Amsterdam charter-parties — a complement to the sound toll accounts

Abstract

The Dutch were traders to the whole of Europe and largely to the world in the 16th and 17th centuries, and in consequence their archives today attract scholars from all over the world. Few European archives can boast as many foreign signatures in their visitors' books as those in The Hague and Amsterdam. Among the best-known collections dealing with European mercantile history are the notary archives of Gemeente Archief on the Amstel which consist of the written records of Amsterdam notaries. Of these notaries public, functioning in the city in the 16th century, 78 are known by name, but the protocols of only eight are extant. The oldest collection in the archives is that of notary jan Jansz Pylori us, beginning in 1578. The charter-parties (bevrachtingscontracten) which are of importance to research into international trade, date back to 1591.