The Mediterranean soon lost its importance as European trade rerouted to the oceans, signalling the decline of the fortune of the Italian city and the advent of new opportunities for the Atlantic powers. Subsequently, the Netherland’s economic prominence led to Amsterdam becoming the world’s leading trading and financial centre, from the end of the sixteenth century.
However, the Napoleonic Wars, French Occupation and relegation in terms of the financing of international trade and issuing foreign loans, led to a decline in its status as a ‘capital of capital’.