Can you imagine to what extent a merchant named Peter van der Burse was, as they say, "in authority" with his fellow citizens and contemporaries, that his presence was considered an important fact of concluding trade deals?

The van der Burse family owned two hotels in Bruges, then the shopping center of Europe, and on the square between the hotels "Ter Beurse" and "De Oude Beurs" in 1409, the first ever stock trading took place - they opened and closed at the stroke of a special bell.

"Brokers" and "brokers", however, were almost exclusively Italians - the advanced world of Northern Italian cities perfectly understood the essence and price of bills and futures. They were perfectly able to buy goods without presenting samples - such an experience had long existed at European fairs, where pawnbrokers acted as the shooters of such transactions.

                          Bruges, Exchange Square

     The format of such trade itself was named after van der Burse - "exchange" (the word means a leather bag or a large leather purse - there were three such "burses" on the coat of arms of van der Burse, and the image of three leather bags looked from the facades of hotels at those gathered on the "exchange" site between the hotels from two sides).

The idea gradually took root and found new supporters and gradually gathered more and more new people who understand the meaning of such an undertaking.

Exchanges have also appeared in neighboring cities - Lyon and Antwerp.

However, they lived, though brightly, but relatively short. The particularly booming stock exchange in Antwerp was killed by the Spanish conquerors, and trading moved to free Amsterdam - a city that picked up, intercepted and surpassed the commercial glory of Antwerp.

Stock trading in Amsterdam began back in 1530, but the real heyday of stock trading in Amsterdam began after the collapse of Antwerp.

      Amsterdam Exchange of the 16th century.

     In 1586, the city authorities allocated the chapel of St. Olaf to merchants for such trades (this is how the exchange gets premises for the first time, trades are moved there from pubs, although clerks do not part with beer), and in 1608 a special building of the exchange is already being built - trades are growing so that there is not enough room for traders.

Since the beginning of the XVI century, luoghi – shares of the Genoese Bank of San Giorgio and kuxen - shares of German mining companies have been traded and exchanged (although without documenting transactions). Later, there are shares of obligations of the Spanish crown, French rents and shares of some Hansa cities.

In Amsterdam, it was also possible to buy shares in various commercial, construction and manufacturing enterprises.

The real heyday of stock trading begins with the emergence of the Dutch East India Company, the largest enterprise in the history of business of all time.

Amsterdam, XVII century, the maximum revival of Dutch trade and the time of Dutch leadership in the world economy

    Amsterdam at that moment is the undisputed center of world trade, about 8 thousand (!!!) dock or stop at the roadstead in its harbor every day ships from all over the world, the Dutch merchant fleet surpasses all the fleets of European powers combined in terms of the number of ships and tonnage, goods from all over the world are bought and sold here. It is clear that Amsterdam is the most convenient place to make deals.

The variety of stocks and commodities traded on the stock exchange is growing and probably can grow indefinitely.

Plus - the rules of trade are intuitively understandable to most Dutch people, their daily life experience includes constant cooperation with neighbors and acquaintances, and even strangers - by this time the Dutch have been draining the seabed for centuries, using the land reclaimed from the sea - polders - for agricultural work - this is an expensive and technically complex business, carried out in a fold, where everyone received their share in the implementation of the project, depending on the invested funds.

Group portrait of the Amsterdam Riflemen Corporation, Jacobs, 1622.

This is not a military detachment at all, these are local entrepreneurs for whom it was the rule to unite in some communities for one reason or another - this concerned both the parruling of streets, and commercial or industrial associations.

The same thing happened with the construction of ships, and with manufactories, and even more so with the equipment of expeditions to distant countries for exotic goods.

The idea of stock trading fell on very prepared ground, and the exchange rules were not only understandable, but even in demand.

To be continued...