The large commercial areas of the Ancien Régime, in particular the major ports, attracted capital as well as people and became the driving force of economic activity in western Europe. The migrants were first of all the inhabitants of near regions who came looking for work and better living conditions. Then, with the development of international exchanges, populations from afar, attracted by the desire to speculate and to make their fortune in commerce and trade, arrived in great number. Among these, the group of foreigners made itself noticed by its dynamism and its stimulating role in commerce in their adopted towns.

‘Cosmopolitanism seems to be a characteristic feature of all international emporium’, and the foreign merchants contributed to running the economic activity in the large French ports. The importance of a commercial centre could be measured by the size of the presence of the merchant communities from different European countries. This contribution was very dynamic and, apart from the people who settled for a more or less long period, maybe even finally in their host port, the circulation of these men was the second feature of this group of foreigners. According to the historian Jean Meyer: ‘The Atlantic front of Europe from Copenhagen to Cadiz was being covered by a ceaseless flow of merchants, young people: cousins (male and female) trainee merchants who created both friendships and often even marriage.’