Balthazar de Moucheron (1552-1630) was a Dutch trader, ship owner, and one of the founders of the Dutch East India Company, but never participated as he went bankrupt in the same year. He is known for his early trading with India (Calcutta) and Indonesia, America,[1] the west coast of Africa, the Baltic Sea , and the White Sea (Archangelsk).
His father was Pierre de Moucheron (1508–1565). Pierre was from the French province of Le Perche (parish Boissy-le-Sec in the south of Verneuil-sur-Avre) and was a descendant of the House of Bouley Moucheron. He moved from Normandy to Middelburg in 1530 and found a job with the trader Antoine de Gerbier. He married his master's daughter Isabeau in 1533. Pierre's father became a wealthy merchant due to business activities in the Netherlands, France, Spain, and England. In 1545, he moved his trade house to Antwerp, at that time the trading center of the region.[2]
Adulthood
Alexander Farnese was sent to subdue a revolt in the Southern Netherlands. In 1584, Spain controlled most of the area, except for a handful of great cities. In the besieged city of Antwerp, a Night Watch was assembled, in which Balthazar was a colonel. After a failed attempt by Holland and Zeeland to free the city, Antwerp surrendered. Balthazar helped negotiate its capitulation. The terms of surrender stated that all Protestant citizens had four years to leave the city. In 1585, after the Fall of Antwerp, Balthazar moved his business to Middelburg.
Northern passage
The northern trade routes in 1589, from the North Cape to Waygats
Balthazar played an important role in the search for a Northern passage to the Indies.[3] He was most likely inspired by his connection with Olivier Brunel. He sent a request to Prince Willem van Oranje in 1584 that remained unanswered due to the turbulent times. Balthazar and Brunel then initiated the search on their account with limited success. A new request in 1594 was accepted by the prince but was deemed of too high importance for two traders to do on their own, and the Staten Generaal (precursor of the parliament) took control.
In 1594, Zeeland and Amsterdam equipped four ships for the expedition. Willem Barentsz sailed for Amsterdam and Cornelis Nay for Zeeland. Balthazar accepted reluctantly but was unhappy that he was only appointed as an advisor. The fleet sailed on 5 June 1594. They were hampered by large ice plains, but on August 11 they found open waters on the Kara Sea and assumed this was the long-sought passage. The fleet returned to the Netherlands and reported on these findings. Balthazar sent his brother Melchior as a trading agent to the mouth of the Dwina at the White Sea.
Trade routes through the Cape
In 1597, Cornelis de Houtman succeeded in the so-called Eerste Schipvaart (first expedition) to sail to Indonesia via the Cape of Good Hope. Thereafter, Balthazar focused on that route. In 1597, he acquired a house in Veere founded the Veerse Compagnie, and became a main shareholder.
In 1598, the Veerse Compagnie sent two ships, De Leeuw (the lion) and the Leeuwin (the lioness), under the supervision of Cornelis and Frederik de Houtman to East India. The fleet returned in 1600 without the two brothers. Cornelis was killed and Frederik was captured on Atjeh. Initially, the expedition was not a financial success.[2] Balthazar sent five more ships, with a crew of 100 sailors and 150 soldiers, on a mission to capture Príncipe on the West African shore, to establish a supply point for further explorations. The expedition took the island from the Portuguese by a surprise attack, but before reinforcements arrived, the island was re-captured.[4]
Balthazar commissioned Joris van Spilbergen, who sailed in May 1600 with four ships to India. The expedition turned back after capturing a Spanish ship en route. Moucheron was supported by stadtholder Maurits of Orange.
Through a merger of the Veerse Compagnie and the Middelburgsche Compagnie (Compagnie van Tenhaeff) in November 1600, the Verenigde Zeeuwse Compagnie (United company of Zeeland) was founded. Balthazar left the company at that point. Only Pieter van Hecke and Pierre le Moyne remained loyal; they formed the Compagnie van De Moucheron in 1601. The company eventually helped with the founding of the Dutch East India Company but demanded a payment delay, protection from his creditors, and free passage on the east coast of Africa (Mozambique).
In 1601 he sent Joris van Spilbergen with three ships, Ram, Schaap, and Lam, on a successful expedition to establish trade relations with the Kingdom of Kandy. They eventually reached Atjeh.[5][6]
Van Spilbergen met the king of Kandy (Sri Lanka), Vimala Dharma Suriya, in 1602 and discussed the possibility of trade in cinnamon. When van Spilbergen returned to Zeeland in 1604, carrying rubies, sapphires, topazes and other gemstones that he had received as a gift from the maharajah of Kandy, the independent companies of Holland and Zeeland had already merged to form the Dutch East India Company. One year before the expedition returned from their travels, Balthazar declared bankruptcy and fled to France.[7]
Personal life
Balthazar was married twice. His first wife was Jacqueline de la Croix, who died in 1589. In 1591 he married Elysabeth Berwoudts Van Crompvliet[8] in Delft. Around 1630 he died in poverty in France.
The United East India Company, commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered trading company and the first joint-stock company in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies, it was granted a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be purchased by any citizen of the United Provinces and then subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets. The company possessed quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike its own coins, and establish colonies. Also, because it traded across multiple colonies and countries from both the East and the West, the VOC is sometimes considered to have been the world's first multinational corporation.
Cornelis de Houtman was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the Portuguese monopoly on the spice trade was vulnerable. 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.
Frederick de Houtman was a Dutch explorer, navigator, and colonial governor who sailed on the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies from 1595 until 1597, during which time he made observations of the southern celestial hemisphere and contributed to the creation of 12 new southern constellations.
Willem Janszoon, sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz., was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. Janszoon served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 1603–1611 and 1612–1616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of Solor. During his voyage of 1605–1606, he became the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia.
Cornelis Jacobsen Mey, often spelled Cornelius Jacobsz May in Dutch, was a 17th-century century Dutch explorer, captain, and fur trader. Mey was the first Director of New Netherland and was stationed at Fort Amsterdam. Mey was the captain of the ship Nieu Nederlandt which delivered the first boat load of colonists to New Netherland in north-east America.
The Ostend Company, officially the General Company Established in the Austrian Netherlands for Commerce and Navigation in the Indies was a chartered trading company in the Austrian Netherlands in the Holy Roman Empire which was established in 1722 to trade with the East and West Indies. It took its name from the Flemish port city of Ostend.
Jan Huygen van Linschoten was a Dutch merchant, traveller and writer.
Sebald or Sebalt de Weert was a Flemish captain and vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company. He is most widely remembered for accurately plotting the Falkland Islands in 1600.
Joris van Spilbergen was a Dutch naval officer. Joris van Spilbergen was born in Antwerp in 1568.
Thirteen ships of the Dutch East India Company and its pre-companies have been named Amsterdam.
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Isaac Le Maire was a Dutch entrepreneur, investor, and a sizeable shareholder of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He is best known for his constant strife with the VOC, which ultimately led to the discovery of Cape Horn.
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The Second Dutch Expedition to the East Indies was an expedition that took place from 1598 to 1600, one of the Dutch forays into the East Indies spice trade that led to the establishment of the Dutch East India Company. It was led by Jacob Cornelius van Neck.
The First Dutch Expedition to the East Indies was an expedition that took place from 1595 to 1597. It was instrumental in opening up the Indonesian spice trade to the merchants that eventually formed the Dutch East India Company, and marked the end of the Portuguese Empire's dominance in the region.
The Compagnie van De Moucheron was a pre-company and precursor of the Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie, from the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was founded by Balthazar de Moucheron, a ship owner from Antwerp in the Southern Netherlands. After the fall of Antwerp he moved his business to Zeeland. The fleet of the Compagnie van De Moucheron was made up of three ships, 'Ram', 'Schaap' (Sheep) and the pinasse 'Lam' (Lamb) and was headed by Joris van Spilbergen. Its fleet left on 5 May 1601 and returned to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in 1604.
The Veerse Compagnie was a pre-company from the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands that was founded by Balthazar de Moucheron, a ship owner from Antwerp in the Southern Netherlands. After the fall of Antwerp he moved his business to Zeeland. The fleet of the Veerse Compagnie was made up of two ships; 'Leeuw' (Lion) and 'Leeuwin' (Lioness) and was headed by Cornelis Houtman. Its fleet left from Veere on 28 March 1598 and returned to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in 1600.
Three ships of the Dutch East India Company and its pre-companies have been named Leeuwin, including the galleon from which parts of the southwest coastline of Australia were first mapped in March 1622.
The Old Company was a pre-company of the Dutch Republic and originated from the Company of Verre and the New Company, from Amsterdam, in 1598. The directors were Dirck van Os, Jan Hermansz, Jan Janss Carel (Kaerel) and Geraerdt (Gerrit) Bicker. Directors with a smaller share of the investment were: Vincent van Bronckhorst, Symon Jansz Fortuyn, Geurt Dircxz, Cornelis van Campen, Jacob Thomasz Van den Dael, Elbert Simonsz Jonckheyn, Petrus Plancius, Syvert Sern, Jan Poppe, Geurt Dirckss and Pieter Hasselaer. The Old Company and the (New) Brabant Company would merge in 1601 and become the United Amsterdam Company.
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