Description
Book SynopsisIn Dutch Deltas, Werner Scheltjens examines the emergence, functions and structure of the Low Countries’ maritime transport system between ca. 1300 and 1850. Scheltjens introduces the delta as a suitable geographical unit of analysis for understanding the regional economic origins of communities of maritime transporters. The author proves that changes in maritime trade networks and in the structure of regional economies entailed a process of specialisation, which led to the emergence of ‘professional’ maritime transport communities and the development of an integrated maritime transport market with Amsterdam and Rotterdam as its main centres. Dutch Deltas offers the first comprehensive study of the economic geography of the Low Countries’ maritime transport sector and its long-term development between 1300 and 1850.
Trade Review'[The book] is a valuable and original complement to the well-known discourse on Dutch involvement in early modern seaborne trade.' Tijl Vanneste (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), in: Renaissance Quarterly, Volume LXX, No. 2, p. 745-747.
Table of ContentsPreface ... vii List of Illustrations ... x List of Abbreviations ... xiv Introduction ... 1 Historiography ... 1 Deltas ... 8 Sources ... 11 Conversion ... 16 Name Matching ... 23 1 Locations ... 27 Overview ... 27 Rise and Fall ... 30 Before 1400 ... 31 1400–1500 ... 35 1500–1600 ... 41 1600–1700 ... 47 1700–1800 ... 58 Conclusions ... 64 2 Functions ... 66 Method ... 66 Transport Market Integration ... 72 The Port System of the Dutch Deltas in a European Context ... 83 Conclusions ... 89 3 Production ... 91 The Production of Grain Transport Services ... 91 The Spatial Structure of Grain Transport Services ... 107 Group 1 ... 112 Group 2 ... 118 Group 3 ... 122 Conclusions ... 129 4 Domiciles ... 131 Domicile Ambiguity ... 131 Virtual Migration ... 139 Conclusions ... 144 5 Usances ... 146 Conclusions ... 162 Appendices ... 169 Appendix to Chapter 1 ... 169 Appendix to Chapter 2 ... 224 Appendix to Chapter 3 ... 240 Appendix to Chapter 4: Domicile Ambiguity Matrix ... 290 Bibliography ... 301 Archives ... 301 Primary Sources ... 301 Secondary Literature ... 303 Index ... 318
