Other parts of the country were less affected by the crisis in the cloth industry. Ghent had its grain staple; Brussels, where the dukes resided, imported articles of luxury; Malines had its Parliament; Antwerp took the place of Bruges as a seaport. Since 1442, English merchants had settled in Antwerp, and this meant the end of Bruges and of the part played by Flanders in the economic life of Belgium. It was now the turn of Brabant. At the same time, a new industry was being introduced into Flanders and Brabant, the technical features of which were much the same as those of the cloth industry. Wool was replaced by flax, and instead of cloth manufacture we hear next of the linen industry. As manufacture on a large scale, mediaeval in its forms and restrictive and exclusive in its spirit of corporation, could no longer support itself, the new linen industry soon came to be carried on in the homes of the operatives, mainly in the country. Driven out of Flanders by circumstances, the cloth industry now sought to prolong its life in a little town of the Ardennes--Verviers, near Liège (1480). The conditions of trade likewise experienced decline and revival at the same time. In this particular the outstanding feature is the decline of Bruges. As is well known, credit operations on a large scale sometimes bring about big bankruptcies. Until the death of Charles the Bold (1477), Bruges remained the financial and banking center of Europe. It was filled with Italian bankers, among them agents of the Medici, the Portinari, and the Guidetti. A large number of foreign merchants resided at Bruges, grouped in colonies known as “nations.” Among them were the “nations” of Florence, of Spain, and of the Osterlings. In 1457 the shipping in the harbor was represented by three vessels from Venice, one from Portugal, two from Spain, six from Scotland, forty-two from Bretagne, twelve from Hamburg, four whale-boats, and thirty-six to forty fishing smacks. The vessels came mainly from Spain and Portugal. They brought merchandise hitherto unknown to the people of Belgium: oranges, lemons, rose-water, candy, jam, oriental tapestry, etc. From the Portuguese warehouses in Africa came monkeys, lions, parrots. In the course of the fifteenth century, however, for reasons already indicated, the merchants of the German Hansa left Bruges. As a result of the fall of the Flemish cloth industry and the prohibitive measures taken against England in favor of Flanders, the shipping company of the English Merchant Adventurers sent large numbers to settle at Antwerp in 1442-44. They were joined by the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese merchants. The bankers soon followed. At the end of the fifteenth century the glorious old Flemish city showed 4,000 to 5,000 empty houses. From then on it became known as “Bruges la morte.” Its rival, Antwerp, had become the center of the cloth-weaving industry.