Editing Dutch Republic (section)

===Religious toleration and refugees===
{{See also|History of the Jews in the Netherlands}}
[[File:Anonymous - Portret van Baruch de Spinoza - MB01920 - Jewish Museum.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Anonymous portrait of the Dutch philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]]. He was of [[Spanish and Portuguese Jews|Portuguese-Jewish]] origin.]]
An important factor in the growth of the Netherlands as an economic power was the influx of groups seeking [[religious toleration]] of the Dutch Republic. In particular, it became the destination of [[Portuguese and Spanish Jews]] fleeing the Inquisitions in Iberia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bodian |first=Miriam |title=Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation: Conversos and Community in Early Modern Amsterdam |location=Bloomington |publisher=Indiana University Press |date=1997}}</ref> and later, poorer [[Ashkenazi|German Jews]]. The Portuguese Jewish community had many wealthy merchants who, both lived openly as Jews and participated in the thriving economy on a par with wealthy Dutch merchants. The Netherlands became home to many other notable refugees, including Protestants from Antwerp and [[Flanders]], which remained under [[Spanish Netherlands|Spanish Catholic rule]]; French [[Huguenots]]; and [[English Dissenters]], including the [[Pilgrim Fathers]]). Many immigrants came to the cities of Holland in the 17th and 18th century from the Protestant parts of Germany and elsewhere. The number of first-generation immigrants from outside the Netherlands in Amsterdam was nearly 50% in the 17th and 18th centuries. Amsterdam, which was a hub of the [[Atlantic world]], had a population primarily of immigrants and others not considered Dutch, if one includes second and third generation immigrants. There were also migrants from the Dutch countryside. People in most parts of Europe were poor and many were unemployed. But in Amsterdam there was always work. Religious toleration was important, because a continuous influx of immigrants was necessary for the economy. Travellers visiting Amsterdam reported their surprise at the lack of control over the influx.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}