ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the commercial settlements of England, which succeeded the Netherlands as the predominant centre of commerce in Europe during the early modern period. It discusses the emergence of the English trading network under supervision of chartered trading companies. The chapter analyses the period characterized by the 'deregulation' of the trading companies between 1650 and 1750. It also discusses Italian and Scottish merchant colonies in order to broaden the scope of the analysis and see whether the same dynamics can be identified in settlements of other origins. The French, English and Dutch increasingly shipped goods previously handled by Italian merchants. The proliferation of the English merchant colonies traces back to the second half of the sixteenth century, when England emerged as a still modest, but developing, player in the international marketplace. The persistence of the merchant colonies originated in big commercial innovations which were closely connected to institutional reforms.
