The city of Antwerp part 4: the completion of the fortified city

During Antwerp's so-called Golden Age, that lasted from 1490 until 1565, the city grew rapidly and most of the area within the defensive walls and moat was developed. On the north side of the city further expansion was pre-empted by the development of the Nieuwstad (literally: New City). This Golden Age was preluded by a rapid increase in the number of institutions within Antwerp during the whole of the fifteenth century.

Around 1400 the Vlasmarkt (Flax Market) was built. In 1408 the Carmelite nuns founded their convent. Shortly after, in 1409, two burgomasters were sworn in; one for the inner burgh and one for the outer burgh respectively. This new self governance lead to a rapid increase in trade and this lead to the foundation of more religious institutions: Cistercian Monastery (1433), Friars Minor Monastery (1446), Dulhuis (Insane Asylum - 1453), St. Clare Convent (1461), De Munt (The Mint -1474), Chapel of Grace (1493), Chapel of Jesus (1493), Alexian Chapel and Cellites Monastery (1494), Burgundy Chapel (1497), Refuge house of the St Bernard Abbey (1498) and several foundations for the poor that were called Godshuizen (God's Houses) often aimed at specific groups. This pattern continued into the early part of the sixteenth century: IJzerenwaag (Metal Weigh House - 1505), Church of St. Jacob (1506), Chapel of St Anna (1513), Augustinian Monastery (1514), Oude Waag (Old Weigh House - 1514), Hof van Liere (Manorial Court of Lierre - 1515), Ossenmarkt (Ox Market - 1522), Church of St Andrew (1529), Nieuwe Beurs (New Bourse - 1532), New Courts Beguinages (1546), Nieuwe Waag (New Weigh House - 1547), Friday Market (1548), Grain Market (1552), Tapissierspand (Tapistry Hall - 1555), Gildehuis (Guild Hall (1563) and the new City Hall (Stadhuis - 1565). The new city hall of Antwerp was the crowning glory of the cities Golden Age, as after this turmoil ensued which in the end lead to the splitting up of the Netherlands in the northern Republic of the Seven United Provinces and the Southern or Spanish Netherland in 1585.

The new religious institutions were mostly located outside the crowded old city as land was cheaper in the semi-rural areas within the city moat and walls. The Carmelite Convent (M1), Carthusian Monastery (M6), Friars Minor (M3), Clara Convent (M4), Augustinian Monastery (M5), The Chapel of Grace (C1), Jesus Chapel (C2), Alexians Monastery and Chapel (C3), Burgundy Chapel (C4), Church of St Jacob (C5), Chapel of St Anna (C6) and the Church of St Andrew (C7) are all located beyond the old city. Also within this rapidly urbanising area we see IJzerwaag (IJ), Nieuwe Waag (nW), Nieuwe Beurs (nB), Mint (M), Hof van Liere (L), Ossenmarkt (O), Begijnhof (B), Tapissierspand (T) and Graanmarkt (G). Some of these replaced similar amenities within the old city: Oude Beurs (oB) and Oude Waag (oW). Within the old city some land could still be developed: Friday Market (F), Vlasmarkt (V) and the new City Hall (H).   

In the 1530s, as a result of a siege on the city, the city councillors decided to modernise the city's defences to come in line with the then current attack weapons. This new defensive structure with a bastioned outer wall with enforced earth banks was completed in 1542. At the same time the plans for a northerly expansion were drawn. The new moats and defences around this Nieuwstad were completed in 1552. It was aimed at better facilitating trade and shipping, so the old city moat of Brouwersvliet was dredged to provide better docking facilities. North of this two new so-called vlieten were excavated as harbour docks. The ground around the docks was raised with the spoil and by bringing in sand from further afield. The Nieuwstad was laid out in an orthogonal manner to be most attractive for wharfs, goods yards and warehouses. Trade in Antwerp was basically foreign controlled, with the city governed by a small clique of bankers and manufacturers. During its Golden Age the city experienced three distinct booms. The first was bases on the pepper trade with the East Indies, the second on silver from the Americas and the third on textile manufacturing and trading.

The turning point for Antwerp were the violent riots of August 1566 as a result of the Protestant Reformation that resulted in the well known Iconoclasm that saw many Catholic churches and religious institutions looted and trashed. To control this uprising in the Low Countries the King of Spain sent the Duke of Alba as the new governor to re-establish control. He immediately started work on a large citadel south of the city, that was completed in 1567. The walls, bastions and moats were to be extended to connect this citadel (called 't Zuiderkasteel in Dutch) to the rest of the city's defences. During the period of Calvinist Rule (1577-1585), when the city of Antwerp was part of the Republic, the defences were completed and the ferry landing point on the other side of the Scheldt was fortified by the erection of a bulwark called Vlaams Hoofd (The Head of Flanders) between 1577 and 1584.

After the city had been recaptured by the Spanish in 1584, the role of Antwerp as a leading merchant city was over. Most of the traders, merchants, bankers and craftsmen had fled north to Dordrecht, Leiden, Harlem and Amsterdam. To reinvigorate the city the Spanish rulers reinstated the churches, convents and monasteries and made funds available for new foundations: Jesuit Church (1615), Refuge House of St Catherine (1619), Convent of the Sisters Capuchins (1619), Carthusian Monastery (1639) and Grey Sister Convent (1693).

The city of Antwerp with the so-called Spanish Walls that start at the Nieuwstad (N)and end at the Zuiderkasteel (Z) or Citadel. Across the Scheldt the Bulwark of Flemish Head (FH) defended the river.