And it was in the Netherlands that cities adopted the printing press faster than in most other countries and these Dutch cities went on to accumulate great wealth. This wealth was a necessary underpinning for exploration to Asia. But exploration also required wider access to capital.
By the mid-17th century, the city of Amsterdam had risen to be the center of international finance and trade, the cradle of modern financial architecture. In Amsterdam were the first public company with limited liabilities, the first stock exchange, and one of the ancestors of the modern central bank.