The Portuguese, after abolishing their total commercial monopoly on the spice trade with the Indies in 1575, in order to have more money to advance before their missions, actually outsourced the entire business. This opened the door to the Dutch, who already managed a large portion of the transport on behalf of the Portuguese. Furthermore, in Holland, the merchant class and the bourgeoisie in general held enormous importance in society and in the government of the country. It was a series of city-states, like medieval Italy, without a dominant noble class. The Dutch, often in a disadvantageous position militarily, learned to fight a war of course. They were called, and embraced the term, “beggars of the sea.”(watergeuzen).
