In this groundbreaking study, Clé Lesger argues that the shift of commercial power from Antwerp to Amsterdam was by no means inevitable, and that the highly specialized economy of the Low Countires was more that capable of adapting to the changing needs of international trade. Drawing on a wide variety of neglected archival collections (including those of the Bank of Amsterdam), this study not only addresses specific historical questions concerning the commercial life of the Low Countries, but through the case study of Amsterdam, also explroes wider issues of early modern European commercial trade and economic development.