Spanish forces captured Antwerp in 1585 during the Dutch Revolt and required Protestants either to convert or leave. Merchants, printers, artists and skilled workers moved from the Southern Netherlands to Amsterdam, Leiden and other northern cities. Antwerp lost a large part of its population and commercial influence.

The refugees strengthened Dutch printing, scholarship and artistic production during the Golden Age. The family of poet and dramatist Joost van den Vondel belonged to this displaced Protestant population, while émigré presses expanded the circulation of vernacular and religious literature.