16th through the 18th centuries.
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Franken, M. A. M. Coenraad van Beuningen’s politieke en diplomatieke aktiviteiten in de jaren 1667–1684. Historische Studies 22. Groningen, The Netherlands: J. B. Wolters, 1966.
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Profound study of the activities of Amsterdam’s burgomaster Coenraad van Beuningen as an international diplomat during the period 1667–1684, with a summary in English.
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Groenveld, Simon. De prins voor Amsterdam: Reacties uit pamfletten op de aanslag van 1650. Fibulareeks 30. Bussum, The Netherlands: Fibula–Van Dishoeck, 1967.
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Short study exploring stadholder William II’s attack on Amsterdam in 1650 and the reactions in contemporaneous pamphlet literature.
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Porta, Antonio. Joan en Gerrit Corver: De politieke macht van Amsterdam (1702–1748). Van Gorcum’s Historische Bibliotheek 93. Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 1975.
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A study of the careers and political influence of Joan and Gerrit Corver, Amsterdam’s two most powerful burgomasters during the “republican” era of 1702–1748, when Holland had no stadholder. Explores local politics as well as Amsterdam’s impact on the provincial, national, and international levels.
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Salomons, Arthur F. “De rol van de Amsterdamse burgerbeweging in de wetsverzetting van 1672.” Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 106.2 (1991): 198–219.
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This article criticizes the older theory—for example, in Commelin 1693 (cited under Chorography) and Brugmans 1972–1973 (cited under General Overviews), and the influential study by D. J. Roorda, Partij en factie, Groningen, The Netherlands: Wolters-Noordhoff / Egbert Forsten, 1978)—that popular unrest played no significant role in Amsterdam during the crisis year of 1672. It argues that popular agitation, and the refusal of the civic militias to interfere, was responsible for the resignation of Amsterdam’s burgomasters.
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van Nierop, Henk. “Confessional Cleansing: Why Amsterdam Did Not Join the Revolt (1572–1578).” Paper presented at an international conference held at Columbia University in June 2001. In Power and the City in the Netherlandic World. Edited by Wayne Te Brake and Wim Klooster, 85–102. Northern World 22. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2006.
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Explores why Amsterdam, as the only major city in Holland, opted against William of Orange’s revolt in 1572, and why it was forced to change its position in 1578.
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Religion
Amsterdam’s staggering religious diversity has traditionally attracted much interest, yet there are surprisingly few scholarly monographs dedicated to any single religion in Amsterdam, with the exception of the Reformed Church. Scholars interested in the history of Amsterdam’s numerous Catholics, Mennonites, and other dissident congregations are advised to consult the general works listed in the appropriate sections in the Oxford Bibliographies articles on Reformations and Revolt in the Netherlands, 1500–1621 and The Netherlands (Dutch Revolt / Dutch Republic), where much information about the religious history of Amsterdam can be gleaned. A general introduction into religious life in Amsterdam is to be found in the appropriate essays in Carasso-Kok 2004–2007 (cited under General Overviews): Carasso-Kok 2004 (15th- and 16th-century Catholicism), van Nierop 2004a and van Nierop 2004b (the Protestant Reformation), and Spaans 2004 (the Dutch Republic). The standard work on the Reformed Church in Amsterdam is Evenhuis 1965–1978, while Roodenburg 1990 provides an innovative anthropological view on the practice of Reformed discipline.
Carasso-Kok, Marijke. “Ter ere van God en tot het aanzien van de stad.” In Geschiedenis van Amsterdam. Vol. 1, Een stad uit het niets tot 1578. Edited by Marijke Carasso-Kok, 393–449. Amsterdam: SUN, 2004.
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An outstanding overview of Catholic piety and practices in Amsterdam from the 15th century to the Reformation, paying special attention to the veneration of the Miracle of the Holy Sacrament and its importance for the city.
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Evenhuis, Rudolf B. Ook dat was Amsterdam. 5 vols. Amsterdam: Ten Have, 1965–1978.
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Authored by a (retired) minister, this work minutely explores the history of Amsterdam’s Reformed Church. The first three volumes deal with the 16th and 17th centuries. Provides copious information, but with little critical distance.
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Roodenburg, Herman. Onder censuur: De kerkelijke tucht in de gereformeerde gemeente van Amsterdam, 1578–1700. Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 1990.
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This study, based on the consistory records of the vast Reformed community of Amsterdam and emphasizing key notions of honor and shame, sketches a fascinating picture of clerical discipline over doctrine and life, and of where believers could go wrong in their private lives: sorcery, fornication, dancing, feasting, drinking, and many other vices.
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Spaans, Joke. “Stad van vele geloven, 1578–1798.” In Geschiedenis van Amsterdam. Vol. 2.1, Centrum van de wereld: 1578–1650. Edited by Willem Frijhoff and Maarten Prak, 385–467. Amsterdam: SUN, 2004.
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An excellent introduction into religious life in Amsterdam after the Protestant Reformation, exploring the mechanisms of religious pluriformity.
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van Nierop, Henk. “De eenheid verbroken 1522–1566.” In Geschiedenis van Amsterdam. Vol. 1, Een stad uit het niets: tot 1578. Edited by Marijke Carasso-Kok, 313–363. Amsterdam: SUN, 2004a.
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A short history of Amsterdam’s early evangelical movements, including the Anabaptist revolt of 1535 and its suppression.
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van Nierop, Henk. “Van Wonderjaar tot Alteratie 1566–1578.” In Geschiedenis van Amsterdam. Vol. 1, Een stad uit het niets: tot 1578. Edited by Marijke Carasso-Kok, 451–481. Amsterdam: SUN, 2004b.
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A short history of the Protestant Reformation and its suppression in Amsterdam from the 1566 iconoclast riots to the 1578 Alteratie, when the city officially adopted the Reformed religion.
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Culture and Society
More scholarship has been dedicated to Amsterdam’s social and cultural history than to its politics. Good places to start are O’Brien 2001 and van Kessel and Schulte 1997, both comparative works containing excellent short introductions to various aspects of Amsterdam’s social and cultural history. Kuijpers 2005 is an outstanding work on immigrants and immigration, while Kuijpers and Prak 2002 explores the intricacies and legal and social implications of citizenship in 17th-century Amsterdam. McCants 1997 explores orphan care, an important topic for Amsterdammers in an age of high mortality risk. Highlighting Amsterdam’s red-light district in the golden age, van de Pol 2011 sheds light on survival strategies of the lower classes of society, especially women. On the other side of the social spectrum, van Miert 2009 explores academic education, professors, and students at Amsterdam’s Illustrious School. Van Eeghen 1960–1978 is an indispensable treasure trove for researching Amsterdam’s (international) book trade.
Kuijpers, Erika. Migrantenstad: Immigratie en sociale verhoudingen in 17e-eeuws Amsterdam. Amsterdamse Historische Reeks 32. Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2005.
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This is an excellent, wide-ranging study of the many thousands of poor immigrant workers who came to find a livelihood in Amsterdam during its golden age, exploring their motives for immigration, the town’s immigration policies, settlement patterns, marriage patterns, work patterns, and the organization of poor relief.
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Kuijpers, Erika, and Maarten Prak. “Burger, ingezetene, vreemdeling: Burgerschap in Amsterdam in de 17e en 18e eeuw.” In Burger. Edited by Joost Kloek and Karin Tilmans, 113–132. Reeks Nederlandse Begripsgeschiedenis 4. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2002.
DOI: 10.5117/9789053565001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Only a minority among all inhabitants of Amsterdam enjoyed full citizen rights and privileges. This useful article explores social, economic, and legal aspects of citizenship in Amsterdam in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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McCants, Anne E. C. Civic Charity in a Golden Age: Orphan Care in Early Modern Amsterdam. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
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Explores the connections among the economy, the functioning of the government, and the provision of charitable services to orphans in Amsterdam during the 17th and 18th centuries.
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O’Brien, Patrick, ed. Urban Achievement in Early Modern Europe: Golden Ages in Antwerp, Amsterdam and London. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
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Useful volume in which several specialists compare areas of “urban achievement” in Amsterdam during its golden age with the earlier and later “golden ages” in Antwerp (c. 1492–1585) and London (c. 1660–1730). Fine introductory chapters on economic growth, monuments and public space, the art market, the book trade, and science and learning. Useful for undergraduate as well as graduate teaching.
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van de Pol, Lotte. The Burgher and the Whore: Prostitution in Early Modern Amsterdam. Translated by Liz Waters. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199211401.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This remarkable study, based largely on the Confessieboeken (records of judicial interrogations) in Amsterdam’s municipal archives, explores the (under)world of prostitution. An English translation of De burger en de hoer: Prostitutie in Amsterdam (Amsterdam: Wereldbibliotheek, 2003), this is a shorter and updated version of the author’s published PhD dissertation, Het Amsterdams hoerdom: Prostitutie in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw (Amsterdam: Wereldbibliotheek, 1996).
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van Eeghen, Isabella H. De Amsterdamse boekhandel 1680–1725. 6 vols. Amsterdam: Scheltema & Holkema, 1960–1978.
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Indispensable standard work on the book trade in Amsterdam, covering a longer period than indicated in the title. Contains biographies of all booksellers, publishers, and printers working in Amsterdam, the center of the European book trade.
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van Kessel, Peter, and Elisja Schulte, eds. Rome, Amsterdam: Two Growing Cities in Seventeenth-Century Europe. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1997.
DOI: 10.5117/9789053562222Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Behind the rather improbable comparison between baroque Rome and golden-age Amsterdam hides a useful collection of introductory essays exploring pictorial representations, city planning, demography, family life, regent families, popular politics, religion and religious policies, poor relief, food supply and food policies, immigration and acculturation, Jewish life, and criminal justice in Amsterdam (and, in separate complementary chapters, in Rome).
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van Miert, Dirk. Humanism in an Age of Science: The Amsterdam Athenaeum in the Golden Age, 1632–1704. Translated by Michiel Wielema and Anthony Ossa-Richardson. Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 179. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2009.
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Explores the history of Amsterdam’s Athenaeum Illustre in the wider context of academic education in the Dutch Republic. The “Illustrious School” provided academic education for thousands of young men but was not allowed to confer academic degrees. English translation of Illuster onderwijs: Het Amsterdamse Athenaeum in de Gouden Eeuw, 1632–1704 (Amsterdam: Bakker, 2005).
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The Jewish Community
Historians have not surprisingly dedicated a lot of scholarship to the history of the Jewish population of a city dubbed “the Jerusalem of the West.” Many “new Christians” suffering persecution in the Iberian Peninsula found a new home in Amsterdam, where they were allowed to freely exercise their religion. Exploiting their kin networks in Europe, the Caribbean, and South America, the Sephardim provided an important stimulus to the Dutch economy. The best general introduction is Bodian 1997. Swetschinski 2000, limiting itself to the 17th century, downplays any tensions between the Iberian (new Christian) and Jewish identities of the Sephardim. Kaplan 1999 offers a number of profound essays exploring the blending of Jewish and Iberian elements. Levie Bernfeld 2012, finally, explores social welfare among the Jewish population.
Bodian, Miriam. Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation: Conversos and Community in Early Modern Amsterdam. Modern Jewish Experience. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.
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The best introduction to the history of the Portuguese Jews who migrated to Amsterdam during the 17th century and turned it into a center of Judaic culture and learning, “the Jerusalem of the West.”
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Kaplan, Yosef. Les nouveaux-juifs d’Amsterdam: Essais sur l’histoire sociale et intellectuelle du judaïsme séfarade au XVIIe siècle. Translated by Jocelyne Hamon. Péninsules. Paris: Chandeigne, 1999.
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This volume brings together five key essays by the most accomplished historian of the Sephardic diaspora. Skillfully combining social and intellectual history, Kaplan explores the mental world of the Amsterdam Sephardim. Translation of Judíos nuevos en Amsterdam: Estudios sobre la historia social e intelectual del judaísmo sefardí en el siglo XVII (Barcelona: Gedisa, 1996).
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Levie Bernfeld, Tirtsah. Poverty and Welfare among the Portuguese Jews in Early Modern Amsterdam. Portland, OR: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2012.
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The reputed wealth and benevolence of the Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam attracted many poor immigrants to the city, including ex-conversos from the Iberian Peninsula as well as Jews from other countries. This work explores the consequences of Jewish migration in terms of demography, admission policies, charitable institutions, philanthropy, and daily life, and the dynamics of the relationship between the rich and the poor.
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Swetschinski, Daniel M. Reluctant Cosmopolitans: The Portuguese Jews of Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam. Oxford: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2000.
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Focusing on social history, the author underlines the specifically Iberian nature of the Portuguese Jews’ identity and argues that they transformed themselves into a coherent and well-integrated Jewish community in a rather smooth fashion.
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Town Planning and Architecture
Visitors of 17th-century Amsterdam especially admired—as they do today—its boldly laid-out ring of canals, the stately elite mansions bordering them, and the impressive town hall on Dam Square. The planning and construction of the city’s two ambitious urban enlargement projects can be studied in Abrahamse 2010. Maps, an indispensable tool for exploring urban expansion, can be found in Hameleers 2013 and Speet 2010. Bakker and Schmitz 2008 explore the visual representations of Amsterdam, while Vlaardingerbroek 2011 is the new standard work on Amsterdam’s monumental town hall, although Fremantle 1959 remains useful for readers not familiar with Dutch.
Abrahamse, Jaap Evert. De grote uitleg van Amsterdam: Stadsontwikkeling in de zeventiende eeuw. Bussum, The Netherlands: Thoth, 2010.
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Richly illustrated, this outstanding work explores in great detail Amsterdam’s two heroic urban enlargement projects, which increased the city’s surface area by a factor five and brought into being its celebrated ring of canals. The author keenly discusses the town government’s policies in the fields of urban planning, logistics, infrastructure, and finances.
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Bakker, Boudewijn, and Erik Schmitz. Het aanzien van Amsterdam: Panorama’s, plattegronden en profielen uit de Gouden Eeuw. Bussum, The Netherlands: Thoth, 2008.
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Exhibition catalogue exploring the visual representations of Amsterdam (“urban portraits”) made during the city’s golden age, especially panorama views, maps, and urban profiles. Lavishly illustrated.
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Fremantle, Katharine. The Baroque Town Hall of Amsterdam. Orbis Ertium: Utrechtse Kunsthistorische Studien 4. Utrecht, The Netherlands: Haentjens Dekker & Gumbert, 1959.
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Seminal study exploring the “rhetoric” of the iconographic program of Amsterdam’s famous town hall. In spite of the more recent Vlaardingerbroek 2011, still useful for readers who do not master Dutch.
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Hameleers, Marc. Kaarten van Amsterdam. 2 vols. Bussum, The Netherlands: Thoth, 2013.
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This richly illustrated catalogue of the maps held by the Amsterdam city archives replaces the older inventory by A. E. d’Ailly, Catalogus van Amsterdamsche plattegronden (Amsterdam: Archief der Gemeente Amsterdam, 1934). Vol. 1 contains the maps produced from 1538 to 1865.
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Speet, Ben. Historische atlas van Amsterdam: Van veendorp tot hoofdstad. SUN-historische Atlassen. Amsterdam: SUN, 2010.
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This work explores the geography and cartography of Amsterdam from the origins to the present, making use of an abundance of street plans, thematic maps, drawings, and photographs.
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Vlaardingerbroek, Pieter. Het paleis van de Republiek: Geschiedenis van het stadhuis van Amsterdam. Cultuurhistorische Studies. Zwolle, The Netherlands: W Books, 2011.
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Replacing Fremantle 1959, this abundantly illustrated study explores the designing, planning, and building of Amsterdam’s monumental town hall and its decoration program.
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