Even before this time the ships of the Netherlands seem to have been the carriers of the north of Europe; for in 1503, two Zealand ships arrived at Campveer, laden with sugars, the produce of the Canary Islands.  Antwerp, however, continued till it was taken by the Spaniards, and its port destroyed by the blocking up of the Scheldt, to be most distinguished for its commerce, and its consequent wealth:—­its situation, its easy access by sea, joined to the circumstance of its being made the Portuguese entrepot for spices, drugs, and other rich productions of India, mainly contributed to its commerce.  Merchants from every part of the north of Europe settled here, and even many of the merchants of Bruges removed to it, after the decline of their own city.  Its free fairs for commerce, two of which lasted each time six weeks, attracted merchants from all parts, as they could bring their merchandize into it duty free, and were here certain of finding a market for it.  In it also bills of exchange on all parts of Europe could be easily and safely negotiated.  We have already mentioned the most wealthy merchants of England and France, in the fifteenth century:  there existed at Antwerp, in the sixteenth, a firm of the name of Fugger, whose wealth was very great, and indicates the extent of their commercial dealings.  From this firm the Emperor Charles V. had borrowed a very large sum, in order to carry on an expedition against Tunis.  In the year 1534, Charles, being at Antwerp, Fugger invited him to an entertainment at his house, made a fire in his hall with cinnamon, and threw all the emperor’s bonds into that fire.  About eleven years afterwards, the same merchant gave an acquittance to Henry VIII. of England, for the sum of 152,180_l_.  Flemish, which the king had borrowed of him.  The Fuggers had a licence from the king of Portugal to trade to India; and they used to send their own factor in every ship that sailed thither, and were the owners of part of every cargo of pepper imported.

In the year 1541, it contained 100,000 inhabitants:  soon afterwards the persecutions on account of religion in Germany, England, and France, drove many people thither, and of course increased both its population and wealth.  If we may believe Huet, in his History of Dutch Commerce, it was, at this time, not uncommon to see 2500 ships at once lying in the Scheldt.

The picture, however, which Guicciardini draws of Antwerp in 1560, when it had reached the zenith of its prosperity and wealth,—­being that of a contemporary author, and entering into detail,—­is at once much more curious and interesting, and may be depended on as authentic.  It is also valuable, as exhibiting the state of the manufactures, commerce, &c. of most of the nations of Europe at this period.

“Besides the natives and the French, who are here very numerous, there are six principal foreign nations, who reside at Antwerp, both in war and peace, making above 1000 merchants, including factors and servants, viz.  Germans, Danes, and Easterlings—­that is, people from the ports in the south shores of the Baltic, from Denmark to Livonia—­Italians, Spaniards, English, and Portuguese of these six nations; the Spaniards are the most numerous.  One of those foreign merchants, Fugger, of Augsburg, died worth above six millions of crowns; there are many natives there with from 200,000 to 400,000 crowns.”