The history of trade and the legitimacy of the Dutch Republic

Stapelbroek, Koen

Abstract

The Dutch Republic played a key role in most histories of trade. It was often the pivotal point in the narratives of European writers seeking to explain the transition from an early-modern dynastic system to one of the modern commercial competition between states. In contrast to these later histories of trade, however, reflections on the historicity of wealth from trade were not used by earlier Dutch writers to promote commercial policies and institutional reforms, but instead to rationalise the creation of new wealth, to contribute to the process of situating the republic as an equal to Europe’s dynastic monarchies and shape the character of the newly emerged Dutch state. This chapter addresses the different functions that ideas about history and trade fulfilled in relation to the legitimation of the Dutch state itself, as it acquired an identity and a political role among European states.

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Histories of Trade as Histories of Civilisation

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ISBN/ISSN

978-3-030-80087-1

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Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan

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Publisher Location

Cham, Switzerland

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DOI

10.1007/978-3-030-80087-1_4