Trade, Transport, and Storage in Amsterdam Inns (1450–1800).

Amsterdam inns were indispensable hubs in the organization of early modern urban trade. Their economic functions were numerous: innkeepers offered credit and transport services, acted as sureties and accepted bills of exchange on behalf of their alien guests. In the sixteenth century, a group of predominantly German innkeepers participated in the international trade, but in the following centuries the combination innkeeper-agent became rare. Publicans continued to assist mercantile clients though. Besides offering storage and transport services, meeting space, and credit, certain publicans also mediated between foreign and indigenous traders. A select group of inns also hosted auction-marts, which attracted brokers, merchants, and general public. In the nineteenth century, the inns lost their appeal and specialized institutions like hotels, restaurants, trade halls, auction-houses, and transport companies took over the economic functions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]