The period from 1450 to 1750 in Europe is known as period of commercial revolution. During this period Europe underwent great economic transformation. In this transformation the commerce and activities of the merchants played a vital role.
The rise of capitalism and shift from the town to the territorial state greatly contributed to this commercial revolution. In fact it would not be wrong to describe commercial revolution as the first phase of the capitalistic economic system. During this phase the economy in Western Europe became nation-centered instead of town-cen- tered and commerce came to play a dominant role as the producer of wealth.