In 1637, the Dutch Republic experienced one of history's most famous speculative bubbles: the tulip mania. But what really happened? In this episode, Lucas and Luna separate myth from fact as they trace the tulip's journey from the Ottoman Empire to the gardens of Leiden, the rise of the tulip trade in Haarlem and Amsterdam, and the mechanics of the windhandel — the 'wind trade' in futures contracts. They discuss the role of professional florists and speculators, the collapse in February 1637, and the legal aftermath. Along the way, they explore the role of the VOC in bringing bulbs from Constantinople, the impact of the Eighty Years' War on Dutch wealth, and how later moralists exaggerated the mania. You'll hear about figures like Carolus Clusius and Admiral François van der Meer, and the actual prices paid for rare bulbs like the Semper Augustus and Viceroy. Was it really a mania that ruined the economy? Probably not — but the story of how a flower became a financial phenomenon is stranger than fiction.
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