Amsterdam might have been the most important of the six cities that participated in the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC for short), but Middelburg in Zeeland was a strong second. Thousands of Zeelanders worked in the company’s offices and shipyards. Its warehouses were overflowing with the precious spices, tea, silk and china with which the VOC was making a killing.