State Formation and Urban Finances in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-century Holland

Abstract

The governments of the Habsburg Empire (1477-1579) and the Dutch Republic (1579) depended largely on taxes imposed on Holland's wealthy cities. The wealth of Holland's cities was used for the needs of the state but only by the consent of the urban governments. Such negotiations benefited both town and ruler. Successful efforts of the province to impose control on urban finances involved the loss of urban financial autonomy, but it did not necessarily harm urban funds. Since it involved the restoration of urban credit as well, the great cities of Holland profited by the increasing provincial control over excises.