Lesson Plan: The VOC (Dutch East India Company)
Background:
In 1606 the Duyfken, owned by the Dutch East India Company and stationed in the East Indies, made a voyage of exploration looking for "east and south lands" which took it on the first historically recorded voyage to Australia.
That was part of the Dutch expansion into the Spice Trade between Asia and Europe. The newly formed Dutch nation, the United Provinces, was already by the far the most successful shipping nation in Europe. They owned far more ships than any other nation. England had only about one-eighth the number of ships.
The Spanish, with whom the Dutch were at war, could not ban Dutch shipping from their ports because they were so dependent on grain brought from the Baltic by Dutch ships.
There were a number of reasons for the Dutch success. The new nation was ruled more by merchants than the aristocracy. Many ships were owned and operated by cooperatives or partnerships. Modern systems of credit, insurance, and trade were developed in Amsterdam.
Dutch shipwrights, building plank-first, evolving the shape of the ship by eye, were able to build whatever shape they thought would serve best, whereas builders of frame-first ships were constrained by the type of shapes they could develop by unsophisticated techniques of drawing a ship's plan.
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| Insignia of the Dutch East Indies Company |
VOC stands for "Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie" (United East India Company). In the 17th and 18th centuries the VOC was the largest commercial enterprise in the world, with a fleet of more than a hundred ships, thousands of employees, dozens of offices in Asia, and six establishments in the Netherlands. These were the "VOC chambers" in Amsterdam, Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Rotterdam, Delft and Middelburg.
When Dutch merchants were excluded from the lucrative trade in Asia by the Portuguese around 1590, several Amsterdam merchants decided to break that monopoly. To that effect they organised the so-called "First Shipping" to Asia in 1595. This voyage was inspired by the "Reysbeschrift" bij Jan Huygen van Linschoten. A year later his complete "Itinerario" was published: a very interesting travel report.
Other merchants soon followed suit. In the next five years 15 fleets comprising 65 ships sailed to the Far East, resulting in extensive competition amongst the Dutch themselves. The "Staten Generaal" (the equivalent of the parliament) decided to act, and try persuade the merchants to join forces and co-operate with each other. The councillor for the government, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, undertook most of the important preparatory work. When he finally did succeed to convince the various competing East India companies to co-operate and form a union, it resulted in the establishment of the United East India Company (VOC). The successful alliance was expressed in the letter V for "Vereenigd"(United). Then on March 20, 1602 the Staten Generaal gave the VOC exclusive licence, effectively granting them a Dutch monopoly for the trade in the Far East. It marked the start of a period of intense economic and cultural growth in the Netherlands.
The Battle of Bantam
The VOC was governed by the "Heeren Seventien" (Lords XVII). These were representatives from the six VOC chambers of Amsterdam, Delft, Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Middelburg and Rotterdam. They decreed general policy and divided the tasks among their chambers, which carried out the work. They built their own ships and warehouses, and traded their goods.
In the period between 1595 and 1795 almost 4800 voyages to the Far East were made. Though the risks were great, less than 4 % of the vessels were lost. The Lords XVII provided the captains with elaborate information on sea routes, prevailing winds, sea currents, shallows and orientation points. The VOC made its own sea charts, and created various navigation instruments in their own workshops.
Both trade goods and utilities were taken along on the voyages to the Far East, including textiles, wines, paints, food, water, tools, spare parts and ammunition. However, the most important part of the cargo was gold and silver, which were to be used for purchases. On average a voyage would take eight months.
Batavia, now known as Jakarta, was the main settlement of the VOC in the Far East, and the centre of an large trade network. The VOC undertook extensive local and regional trade. For instance, silk was bought in China and traded in Japan for copper and gold. This went to India and was exchanged for textiles that were in turn traded for spices in the Moluccas. Later, coffee, tea and sugar became important trade goods. From Batavia goods were shipped back to the Netherlands. On the way, cinnamon was bought in Ceylon.
This enormous commercial enterprise lasted two centuries. Toward the end of the 1800s trade was declining. Tough competition and the war with England were the main reasons for this deterioration. In 1795 the VOC was disbanded.
Ship of Note: The
In 1606, the small Dutch ship Duyfken sailed from the Indonesian island of Banda in search of gold and trade opportunities on the fabled island of Nova Guinea.
Duyfken
Under the command of Willem Janszoon, Duyfken and her crew ventured south-east. They sailed beyond Os Papuas (Papua New Guinea)and explored and chartered part of the coast of Nova Guinea. They did not find gold - but they did find the northern coast of a huge continent: Australia. Captain Janszoon was the first European to map and record Australia in history so Duyfken's voyage marks the beginning of Australia's recorded history.
A Brave Ship
In 1606 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sent the little ship Duyfken, captained by Willem Janszoon, to search for "south and east lands" beyond the furthest reaches of their known world. Leaving from Banda (Indonesia), Duyfken reached the Cape York Peninsula and charted 300km of the coast. This is the first historically recorded voyage to Australia. For the first time, all the inhabited continents of the world were discovered to the European science of geography.
CE 1595
Duyfken is built about 1595 in the Netherlands. A fast, lightly-armed ship probably intended for small valuable cargoes or privateering.
CE1601
Selected as the jacht, or scout, for the "Moluccan Fleet" sailing to the Spice Islands. Duyfken'scaptain for this voyage, Willem Cornelisz Schouten, with Le Maire, would later discover and name Cape Horn after the city of Hoorn.
On Christmas day the five ships of the Moluccan Fleet reach Bantam (Banten), Java and encounter a blockading fleet of Portuguese ships totalling eight galleons and twenty-two galleys. They engage this fleet in intermittent battle until driving them away on New Years day. This is a turning point in history: the undisputed dominance of the Iberians (Portuguese and Spanish) in the Spice Trade to Europe is over.
CE 1602
Warm welcome in Bantam, repair to battle damage. Survey of Jakarta Bay, where the Dutch would later build Batavia their capital in the Indies, then sailing by way of Tuban, East Java to the Spice Island of Ternate. Loaded cloves at Ternate then to Banda for a cargo of nutmeg. Sent on a voyage of exploration to the east.
The newly-formed United Dutch East India Company (VOC) is granted a monopoly on trade to the Spice Islands by the Dutch government. On the voyage home from the Indies Duyfkenis separated from the larger ships in a storm off Cape Agulhas, southern Africa. Duyfkenreaches the Netherlands two months ahead of the larger ships early in 1603
CE 1603
In December Duyfken sets out on a second voyage to the Indies in the VOC fleet of Steven van der Haghen and with Willem Janszoon as skipper.
CE 1604
The VOC fleet captures two Portuguese ships in Mozambique Channel and sails to the Spice Islands via India finally reaching Banten, Java on New Years Eve.
CE 1605
Duyfken is in the fleet that recaptures the fort of Van Verre at Ambon in the Spice Islands from the Portuguese. Later in the year she is selected for another voyage of discovery to the south and east, but first she is sent to Bantam Java for urgently needed provisions.
The Spice Islands
Cloves, nutmeg and mace grew only on a few small volcanic islands of the Moluccas; now the Maluku Province, which is part of the nation of Indonesia. Archaeology has shown that more than 3000 years ago cloves from the Moluccas were traded to Persia. The Romans were able to buy spices and other luxuries from the remote east of Indonesia.
CE 1606
Early in 1606 Willem Janszoon and Jan Roosengijn take Duyfken southeast from Banda to the Kei Islands, then along the south coast of New Guinea, skirting south of the shallow waters around False Cape and then continuing east-southeast until they reach and chart the shores of Australia's Cape York Peninsula.
CE 1607
Duyfken may have made a second voyage east to Australia. Later in the year she is sent to Java to get supplies for the beleaguered Dutch fortress on Ternate.
CE 1608
Engaged in a five hour battle with three Spanish galleys. In June Duyfken is sent with larger ships to capture the fortress of Taffaso on Makian Island. A month later she is brought inside the reef at Ternate for repairs. It seems that she was hauled on her side to repair the bottom but this caused further damage and she was judged unrepairable.
Duyfken is built about 1595 in the Netherlands. A fast, lightly-armed ship probably intended for small valuable cargoes or privateering.
CE1601
Selected as the jacht, or scout, for the "Moluccan Fleet" sailing to the Spice Islands. Duyfken'scaptain for this voyage, Willem Cornelisz Schouten, with Le Maire, would later discover and name Cape Horn after the city of Hoorn.
On Christmas day the five ships of the Moluccan Fleet reach Bantam (Banten), Java and encounter a blockading fleet of Portuguese ships totalling eight galleons and twenty-two galleys. They engage this fleet in intermittent battle until driving them away on New Years day. This is a turning point in history: the undisputed dominance of the Iberians (Portuguese and Spanish) in the Spice Trade to Europe is over.
CE 1602
Warm welcome in Bantam, repair to battle damage. Survey of Jakarta Bay, where the Dutch would later build Batavia their capital in the Indies, then sailing by way of Tuban, East Java to the Spice Island of Ternate. Loaded cloves at Ternate then to Banda for a cargo of nutmeg. Sent on a voyage of exploration to the east.
The newly-formed United Dutch East India Company (VOC) is granted a monopoly on trade to the Spice Islands by the Dutch government. On the voyage home from the Indies Duyfkenis separated from the larger ships in a storm off Cape Agulhas, southern Africa. Duyfkenreaches the Netherlands two months ahead of the larger ships early in 1603
CE 1603
In December Duyfken sets out on a second voyage to the Indies in the VOC fleet of Steven van der Haghen and with Willem Janszoon as skipper.
CE 1604
The VOC fleet captures two Portuguese ships in Mozambique Channel and sails to the Spice Islands via India finally reaching Banten, Java on New Years Eve.
CE 1605
Duyfken is in the fleet that recaptures the fort of Van Verre at Ambon in the Spice Islands from the Portuguese. Later in the year she is selected for another voyage of discovery to the south and east, but first she is sent to Bantam Java for urgently needed provisions.
The Spice Islands
Cloves, nutmeg and mace grew only on a few small volcanic islands of the Moluccas; now the Maluku Province, which is part of the nation of Indonesia. Archaeology has shown that more than 3000 years ago cloves from the Moluccas were traded to Persia. The Romans were able to buy spices and other luxuries from the remote east of Indonesia.
Spices were valued, as they are today, for the exciting flavour they can add to food and drinks. They were also highly valued as medicines. "No man should die who can afford cinnamon." it was said in the 15th century.
Health was believed to depend on a balance of the four fluids or "humours" in the body and correct spicing of foods was important to retaining or rectifying the balance of the humours.
Because spices were sourced from the other side of the world they were very expensive in Medieval Europe. Their delivery was largely in the hands of the Moslem world which Catholic Europe was often at war with. Spices attained huge luxury value as emblems of conspicuous consumption.
Health was believed to depend on a balance of the four fluids or "humours" in the body and correct spicing of foods was important to retaining or rectifying the balance of the humours.
Because spices were sourced from the other side of the world they were very expensive in Medieval Europe. Their delivery was largely in the hands of the Moslem world which Catholic Europe was often at war with. Spices attained huge luxury value as emblems of conspicuous consumption.
In the late middle-ages the Moslem rulers in Spain and Portugal were gradually driven out by Christian Kingdoms. The Christian Spanish and Portuguese had particularly good reason to buy spices from traders other than the Moslems. It was the Portuguese who developed navigation and map-making whilst making voyages of exploration which culminated in Vasco da Gama reaching India in 1497. The sea route to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope allowed the Portuguese to bring spices direct from the markets of Southeast Asia to Europe. It was a dangerous but hugely profitable trade.
The increasing availability of spices is reflected in the cuisines of the time. In 1596 Henry of Navarre (the King of France) granted corporation to the Guild of Spice Bread Makers in Paris separate from the Guild of Pastry Chefs. A master spice bread maker was required to make a "master-piece" starting with 200 lbs (90kg) of dough containing cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and honey, and dyed red with brazil wood (Caesalpinia sp). The dough fermented for weeks or even months and when finally baked would produce three cakes or loaves of about 20 lbs (9kg). We've got a simpler recipe for traditional Kruidkoek (spicecake-recipe below).
Cloves and nutmeg trees grew only on a few small volcanic islands. Ternate, Tidore, Makian and Bacan are towering volcanoes that rise from the depths of the sea. Forts built by Dutch and Portuguese when Duyfken sailed are now buried under lava. The Banda islands are also volcanic. The name of the highest island Gunning Api means "fire mountain": it is a volcanic cone and the largest of the islands is the remains of huge crater wall.
When the Dutch first encountered the people of the Banda islands they thought them "nimble and lusty", skilful in playing a type of football, and with swords, pikes and spears. They were constantly at war with each other. "They are very subtill and stout men in their warres, seeking and visiting their enemies with great courage and assurance ..."
Initially the Dutch traded amicably with the Bandanese. Later in the 17th century Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the Dutch East India Company Governor, tried to impose a monopoly but the proud and independent Bandanese would not co-operate. Coen, a monstrously inhumane accountant who had studied in Rome, decreed a final solution: the entire population was put to the sword or driven from the islands.
Duyfken was one of the first Dutch ships to got directly to the Spice Islands to load spices. Many ships bought their cargoes from the merchants in the major ports of Java, particularly Bantam. The Javanese merchants operated some very large cargo ships called "jong". The largest jong were about 1,000 tonnes capacity whereas Duyfken was about 50.
The increasing availability of spices is reflected in the cuisines of the time. In 1596 Henry of Navarre (the King of France) granted corporation to the Guild of Spice Bread Makers in Paris separate from the Guild of Pastry Chefs. A master spice bread maker was required to make a "master-piece" starting with 200 lbs (90kg) of dough containing cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and honey, and dyed red with brazil wood (Caesalpinia sp). The dough fermented for weeks or even months and when finally baked would produce three cakes or loaves of about 20 lbs (9kg). We've got a simpler recipe for traditional Kruidkoek (spicecake-recipe below).
Cloves and nutmeg trees grew only on a few small volcanic islands. Ternate, Tidore, Makian and Bacan are towering volcanoes that rise from the depths of the sea. Forts built by Dutch and Portuguese when Duyfken sailed are now buried under lava. The Banda islands are also volcanic. The name of the highest island Gunning Api means "fire mountain": it is a volcanic cone and the largest of the islands is the remains of huge crater wall.
When the Dutch first encountered the people of the Banda islands they thought them "nimble and lusty", skilful in playing a type of football, and with swords, pikes and spears. They were constantly at war with each other. "They are very subtill and stout men in their warres, seeking and visiting their enemies with great courage and assurance ..."
Initially the Dutch traded amicably with the Bandanese. Later in the 17th century Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the Dutch East India Company Governor, tried to impose a monopoly but the proud and independent Bandanese would not co-operate. Coen, a monstrously inhumane accountant who had studied in Rome, decreed a final solution: the entire population was put to the sword or driven from the islands.
Duyfken was one of the first Dutch ships to got directly to the Spice Islands to load spices. Many ships bought their cargoes from the merchants in the major ports of Java, particularly Bantam. The Javanese merchants operated some very large cargo ships called "jong". The largest jong were about 1,000 tonnes capacity whereas Duyfken was about 50.
CE 1606
Early in 1606 Willem Janszoon and Jan Roosengijn take Duyfken southeast from Banda to the Kei Islands, then along the south coast of New Guinea, skirting south of the shallow waters around False Cape and then continuing east-southeast until they reach and chart the shores of Australia's Cape York Peninsula.
CE 1607
Duyfken may have made a second voyage east to Australia. Later in the year she is sent to Java to get supplies for the beleaguered Dutch fortress on Ternate.
CE 1608
Engaged in a five hour battle with three Spanish galleys. In June Duyfken is sent with larger ships to capture the fortress of Taffaso on Makian Island. A month later she is brought inside the reef at Ternate for repairs. It seems that she was hauled on her side to repair the bottom but this caused further damage and she was judged unrepairable.
Navigation and Maps
Long before the European Age of Discovery, the Polynesian peoples had explored and populated the huge expanse of the Pacific. Indonesians had crossed the Indian Ocean to populate the island of Madagascar. The Vikings crossed the Atlantic to North America. During the Middle Ages Arab traders and huge Chinese expeditions sailed the Indian Ocean but European geography remained bound by ancient theories and scriptural interpretation.
It was the Arabs who developed navigation as a mathematical science measuring the height of the sun at midday to calculate their distance from the equator (latitude). Jewish map-makers in Spain and Portugal combined European and Arab learning in the late middle ages.
When Duyfken sailed to the Indies, Mercator had devised a map on which a straight line represented a line of constant compass course, but the new Mercator's projection was not much used by sailors. Navigators could find their latitude but had no reliable way to find their longitude (distance east or west). Yet, the second Dutch fleet to sail to the Indies, on its return voyage sailed across the Indian Ocean and around the south of Africa without sighting land, then sailed up the South Atlantic to the tiny island of St Helena. How could they find their way to a small island after sailing 9,000 miles out of sight of land?
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| The Original Map |
Ages of Discovery Timeline
This timeline covers 50,000 years, from as far back as the approximate settlement of the Australian continent.
C. 50,000 Aboriginal Peoples...
Aboriginal ancestors cross the seas separating the Australian continent from island Southeast Asia.
C. 2000 BCE Dingoes introduced...
Dingoes introduced to Australia, probably by seafarers from Southeast Asia.
C. 700 BCE Phoenician sailors...
Phoenician sailors from the eastern Mediterranean discover British Isles and trade with the natives for tin.
C. 1 CE Polynesian & Indonesian peoples...
Polynesian people begin a systematic exploration of the unpopulated islands of the Pacific Ocean.
Indonesian sailors discover the large, unpopulated island of Madagascar off the African coast.
C. 500 CE Polynesian navigators...
Polynesian navigators reach New Zealand for the first time.
1000 CE Lief Eriksson...
Lief Eriksson, a Viking, establishes the first European colony in North America.
1405-33 Admiral Cheng Ho...
Admiral Cheng Ho leads the Ming Chinese navy on voyages of exploration to the Indian Ocean.
C. 1433 Prince Henry..
Prince Henry sets up an institution for the study of navigation at Sagres and the Portuguese exploration of the western coast of Africa is beginning. The "Age of Discovery" begins.
1444 Dinís Dias...
Dinís Dias reaches Cape Verde, the westernmost cape of Africa.
1492 Christopher Columbus...
Christopher Columbus discovers the Americas.
1498 Vasco da Gama...
Vasco da Gama reaches India after sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. These are the first European built ships to sail the Indian Ocean.
1511 Admiral Alfonso de Alberquerque...
Ships of the Portuguese Admiral Alfonso de Alberquerque reach Southeast Asia.
1521 Ferdinand Magellan...
Ferdinand Magellan killed in the Philippines.
1522 Magellan's ship...
Ferdinand Magellan's ship the Victoria becomes the first ship to sail around the world.
1595 Cornelius Houtman...
Cornelius Houtman leads the first Dutch fleet to Southeast Asia.
1606 Willem Janszoon...
Willem Janszoon sails the Duyfken to Australia. Knowledge of all five populated continents is integrated in the science for the first time and the age of global history commences.
1616 Dirck Hartog...
Dirck Hartog lands on the West Australian coast at Dirck Hartog’s island
1629 Batavia...
Batavia wrecked on the Abrolhos, Western Australia.
1642 Abel Tasman...
Abel Tasman’s voyage of discovery to Tasmania and New Zealand.
1666 Macassan ships...
Macassan ships flee to Australia after defeat at Battle of Buton returning with trepang and beginning Australia’s first export industry.
1697 Willem de Vlamingh...
Willem de Vlamingh explores the west coast of Australia including Swan River.
1770 HM Bark Endeavour...
HM Bark Endeavour under Lt James Cook explores Australia’s east coast and New Zealand.
1788 Convict colony...
Convict colony established at Botany Bay.
1845 Ludwig Leichhardt...
Ludwig Leichhardt’s expedition crosses Australia from Moreton Bay to Port Essington on the North Coast.
1911 Roald Amundsen...
Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole.
1961 Yuri Gagarin...
Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space.
1969 Neil Armstrong...
Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin land on the moon.
Activities:
1. Recipe for Kruidkoek (Spice Cake)
Courtesy Mrs Veldkamp
Courtesy Mrs Veldkamp
300 grams self raising flour
200 grams dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2.5 dl milk
150 grams mix of ginger/raisins/candied peel (you can leave out what you don't like as long as the total weight is 150 grams)
4 tblsp treacle
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground nutmeg
200 grams dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2.5 dl milk
150 grams mix of ginger/raisins/candied peel (you can leave out what you don't like as long as the total weight is 150 grams)
4 tblsp treacle
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground nutmeg
Preheat oven to 175C.
Mix all dry ingredients and than add the milk and treacle. Lastly add the fruit. Mix well. Butter a cake tin (or spray with oil) and pour mixture in.
Bake for 1 hour (or until done). Check by sticking in a wooden skewer. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is done. Cool down.
2. Make your own paper model of the Duyfken.
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