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In the earliest document to refer to Amsterdam, Count Floris V of Holland granted its citizens exemption from tolls when transporting their goods by river across his territory at The Hague.

At a house in Kalverstraat, a priest gave a dying man the last sacraments. He was unable to keep down the communion wafer, so it was thrown on the fire. Next morning, the wafer was found intact among the embers. News of the miracle spread, and Amsterdam soon became a place of pilgrimage.

As Protestantism swept northern Europe, Dutch Calvinists rebelled against their intolerant Spanish Catholic ruler, Philip II. In theBeeldenstorm or Iconoclasm, the Calvinists stormed the Catholic churches and destroyed their religious artifacts. The city finally became Protestant, in a peaceful revolution known as theAlteratie or Alteration.

Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain, fleeing the Inquisition, settle in Amsterdam, attracted by the city’s religious tolerance.

The dawn of the Golden Age, when the arts flourished in Amsterdam, saw ambitious plans for a triple canal ring around the city (see The Grachtengordel). Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht were built in two stages, starting in 1613 and 1663.

Ashkenazi Jews start to arrive from eastern Europe (mainly Poland and Germany).

The Dutch passion for tulips dates from the late 16th century, when the first bulbs were imported from Asia. In 1634, the tulip was quoted on the Stock Exchange, and speculation began. Fortunes were made overnight as the craze led to spectacular price increases; the inevitable crash caused scores of bankruptcies.

Jews are given equal civil rights during Napoleon’s Batavian Republic.

After the formation of the Batavian Republic in 1795, rule was shared between the invading French and the Dutch Patriots. In 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte took over the Republic, created the Kingdom of the Netherlands and installed his brother, Louis Napoleon, as head of state.

Drawn to Amsterdam by its new industries and housing, Jews emigrate from Antwerp.