Nearly fifty years ago, Herman Van Der Wee and Theo Peeters presented the concentration of much of the economic activity in a small number of ports as one of the explanations for the crisis of the late Middle Ages. Since then, historiography has not paid due attention to the efforts of port societies to build strong port infrastructures and improve port services, these efforts being some of the most important factors for the revitalisation of the European economy from the mid-fifteenth century onwards. This volume offers such material: transport and port infrastructures, cargo handling, labour groups and port services help us understand the reasons for their success.

From Antiquity, cities have emerged along the littoral, with few regions in the world ever being totally self-sufficient. As the Latin name portus reveals, these are gateways from the sea to land allowing for the flow of merchandise, people, knowledge and, also, disease and violence. The benefits – and drawbacks – derived thereof were numerous. With seaborne traffic being much faster and more direct than overland transport, the main benefit was the supply of commodities to the population. During Antiquity, the proximity of the sea to a city did have adverse consequences. As Plato describes in his Laws dialogue, cities should be located at a distance of 80 stadia from the sea to counteract the inherent dangers of maritime cities, namely the influence of foreign customs, the drive for gain and profit, corruption and the inclination for travelling and venturing overseas:

In his Politics, Aristotle does not hold such a negative view of port cities. In his view, ports of transit are necessary for subsistence, commercial and military purposes; he does, however, oppose the development of a city into an emporium.