1609

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tagsyear, dutch, spanish, portuguese, colonial, voc, atjeh, banda, malaka, 17th-century, twelve-years-truce, verhoeff
aliasesYear 1609, 1609 in Atjeh, 1609 — Twelve Years' Truce, Verhoeff at Banda

9 min read

The year 1609 was the year of the Twelve Years’ Truce of 9 April 1609 between the Spanish crown and the United Provinces, of the appointment of Pieter Both as the first Governor-General of the VOC on 1 September 1609, and of the murder of Admiraal Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff and forty-six of his men at Banda on 22 May 1609 — the three events that together mark the strategic and institutional turning-point of the early VOC period. The year is the principal diplomatic and institutional year of Van der Woude’s Van der Woude (1948).

The Twelve Years’ Truce (9 April 1609)

The full account of the truce is given in the entry on the truce itself. In summary: the truce was signed at Antwerp between the Spanish crown and the United Provinces, ending the land war in Europe for twelve years but leaving the colonial conflict in the East Indies unresolved. The compromise formula — free trade in the regions where it had been carried on, restricted to the king’s European dominions and to those places where his allies’ subjects had traffic by mutual consent — was ambiguous, and Spain “verzuimde daarvan officiële mededeeling te doen” to the Portuguese authorities in the East. The result was “vrede in Europa en oorlog in Indië”.

The Governor-General appointment (1 September 1609)

The Heeren Zeventien resolved on 1 September 1609 to appoint a Governor-General “sowel over dese vloote, als over alle comptoiren en partijen, de generale Comp. aengaende en in Oost-Indië sijnde” — the first permanent supreme authority in the Indies. Pieter Both was the natural choice: an experienced admiraal, a Bewindhebber’s confidence, and a man of standing in the Republic. The appointment was the centralisation measure of the VOC under the truce and the institutional foundation of the Coen programme of “Indië onafhankelijk van Holland” that would follow in 1614.

The murder of Verhoeff at Banda (22 May 1609)

Verhoeff’s fleet, having conducted the abortive Malaka expedition of 1608, had sailed to the Banda islands to execute the secret instruction of 11 April 1608 — the instruction that Coen, still a junior officer aboard the fleet, would later cite as the foundation of the VOC’s monopoly policy. Verhoeff arrived off Banda-Neira on 8 April 1609 with nine ships and four jachts. After protracted negotiations, the Bandanese gave formal consent to the spice monopoly and the construction of a fort, but quietly evacuated women and children to the hills. On 22 May 1609 Verhoeff landed with a breeden raad of 150 soldiers for a “vriendschappelijke bespreking” near Rada, walked into an ambush, and was killed with forty-six of his men. The expression “op syn Admiraels Verhoeven leeren bitcharen” — “to consult on Admiral Verhoeff’s bench” — became a Dutch proverb for walking into a trap.

The monopoly-by-force policy

The year 1609 was the year of the monopoly-by-force policy. The Heeren Zeventien’s further instruction of 4 May 4 May 1609 — “dat men nu sien, dat wy daer mede ons proffyt doen” — completed the policy framework that the secret instruction of 11 April 1608 had inaugurated. The murder of Verhoeff at Banda was the proximate cause of the VOC’s coercive monopoly policy: Vice-Admiraal Simon Hoen assumed command, retaliated against the Bandanese, concluded the so-called eeuwig verbond of 10 August 1609 by which Banda-Neira was ceded to the VOC in perpetuity, and built Fort Nassau on the ruins of the old Portuguese lodge. The fort, and the policy it represented, would define the Dutch position at Banda for the next decade — until Coen’s conquest of 1621.

Significance

The year 1609 is, in Van der Woude’s narrative, the principal diplomatic and institutional year of the early VOC period and the year of the strategic and institutional turning-point of the Company’s policy. The Twelve Years’ Truce of 9 April 1609 defined the diplomatic framework within which the early VOC consolidated its position at Atjeh, Banda and Malaka; the appointment of Pieter Both as the first Governor-General on 1 September 1609 was the centralisation measure of the VOC under the truce and the institutional foundation of the Coen programme; and the murder of Verhoeff at Banda on 22 May 1609 was the proximate cause of the VOC’s coercive monopoly policy at Banda. The year 1609 thus marks the strategic and institutional turning-point of the early VOC period and the foundation of the Coen programme of monopoly-by-force that would define VOC policy for the next two centuries.

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 II, X (pp. 56-65, 312-318).

The year 1609 was the year of the Twelve Years’ Truce of 9 April 1609 between the Spanish crown and the United Provinces, of the appointment of Pieter Both as the first Governor-General of the VOC on 1 September 1609, and of the murder of Admiraal Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff and forty-six of his men at Banda on 22 May 1609 — the three events that together mark the strategic and institutional turning-point of the early VOC period. The year is the principal diplomatic and institutional year of Van der Woude’s Van der Woude (1948).

The Twelve Years’ Truce (9 April 1609)

The full account of the truce is given in the entry on the truce itself. In summary: the truce was signed at Antwerp between the Spanish crown and the United Provinces, ending the land war in Europe for twelve years but leaving the colonial conflict in the East Indies unresolved. The compromise formula — free trade in the regions where it had been carried on, restricted to the king’s European dominions and to those places where his allies’ subjects had traffic by mutual consent — was ambiguous, and Spain “verzuimde daarvan officiële mededeeling te doen” to the Portuguese authorities in the East. The result was “vrede in Europa en oorlog in Indië”.

The Governor-General appointment (1 September 1609)

The Heeren Zeventien resolved on 1 September 1609 to appoint a Governor-General “sowel over dese vloote, als over alle comptoiren en partijen, de generale Comp. aengaende en in Oost-Indië sijnde” — the first permanent supreme authority in the Indies. Pieter Both was the natural choice: an experienced admiraal, a Bewindhebber’s confidence, and a man of standing in the Republic. The appointment was the centralisation measure of the VOC under the truce and the institutional foundation of the Coen programme of “Indië onafhankelijk van Holland” that would follow in 1614.

The murder of Verhoeff at Banda (22 May 1609)

Verhoeff’s fleet, having conducted the abortive Malaka expedition of 1608, had sailed to the Banda islands to execute the secret instruction of 11 April 1608 — the instruction that Coen, still a junior officer aboard the fleet, would later cite as the foundation of the VOC’s monopoly policy. Verhoeff arrived off Banda-Neira on 8 April 1609 with nine ships and four jachts. After protracted negotiations, the Bandanese gave formal consent to the spice monopoly and the construction of a fort, but quietly evacuated women and children to the hills. On 22 May 1609 Verhoeff landed with a breeden raad of 150 soldiers for a “vriendschappelijke bespreking” near Rada, walked into an ambush, and was killed with forty-six of his men. The expression “op syn Admiraels Verhoeven leeren bitcharen” — “to consult on Admiral Verhoeff’s bench” — became a Dutch proverb for walking into a trap.

The monopoly-by-force policy

The year 1609 was the year of the monopoly-by-force policy. The Heeren Zeventien’s further instruction of 4 May 4 May 1609 — “dat men nu sien, dat wy daer mede ons proffyt doen” — completed the policy framework that the secret instruction of 11 April 1608 had inaugurated. The murder of Verhoeff at Banda was the proximate cause of the VOC’s coercive monopoly policy: Vice-Admiraal Simon Hoen assumed command, retaliated against the Bandanese, concluded the so-called eeuwig verbond of 10 August 1609 by which Banda-Neira was ceded to the VOC in perpetuity, and built Fort Nassau on the ruins of the old Portuguese lodge. The fort, and the policy it represented, would define the Dutch position at Banda for the next decade — until Coen’s conquest of 1621.

Significance

The year 1609 is, in Van der Woude’s narrative, the principal diplomatic and institutional year of the early VOC period and the year of the strategic and institutional turning-point of the Company’s policy. The Twelve Years’ Truce of 9 April 1609 defined the diplomatic framework within which the early VOC consolidated its position at Atjeh, Banda and Malaka; the appointment of Pieter Both as the first Governor-General on 1 September 1609 was the centralisation measure of the VOC under the truce and the institutional foundation of the Coen programme; and the murder of Verhoeff at Banda on 22 May 1609 was the proximate cause of the VOC’s coercive monopoly policy at Banda. The year 1609 thus marks the strategic and institutional turning-point of the early VOC period and the foundation of the Coen programme of monopoly-by-force that would define VOC policy for the next two centuries.

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 II, X (pp. 56-65, 312-318).

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