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• Antwerpen: Kunst & Cultuur (Art & Culture)
• Antwerpen: Handel & Nijverheid (Trade & Industry)
• Antwerpen: Politiek & Bestuur (Politics & Government)
• Antwerpen: Wetenschap & Onderwijs (Science & Education)
• Antwerpen: Filosofie & Godsdienst (Philosophy & Religion)
• Antwerpen: Verkenning & Ontdekking (Exploration & Discovery)

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1484-1648

(Tentative Period)

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History

Rise

• 1484, Maximilian decides that Antwerp must become the new commercial center.

Decline

• 1576, Antwerp adheres to the 'Pacification of Ghent'
• 1579, Antwerp ratifies the 'Union of Utrecht', aiming for the expulsion of the Spanish occupiers from the Low Countries (Netherlands)
• 1585, fall of Antwerp during the Eighty Years' War.
• 1648, Treaty of Munster, closure of the Schelde river

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Population Facts

Housing

(source: '1979: Inventaris van het cultuurbezit in België', ed. Suzanne van Aerschot)

• 1496: 6,147 houses (intra muros)
• 1568: 11,856 houses (intra muros)

Residents

(source: Prof. Guido Marnef, University of Antwerp - based on 1568 census)

• 1374: 7,000 residents
• 1480: 33,000 residents
• 1500: 40,000 residents
• 1526: 55,000 residents
• 1568: 89,996 residents + 14,085 foreign merchants + 3,822 soldiers and family

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Protagonists

Business & Politics

• Nikolaas Rockox

Religion

Science

Art

Exploration

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Immigrants

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Emigrants

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