Wolfert Harmensz.

Properties2
tagsperson, dutch, navigator, colonial, voc, atjeh, banda, malaka, military, naval, 17th-century
aliasesWolfert Harmensz, Wolfert Harmens, Wolfert Hermansz, Harmensz (VOC admiraal)

8 min read

Wolfert Harmensz. was a Dutch admiraal in the service of the VOC who, in 1601-1603, commanded a fleet of five ships that conducted operations against the Portuguese in the Strait of Malaka and the Banda islands, defeated a Portuguese fleet under André Furtado de Mendonça off the roadstead of Bantam in 1602, and dispatched his vice-admiraal Hans Bouwer with two ships to the Banda islands in March 1602. Harmensz. is a supporting Dutch naval figure of Van der Woude’s chapter “Atjeh. Djohor. Malaka.” in his Van der Woude (1948).

The fleet and the defeat of Furtado (1602)

Harmensz.’s fleet of five ships — small ships, “scheepjes” in Van der Woude’s term — conducted operations against the Portuguese in the Strait of Malaka and the Banda islands in 1601-1603. The defeat of the Portuguese fleet under Furtado de Mendoza off the roadstead of Bantam in 1602 was the principal naval victory of Harmensz.’s fleet and the proximate cause of the failure of Furtado’s mission to interrupt the Dutch pepper trade at its Atjeh source. The strategic effect of the defeat was the confirmation that the Portuguese could no longer project significant naval force into the western archipelago — a strategic fact that the VOC would exploit in the Matelieff campaign of 1606 and after.

The Banda expedition (March 1602)

After the defeat of Furtado, Harmensz. dispatched his vice-admiraal Hans Bouwer with two ships to the Banda islands, and sailed himself with the three remaining ships to Ternate. In early March 1602 Bouwer arrived off Banda, where one of his ships had already taken on a full cargo. Harmensz. followed Bouwer to Banda on 7 March [date uncertain in Van der Woude’s text] and, finding insufficient cargo for all his ships, sent a ship and a yacht back to Ternate in early May 1602. The Banda expedition of 1602 was the principal Dutch commercial operation at Banda in the year after the founding of the VOC and the framework within which the Bandanese contracts of May and June 1602 would be concluded.

The contracts of May and June 1602

The contracts that Harmensz. concluded with the Bandanese at Selamon (May 1602) and Poeloe Ai (17 June 1602) were the principal Dutch commercial treaties with the Bandanese in the early VOC period. The contracts granted the Dutch preferential rights to the spice harvest at Selamon, in exchange for the Dutch supply of food, merchandise, gold and silver; the Bandanese were free to trade with other nations in merchandise the Dutch could not supply. The contracts also granted mutual military assistance and freedom of religion — the latter a notable provision that allowed Dutchmen to convert to Islam and Bandanese to convert to Christianity. The contracts would be the principal legal foundation of the Dutch claim to a Banda monopoly in the conflicts that would follow.

Significance

Wolfert Harmensz. is, in Van der Woude’s narrative, a supporting Dutch naval figure of the early VOC period and the principal commander of the defeat of the Portuguese fleet under Furtado de Mendoza off Bantam in 1602. The defeat was the proximate cause of the failure of Furtado’s mission to interrupt the Dutch pepper trade at its Atjeh source and the confirmation that the Portuguese could no longer project significant naval force into the western archipelago. The Banda contracts of May and June 1602 — concluded by Harmensz. with the Bandanese at Selamon and Poeloe Ai — were the principal Dutch commercial treaties with the Bandanese in the early VOC period and the principal legal foundation of the Dutch claim to a Banda monopoly. Harmensz.’s role in the Dutch-Atjeh relationship was indirect: the defeat of Furtado off Bantam — by removing the Portuguese naval threat to the Atjeh trade — confirmed the Dutch commercial position at Atjeh and prepared the ground for the Zeeland mission of August 1601’s success.

See Also

Source

Coen, Koopman van Heeren Zeventien. Geschiedenis van den Hollandshen Handel in Indië (1598-1614), by Johan van der Woude (Amsterdam: C.V. Uitgeverij v/h C. De Boer Jr., 1948), Hoofdstukken V, X (pp. 114-115, 303-308).

Wolfert Harmensz. was a Dutch admiraal in the service of the VOC who, in 1601-1603, commanded a fleet of five ships that conducted operations against the Portuguese in the Strait of Malaka and the Banda islands, defeated a Portuguese fleet under André Furtado de Mendonça off the roadstead of Bantam in 1602, and dispatched his vice-admiraal Hans Bouwer with two ships to the Banda islands in March 1602. Harmensz. is a supporting Dutch naval figure of Van der Woude’s chapter “Atjeh. Djohor. Malaka.” in his Van der Woude (1948).

The fleet and the defeat of Furtado (1602)

Harmensz.’s fleet of five ships — small ships, “scheepjes” in Van der Woude’s term — conducted operations against the Portuguese in the Strait of Malaka and the Banda islands in 1601-1603. The defeat of the Portuguese fleet under Furtado de Mendoza off the roadstead of Bantam in 1602 was the principal naval victory of Harmensz.’s fleet and the proximate cause of the failure of Furtado’s mission to interrupt the Dutch pepper trade at its Atjeh source. The strategic effect of the defeat was the confirmation that the Portuguese could no longer project significant naval force into the western archipelago — a strategic fact that the VOC would exploit in the Matelieff campaign of 1606 and after.

The Banda expedition (March 1602)

After the defeat of Furtado, Harmensz. dispatched his vice-admiraal Hans Bouwer with two ships to the Banda islands, and sailed himself with the three remaining ships to Ternate. In early March 1602 Bouwer arrived off Banda, where one of his ships had already taken on a full cargo. Harmensz. followed Bouwer to Banda on 7 March [date uncertain in Van der Woude’s text] and, finding insufficient cargo for all his ships, sent a ship and a yacht back to Ternate in early May 1602. The Banda expedition of 1602 was the principal Dutch commercial operation at Banda in the year after the founding of the VOC and the framework within which the Bandanese contracts of May and June 1602 would be concluded.

The contracts of May and June 1602

The contracts that Harmensz. concluded with the Bandanese at Selamon (May 1602) and Poeloe Ai (17 June 1602) were the principal Dutch commercial treaties with the Bandanese in the early VOC period. The contracts granted the Dutch preferential rights to the spice harvest at Selamon, in exchange for the Dutch supply of food, merchandise, gold and silver; the Bandanese were free to trade with other nations in merchandise the Dutch could not supply. The contracts also granted mutual military assistance and freedom of religion — the latter a notable provision that allowed Dutchmen to convert to Islam and Bandanese to convert to Christianity. The contracts would be the principal legal foundation of the Dutch claim to a Banda monopoly in the conflicts that would follow.

Significance

Wolfert Harmensz. is, in Van der Woude’s narrative, a supporting Dutch naval figure of the early VOC period and the principal commander of the defeat of the Portuguese fleet under Furtado de Mendoza off Bantam in 1602. The defeat was the proximate cause of the failure of Furtado’s mission to interrupt the Dutch pepper trade at its Atjeh source and the confirmation that the Portuguese could no longer project significant naval force into the western archipelago. The Banda contracts of May and June 1602 — concluded by Harmensz. with the Bandanese at Selamon and Poeloe Ai — were the principal Dutch commercial treaties with the Bandanese in the early VOC period and the principal legal foundation of the Dutch claim to a Banda monopoly. Harmensz.’s role in the Dutch-Atjeh relationship was indirect: the defeat of Furtado off Bantam — by removing the Portuguese naval threat to the Atjeh trade — confirmed the Dutch commercial position at Atjeh and prepared the ground for the Zeeland mission of August 1601’s success.

See Also

Source

Coen, Koopman van Heeren Zeventien. Geschiedenis van den Hollandshen Handel in Indië (1598-1614), by Johan van der Woude (Amsterdam: C.V. Uitgeverij v/h C. De Boer Jr., 1948), Hoofdstukken V, X (pp. 114-115, 303-308).

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