Cornelis de Houtman
| Cornelis de Houtman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
2 April 1565 Gouda, Holland, Seventeen Provinces |
| Died |
1 September 1599 (aged 34) Aceh Sultanate |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Occupation | Explorer |
Cornelis de Houtman (2 April 1565 – 1 September 1599), brother of Frederick de Houtman, was a Dutch explorer who discovered a new sea route from Europe to Indonesia and who thus begun the Dutch spice trade. At the time, the Portuguese Empire held a monopoly on the spice trade, and the voyage was a symbolic victory for the Dutch, even though the voyage itself was a disaster. Houtman was also a spy, having worked against the Portuguese by bringing back to the Netherlands privileged nautical information obtained during his stay in Portugal.
In 1592 Cornelis de Houtman was sent by Amsterdam merchants to Lisbon to discover as much information on the Spice Islands as he could. Portugal and Spain, then united, had closed their ports to Dutch ships in 1585 in the context of the Eighty Years' War. Houtman spent about two years in Portugal; the Portuguese needed help and didn't realize that the Dutch represented a risk. When Houtman returned to the Netherlands he brought with him precious information about the seas and lands of the East: the coasts, the reefs and skerries, the sea currents, the winds, landmarks, local birds, friendly and enemy foes and about the strengths and weaknesses of the Portuguese.
At the same time he returned to Amsterdam, Jan Huygen van Linschoten returned from India. The merchants determined that Bantam (Banten) provided the best opportunity to buy spices. In 1594 the two merchants founded the company 'compagnie van Verre' (meaning "the long-distance company"), and on April 2, 1595 four ships left Amsterdam: the Amsterdam, Hollandia, Mauritius and Duyfken.
The voyage was beset with trouble from the beginning. Scurvy broke out after only a few weeks, due to insufficient provisions. At Madagascar, where a brief stop was planned, seventy people had to be buried. The Madagascan bay where they were anchored is now known as the "Dutch Cemetery". After the death of one of the skippers, quarrels broke out among the captains and traders, one was imprisoned on board and locked up in his cabin. On June 27, 1596 the ships finally arrived at Banten, a northwestern port in Java. Jan Huyghen van Linschoten had told them not to pass through the Malacca Strait, which was controlled by the Portuguese, but through Sunda Strait.
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Wikipedia