One source to rule them all?

Abstract

Even after the economic boom of the 17th century had faded away, during the 18th century Amsterdam remained an important entrepot for a wide variety of goods, especially to and from the Baltic, considered by contemporaries as the ?mother of all trades?. What role did local merchants have in the continuation of maritime trade? What were the challenges they faced? Combining different data sources might provide a better understanding of their activities. In this paper several data sources are discussed, with a focus on the Baltic trade and the use of data from both muster rolls and the Sound Toll Registers.