Stock exchanges were born in the 15th century in Burgundy’s main trading centers of the north, now Belgium. They were called bourses, from the Latin bursa or purse—three of which were on the crest of the Van der Beurse, a family of financiers in Bruges.

The Beurse mansion was a popular meeting place for Italian bankers who traded bills of exchange. Invented by Francesco Datini, a 14th-century Italian merchant, the bill of exchange was an essential instrument for banking and international trade as it covered both the lending and transfer of funds in different currencies between Europe’s main trading centers. Although it amounted to credit, the bill of exchange did not bear interest rates, hidden in exchange rates, thus allowing bankers to get around the Church’s ban on usury.

The first liquid financial instrument, the bill of exchange was instrumental in creating the first security market—complete with gold fixing—in the Beurse mansion as early as 1409. Bruges, therefore, earned the title of the city hosting the first organized market.

North Italian bankers, including the Medici, dominated lending and trade financing throughout Europe and brought the bills of exchange to all major trading centers, usually harbors or cities hosting trade fairs. These bankers were known as Lombards, a name that was synonymous with Italians in the Middle Ages, in reference to the 36 duchies then ruled by the Longobards. They were so influential that, to this day, many financial centers of Europe have streets named after them.

Bruges’ role as a leading international trade center relied on its access to the sea via the Zwyn canal. But silt eventually closed Bruges’ harbor and the city lost its economic prominence to the port of Antwerp, where merchants ran an exchange in 1460. In turn, when Antwerp’s role declined amid political turmoil, Amsterdam—where the first stocks were traded as opposed to securities—emerged as the new financial center of the 16th century, soon followed by London and Lyons.

Many of the sophisticated financial inventions of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance have laid the foundation for our modern markets.