The Dutch tulip business
From about the early 1600s to about the mid-18th century, the
Dutch Republic's economic, business and financial systems were the most advanced and sophisticated ever seen in history.
[18][19][20][21][22][23] In
its Golden Age, the Dutch Republic was responsible for many
pioneering innovations in economic, business and financial history of the world,
[24] like the first well-recorded
asset price bubble in history (in the 1630s), early
stock market bubbles and crashes had their roots in
socio-politico-economic activities of the 17th-century Dutch Republic (the birthplace of the world's first formal
stock exchange and
stock market),
[25][21][26][27] the
Dutch East India Company (the world's first formally
listed public company) and the
Dutch West India Company, in particular.
The introduction of the tulip to Europe is often questionably attributed to
Ogier de Busbecq, the ambassador of
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, to the Sultan of Turkey, who sent the first tulip bulbs and seeds to
Vienna in 1554 from the
Ottoman Empire.
[28][29] Tulip bulbs, along with other new plant life like potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables, came to Europe in the 16th century.
[30] These bulbs were soon distributed from Vienna to
Augsburg,
Antwerp and
Amsterdam.
[31] Their popularity and cultivation in the
United Provinces (now the Netherlands)
[32] is generally thought to have started in earnest around 1593 after the
Southern Netherlandish botanist
Carolus Clusius had taken up a post at the
University of Leiden and established the
hortus academicus.
[33] He planted his collection of tulip bulbs and found that they were able to tolerate the harsher conditions of the
Low Countries;
[34] shortly thereafter, the tulip began to grow in popularity.
[35]
The tulip was different from other flowers known to Europe at that time, because of its intense saturated petal colour. The appearance of the nonpareil tulip as a
status symbol coincides with the rise of newly independent Holland's trade fortunes. No longer the
Spanish Netherlands, its economic resources could now be channelled into commerce and the country embarked on
its Golden Age. Amsterdam merchants were at the centre of the lucrative
East Indies trade, where one voyage could yield profits of 400%.
[36]
As a result, tulips rapidly became a coveted luxury item, and a profusion of varieties followed. They were classified in groups: the single-hued tulips of red, yellow, or white were known as
Couleren; the multicolored
Rosen (white streaks on a red or pink background);
Violetten (white streaks on a purple or lilac background); and the rarest of all, the
Bizarden (Bizarres), (yellow or white streaks on a red, brown or purple background).
[37] The multicolour effects of intricate lines and flame-like streaks on the petals were vivid and spectacular, making the bulbs that produced these even more exotic-looking plants highly sought-after. It is now known that this effect is due to the bulbs being infected with a type of tulip-specific
mosaic virus, known as the "
tulip breaking virus", so called because it "breaks" the one petal colour into two or more.
[38][39]
Growers named their new varieties with exalted titles. Many early forms were prefixed
Admirael ("admiral"), often combined with the growers' names:
Admirael van der Eijck, for example, was perhaps the most highly regarded of about fifty so named.
Generael ("general") was another prefix used for around thirty varieties. Later varieties were given even more extravagant names, derived from
Alexander the Great or
Scipio, or even "Admiral of Admirals" and "General of Generals". Naming could be haphazard and varieties highly variable in quality.
[40] Most of these varieties have now died out.
[41]
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