On 8 January 1632, Gerardus Vossius opened the Athenaeum Illustre, the predecessor of the University of Amsterdam, with his inaugural lecture ‘De historiae utilitate’ (On the usefulness of history). The next day, Caspar Barlaeus gave his famous lecture on the wise merchant, ‘Mercator Sapiens’. It was with these two professors, who were already well known figures in the international world of learning, that the history of the University of Amsterdam started around four centuries ago.