Editing Leiden (section)

=== 16th to 18th centuries ===

Leiden flourished in the 16th and 17th century. At the close of the 15th century, the weaving establishments of Leiden (mainly [[broadcloth]]) were very important. In the same period, Leiden developed an important printing and publishing industry. Printers [[Lucas van Leyden]] and [[Otto van Veen]] lived here, and so did [[Christoffel Plantijn]]. One of Christoffel's pupils was [[Lodewijk Elzevir]] (1547–1617), who established the largest bookshop and printing works in Leiden, a business continued by [[House of Elzevir|his descendants]] through 1712.
[[File:Veen01.jpg|thumb|left|''Relief of Leiden'' (1574), painting by [[Otto van Veen]]. Inundated meadows allow the Dutch fleet access to the Spanish infantry positions.|200x200px]]

In 1572, the city sided with the [[Dutch Revolt]] against Spanish rule and played an important role in the [[Eighty Years' War]]. It was [[Siege of Leiden|besieged]] from May to October 1574 by the Spanish but was relieved by the cutting of the dikes, thus enabling ships to carry provisions to the inhabitants. [[William I of Orange]] founded the [[University of Leiden]] in 1575 as a reward for their heroic defense. The end of the siege is still celebrated in Leiden on October 3 each year. According to tradition, the citizens of Leiden were offered the choice between a university and a certain exemption from taxes and chose the university. The siege is notable also for being the first instance in Europe of the issuance of paper money, with paper taken from prayer books being stamped using coin dies when silver ran out.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecurrencycollector.com/pdfs/Siege_Notes_-_Windows_to_the_Past_Part_I.pdf |title=Siege Notes - Windows To The Past |author=John E. Sandrock |work=thecurrencycollector.com |access-date=9 June 2016 |archive-date=8 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208185511/http://thecurrencycollector.com/pdfs/Siege_Notes_-_Windows_to_the_Past_Part_I.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Leiden Oude vest.jpg|thumb|left|17th-century houses along the Oude Vest|200x200px]]
Leiden is known as the place where the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] and some of the settlers of [[New Amsterdam]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=printpage&artid=40 |title=The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society – Access Denied |publisher=Newyorkfamilyhistory.org |access-date=11 June 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927221847/http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=printpage&artid=40 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://pages.prodigy.net/parrish/MapGroundZero.html |title= Connection to Ground Zero|website=pages.prodigy.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102104823/http://pages.prodigy.net/parrish/MapGroundZero.html |archive-date=2 November 2007}}</ref> lived, operating a printing press<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pilgrimhall.org/pilpress.htm |title=The Pilgrim Press |publisher=Pilgrimhall.org |date=18 May 2005 |access-date=11 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990503060700/http://www.pilgrimhall.org/pilpress.htm |archive-date=3 May 1999 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> for a time in the early 17th century before their departure to [[Massachusetts Bay Colony|Massachusetts]] and [[New Amsterdam]] in the [[New World]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/dutch-door-america |title=The Dutch Door to America |publisher=Americanheritage.com |date=April 1999 |access-date=28 November 2011 |archive-date=17 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217230416/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/dutch-door-america |url-status=live }}</ref>

Leiden prospered in the 17th century, in part because of the impetus to the textile industry by refugees from [[Flanders]]. The city had lost about a third of its 15,000 citizens during the siege of 1574, but it quickly recovered to 45,000 in 1622 and may have come near to 70,000 {{Circa|1670}}. During the Dutch Golden Era, Leiden was the second largest city of Holland after Amsterdam.<ref>{{cite book |title=Geschiedenis van Nederland. Van de Opastand tot het Heden. |publisher=Boom Amsterdam |date=2017 |page=96 |edition=4th}}</ref> It played a crucial role in the establishment of modern chemistry and medicine due to the work by [[Herman Boerhaave]] (1668–1738).

Leiden slumped from the late 17th century on, mainly due to the decline of the textile industries. The baize manufacture was given up at the beginning of the 19th century, although industry remained central to Leiden economy. This decline can be seen in the fall in population, which had sunk to 30,000 between 1796 and 1811, and in 1904 was 56,044.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://vanosnabrugge.org/leiden.htm |title=Van Osnabrugge, Osenbruggen, Ossenbruch etc. Genealogy |access-date=18 September 2020 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418085928/http://vanosnabrugge.org/leiden.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Leiden was the publishing place from the 17th to the early 19th century of the important journal ''[[Nouvelles Extraordinaires de Divers Endroits]]'', known also as ''Gazette de Leyde''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100306730 |title=News and Politics in the Age of Revolution: Jean Luzac's "Gazette de Leyde" |last=Popkin |first=Jeremy D. |date=1989-10-01 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9781501700712 |location=Ithaca, NY |access-date=20 February 2019 |archive-date=21 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112010/http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100306730 |url-status=live }}</ref>