Acknowledgement
Introduction
Economic growth and elite formation
Elites, policy and intertwining with wider society
Antwerp’s political elite under the microscope
1. Governance, administration and craft guilds in a growth city
The organisation of Antwerp’s city council
The craft guilds in Antwerp and the Quaeye Werelt-revolt
The wider city administration
De relative financial position of the political elite
Conclusion
2. Social composition and evolution of the political elite
Urban politics: a family affair
Marriage: gateway to power or source of conflict
Merchants: an apolitical party?
The increasing importance of a university education
3. The function of urban space
Sources and methodology
Pattern in fifteenth-century property ownership
Dynamics in the property market
Changing patterns of property ownership in the first half of the sixteenth century
Conclusion
4. Power and status beyond the city walls
Antwerp’s political elite active at multiple levels and in multiple cities
Rural land ownership
Seigneurial land ownership
Noble city councillors
Conclusion
General conclusion
Supporting information
Abbreviations
Measures, weights, coins and purchasing power
Note on Terminology
Bibliography
Index