Dutch urban history has finally accorded the eighteenthcentury the attention it deserves in a number ofrecent publications. That century was characterizedby the economic and political decline of the DutchRepublic generally, and certain towns in particular.The ‘Zuiderzee’ towns witnessed a dramatic fall inpopulation, reflecting their economic decline, andin the southern part of the province of Hollandurban life also stagnated. In contrast to the ports,inland towns derived status in the urban hierarchyfrom their industrial interests, but due to foreigncompetition in the eighteenth century, they toodeclined; most notably, the cloth industry ofLeiden, the clay pipe industry of Gouda, and thebreweries and potteries of Delft each lost theleading position established in the seventeenthcentury. Leiden was the largest of the towns withmore than 70,000 inhabitants in the last quarter ofthe seventeenth century, and after Amsterdam, wasthe most populous town of the Republic. Leidenhowever could not maintain that position, and lostalmost 50 per cent of its inhabitants during thefirst half of the eighteenth century, decliningfurther to under 30,000 residents by 1800. Goudanumbered about 20,000 in 1732, but declined to12,000 in 1795; Hoorn with 12,000 inhabitantsdiminished to only 9,500 in 1795 and the populationof Delft, too, fell from around 24,000 in 1680 to14,000 in 1795.