Amsterdam as a Commercial City

Timeline

1. c. 1275–1500Mouth of the IJ river · Low CountriesAmsterdam originated as a fishing port and shipping node at the confluence of the IJ and the Zuiderzee, gradually gaining city rights in the 14th–15th centuries and developing grain and herring trade.
2. 1500–1572Amsterdam · Habsburg NetherlandsIn the first half of the 16th century Amsterdam maintained relative religious tolerance under Spanish Habsburg rule, attracting Flemish and German merchants and becoming a secondary port on the North Sea–Baltic trade chain.
3. 1578–1579Amsterdam civic district · North HollandIn 1578 Amsterdam's city government converted to Calvinism and expelled the Spanish garrison; in 1579 it formally joined the Union of Utrecht, shifting from the Habsburg camp to become a core city of the Dutch Republic.
4. 1580–1600Amsterdam port and canal district · Dutch RepublicIn the 1580s Amsterdam attracted large numbers of Southern Netherlandish and Protestant refugees, shipping and financial activity surged, and the city began planning its canal ring, laying the foundation for the commercial dominance of the 17th-century "Golden Age."