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
contempo