During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Bruges in Flanders was the heart of commercial Europe ; the great fair of all nations. In the year 1468, a hundred and fifty merchant ships might be seen at once all en tering- its harbour of Sluys. Besides the rich magazine of the lianse Confederation, the warehouses of fifteen mercantile bodies were to be found here ; with factories and families of merchants from every country of the ci vilized world. It was the emporium of all northern products for the south; of all southern and oriental pro ducts for the north. The latter proceeded in Hanse bottoms through the Sound, and along the Rhine to Lip per Germany, or were carried by land eastward to Bruns wick and Luneburg.
The prosperity of Bruges, Ghent, and the neighbour ing. towns, was accompanied with unbridled luxury, and with a turbulent spirit of insubordination, which, at last, brought on their downfal. They quarrelled with their rulers ; and the issue WaS unfortunate. Maximilian of Austria, whem the people uf Bruges had even the bold ness to lay hold of (1497,) and confine with his suite till their grievances were redressed, was obliged for a time to give way ; but Frederick III. NIaximilian's father, used every effort to revenge this insult. He seized the harbour of Sluys ; and thereby during ten years greatly impeded their trade. The Flemish weavers, too, who had now settled in England, began to produce cloths of their own; the Italian merchants began to frequent other fairs ; the Hanse Confederation, exasperated by the haughtiness of the city, carried away their factories ; and the commerce of Bruges gradually sunk,—but slow ly, as it had arisen slowly.
The decline of Bruges produced a change, but no diminution in the general trade of Belgium. Antwerp now stood forth to fill up its place; and each source of wealth, as it ceased to flow in the channels of Bruges, was sedulously diverted into those of its riva/. If the Italian merchants, the Hanse Confederation, the cloth dealers of England, turned away from the port of Sluys, it was only to enter that of the Scheldt : and Antwerp. under the government of Charles V. had become the liveliest and most splendid city in Christendom. Its ex cellent haven invited ships ; its privileged fairs allured traders front all quarters. The ilidustry of Belgium had mounted to its sununit at the commencement of the sixteenth century. 'rile produce of grain and flax, the rearing of cattle, the curing of fish, enriched the pea sant ; arts, manufactutes, and commerce, the townsman.
Ere long the productions of Flemish industry were to be met with in Arabia. Pei sia, and India ; Flemish ships covered the ocean ; we find them even on the Black Sea contending with the Genoese : and their mariners were distinguished from all others, by hoisting satl at every season, even the rudest of the yeal.
When the new route by the Cape was discovered, and thc Portuguese trade undermined that of the Levant, Belgium did not feel the blow which laid prostrate the Italian republics. Portugal creetA its staples in Bra bant ; and the spices ol Calicut were displayed in the markets of Antwerp. Hither also flowed the West India produce, with which the proud indolence of Spain rewarded the diligence of the Low Countries. The East-India sales of Antwerp attracted the Fuggers and Welsers from Augsburg, and the richest companies of Florence, Lucca, and Genoa. The Hanseatic Confe deration exposed their northern productions here; and our English company of merchant adventurers arc said to have employed above 30,000 of its people. The re nown of Antwerp extended itself over all the earth. Towards the conclusion of this century, a society or Turkish traders begged permission to settle there, and circulate from that centre the products of the east over Greece. With thc exchange of goods, that of money also increased Flemish bills were current in all quar ters of the globe. Antwerp, it is maintained, transacted more business at that period within a month, than Ve nice had done within two years, during the most bril liant epoch of its history.
In 14,92, the Hanseatic Confederation held its general congress in Antwerp, not in Lubec, as formerly. In 1531, the Exchange was built, the most magnificent in Europe at the time, and afterwards the model of that of London. The city contained 200,000 inhabitants ; hut the floating multitude, the world which pressed towards it on every side, exceeds all belief. Above 500 ships entered and left its harbour daily ; above 200 coaches daily passed through its gates ; upwards of 2000 wag gons arrived weekly from Germany, France, and Lor raine, not reckoning farm-wains and provision-carts, which commonly exceeded 10,000. The exports and imports seemed infinite in variety and immense in quan tity. The spiceries and drugs alone, which Lisbon sent into it, were valued at a inillion of crowns in the ycar.