News as a path to independence: Merchant correspondence and the exchange of news during the Dutch revolt

Abstract

In the sixteenth century, merchants used their skills and increased capital to gain greater political power than they previously experienced. The greatest of merchants became bankers for the princes of Europe, and some even rose to the ranks of the nobility. Direct access to political power was reserved for elite merchants participating in long-distance trade or banking activities, but interest in political news also spread to lower, more ordinary rungs of mercantile circles.