the train to start, I paid her for tea and cigars, thanked her for her courtesy and left for Brussels.
Antwerp rose in importance as a place of commerce as Bruges fell in the 15th century, Antwerp.and in the 16th century Antwerp is said to have been the most prosperous and wealthy place in Europe, surpassing Venice itself! "Thousands of vessels are said to have lain in the Schelde at one time, while a hundred or more arrived and departed daily. The great fairs held here attracted merchants from all parts of the civilized world."
The terrors of the Spanish regime so graphically described by Motley were the principal cause of Antwerp's fall. Thousands of industrious manufacturers left their home and fled to England where they established factories and stimulated the trade of England. In 1576 the Spanish soldiers killed about 7000 of the inhabitants of Antwerp, and during the fourteen months after the capture of the town by the Duke of Parma the population dwindled rapidly.
As Antwerp declined under these circumstances, commercial prosperity left her and travelled northwards to Holland as it had previously travelled from Bruges to Antwerp. As the Dutch shook off the Spanish yoke and rose in power, they took care to divert all the trade of Antwerp to their own ports. Amsterdam rose as Antwerp fell, and in 1648 it was resolved that no sea-going vessel should ascend to Antwerp!
After over a hundred and fifty years, Napoleon Bonaparte tried to receive the prosperity of this place.
