Holland by Night

In 1585 Amsterdam's great competitor, the harbour city Antwerp, was conquered by the Spanish. Afterwards its link to the sea, the river Schelde, was blocked. As a consequence Amsterdam became the biggest port of the Netherlands. The fall of Antwerp also started a stream of refugees from Antwerp to the north. Many of the city's merchants and craftsmen found a home in Amsterdam.
Among the "refugees" travelling north from Antwerp was the Tremere Archille. He settled in Amsterdam with the permission of Hellrich. This permission was gained by promising him continuing intelligence on Fritzenklein, gathered by the Tremere who had settled in Leiden. 
The last decade of the century was very prosperous for the city and slowly Amsterdam grew into the biggest emporium of Europe. In 1592 Northern Italy suffered a great famine and the merchants of Amsterdam brought them relief. This gave them an opening into the markets of the Mediterranean. It was in these ports that they saw the exotic riches that where imported from around the world. In 1595 nine merchants of the city financed the first Dutch voyage to the Indies to acquire the precious spices.