Het geld van de stad. Recente historiografische trends in het onderzoek naar stedelijke financiën in de Nederlanden
Marjolein 't Hart en Manon van der Heijden
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The town's money. Recent trends in the historiography on urban finances in the Low Countries
The authors point to three trends in the recent historiography on urban finances in the Low Countries. The first trend discusses the institutional arrangements and the financial policy of the urban authorities, including the relationship between town and central state. The second focuses on economic topics, such as wages, prices, economic development, the standard of living and urban enterprises. The third trend examines the socio-economic relations between the burghers themselves and deals with the composition of urban elites and collective action, among others. For long, the historiography on these topics has been dominated by studies on the southern Netherlands and Belgium, but recently historians in the northern Netherlands have started to fill some of the gaps. Finally, the authors introduce the four contributions that follow in this special issue on urban finances.

Staatsmacht en stedelijke autonomie. Het geld van Antwerpen en Amsterdam (1500-1700)
Marjolein 't Hart en Michael Limberger
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State power and urban autonomy. The money of Antwerp and Amsterdam, 1500-1700
This article discusses the urban autonomy of Antwerp and Amsterdam in the sixteenth and seventeenth century in the perspective of the model on capital and coercion in European statemaking by Charles Tilly. The urban accounts of 1530-1545 and 1665-1680 are analysed to measure the impact of 'coercion' (statemaking) on the financial autonomy of the towns. In the sixteenth century, Antwerp suffered severe incursions into its urban autonomy, despite its powerful position as a central capital market. In the seventeenth century, Amsterdam's financial autonomy was still strong, although the urban authorities had to yield way to the province in the field of taxation. All along, a strong path dependency was noted in the institutional arrangements of the towns. Amsterdam's autonomy dated from an earlier period which strengthened its position vis-à-vis the state. In Antwerp the recurrent demand for loans by the prince led to a continuing burden of interest payments which curtailed the flexibility in urban financial policy, rendering the town utterly dependent upon beer excises.

Stadsfinanciën, oorlog en staatsvorming. Doesburg 1492-1648
Griet Vermeesch
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Town finances, war and state formation. Doesburg 1492-1648
The late medieval and early modern accounts of the town of Doesburg are preserved relatively well. This source allows for an analysis of the town's finances on the mid-term during the period of the Habsburg-Guelders wars and the Dutch Revolt (1492-1648). The decades of war had a varying impact on the finances of Doesburg. During the Habsburg-Guelders wars little changed in the local finances. During the Dutch Revolt, however, the resources of the town government increased significantly due to newly introduced indirect taxes, while most costs for defence were covered by the central state. The changes in the fiscal and administrative organization on a regional level clearly strengthened the local finances during the Dutch Revolt.

De stedelijke financiën van 's-Hertogenbosch en Breda onder de Republiek. Aspecten van het financieel-economische beleid van twee steden in de periferie
Ton Kappelhof
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Aspects of the financial and economic policies of two towns in the periphery: Bois-le-Duc and Breda during the Republic
By the treaty of Munster (1648) the northern part of the duchy of Brabant was ceded by the Spanish king to the Dutch Republic. Contrary to the other seven provinces this border region was ruled directly by the authorities in The Hague. The two largest towns in this region,'s-Hertogenbosch and Breda, remained, nevertheless, quite autonomous in managing their public finances. The local 'regents' did not follow a consistent, long term policy. A major problem was the decline of the excise duties on beer which started about 1620 and continued until far in the eighteenth century. The article ends with pointing to the importance of the information the councillors could dispose of. This matter needs further investigation.

Stedelijke bestuursstructuur en geldleners in Nederlandse steden 1550-1650
Manon van der Heijden
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Urban governmental structures and money lenders in early modern Dutch towns
To remedy their chronic shortage of funds, early modern urban communities frequently lend money from capital owners. Loans were an effective method of raising capital, providing the city with large amounts of money in a short time and offering rich citizens the opportunity to invest their money. Historians often suppose that the urban elite had more access to profitable bonds than other citizens. I therefore assumed that the urban elite would be less dominant in urban public debt in towns with governmental structures which enabled citizens to participate. However, there was no relation between governmental structure and the contribution of the urban elite in buying bonds. Their contribution was rather related to the tradition of selling bonds - stimulated by the pressure of the Habsburg rulers - and by the economic conditions and creditworthiness of each town.