Reform in the Low Countries

In the sixteenth century the Low Countries sat at the crossroads of important trade-routes. The estuary of Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt contained both the ‘mainports’ of Antwerp and Amsterdam and a host of lesser sea- and riverports. These handled traffic both on the overland route from the Mediterranian to the Atlantic, through Venice and Genoa, over the Alpine passes and via the Rhine Valley on to England, and the searoute connecting the Baltic to the Mediterranian. Proximity to these arteries of wealth had created a favorable climate for the development of a heavily urbanized, highly literate society, in which international trade, manufacture for both export and a dense network of local and regional markets interlocked and flourished ...