Antwerp was already inhabited in Gallo-Roman times. A first fortification was built in the 7th century, but it was destroyed by the Vikings in the 9th century.
In the 10th century, Antwerp became a margraviate (a border county) of the Holy Roman Empire, the Schedlt River marking the border with the County of Flanders, which was then a fief of the Kingdom of France. In the 12th century, the Margraviate of Antwerp merged with the County of Leuven to form the Duchy of Brabant.
By the mid-14th century Antwerp had become Western Europe's leading centre for trade and finance, thanks to its seaport and wool market.
When Antwerp became part of the County of Flanders in 1356, it lost many of its privileges to Bruges' profit. However, in 15th century, Antwerp's economy boomed and it turned into a world-class metropolis with many great names of the time, such as the cartographers Ortelius and Mercator or the painters Bruegel and Matsys.
The Reformation and subsequent conflict between Protestants and Catholics wreaked havoc the Low Countries. The Spanish Inquisition under Philip II contrived the Northern Netherlands to secede from the Southern Netherlands and form the independent Union of Utrecht in 1579. The Spaniards responded by taking Antwerp in 1585, and the Northern Netherlands closed off the Scheldt to avoid further invasion of their territory. About 60% of Antwerp's population of 100,000 fled to the Northern Netherlands, including most of the intellectuals, artists and rich merchants.
The Scheldt, which gives access to the sea 60km away, remained closed between 1650 and the 19th century, and Antwerp's prosperity declined. Napoleon saw the Port of Antwerp as "a pistol pointed at the heart of England" and undertook its modernizaton. The French period (1792-1815) was not all good for Antwerp, and was accompanied by cultural plunder and destruction. The anti-clericalism of the French revolutionaries even threatened the cathedral - but the buildings remained intact.
The Northern and Southern Netherlands were shortly reunified between 1815 and 1830. The Scheldt was not reopened until 1863 though, but from that time on, Antwerp was set to become again the great city it had been. It evolved into the world's third largest port, until Hong Kong, Singapore and other Asian cities slowly relayed it to the tenth position at present.
In 1920, Antwerp hosted the sixth Summer Olympic Games. In 1993, Antwerp was nominated Cultural Capital of Europe.