Cornelis de houtman biography sample

Cornelis de Houtman 2 April — 11 September was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. A flurry of Dutch trading voyages followed, eventually leading to the displacement of the Portuguese and the establishment of a Dutch monopoly on spice trading in the East Indies. Cornelis de Houtman was born in in Gouda, South Holland.

His father, Pieter de Houtman, was a brewer. Cornelis had a younger brother, Frederick de Houtman , born in and two sisters.

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In , Houtman's wealthy cousin, Reynier Pauw, and several other prosperous merchants in Amsterdam formed a company, Compagnie van Verre , to finance a Dutch trading expedition to the East Indies. Their initial inspiration had been the publication of a series of maps that appeared to show the route to the East Indies. These charts were provided by noted Dutch cartographer, Petrus Plancius , who indicated he had obtained them from Spain's royal cosmographer, Bartolomeo de Lasso.

That same year, Pauw sent Houtman to Lisbon along with his brother Frederick.

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It is unclear whether Houtman had legitimate business in Portugal or went primarily as a commercial spy to gather information about Portuguese spice trade in the East Indies. While they were gone, another Dutch merchant, Jan Huygen van Linschoten , returned to Amsterdam after spending almost nine years in Goa. He brought back extensive information about the region including crucial details on navigation and the spice trade.

The merchants determined that Bantam provided the best opportunity to buy spices. The voyage was beset with trouble from the beginning. Scurvy broke out after only a few weeks, due to insufficient provisions.