Adriaen Maertensz Block (c.1582, Gouda – 7 March 1661,

Lisse Lisse () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Western Netherlands. The municipality, which lies within the Duin- en Bollenstreek, covers an area of of which is water. Its population was in . Located within the muni ...

) was successively captain, commander, and governor of

Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a c ...

between 1614 and 1617, administrator of the '' Raad van Indië'' for the Kamer of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam (VOC) in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

. In 1627 two of his ships wrecked on the island of

Wight A wight (Old English: ''wiht'') is a mythical sentient being, often undead. In its original use the word ''wight'' described a living human being, but has come to be used in fictional works in the fantasy genre to describe certain immortal bein ...

in a storm. He probably intended to go there to buy secretly and trade privately. He was suspended and declared unsuitable for other similar offices and retired in a country house at Lisse (which he had let built in 1641), now known as

Kasteel Keukenhof Keukenhof (English: "Kitchen garden"; ), also known as the Garden of Europe, is one of the world's largest flower gardens, situated in the municipality of Lisse, in the Netherlands. According to the official website, Keukenhof Park covers an area ...

. In his inventory were many books listed on navigation and history:

Jan Huygen van Linschoten Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1563 – 8 February 1611) was a Dutch merchant, trader and historian. He travelled extensively along the East Indies regions under Portuguese influence and served as the archbishop's secretary in Goa between 1583 ...

Hugo de Groot Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...

Justus Lipsius Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; 18 October 1547 – 23 March 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible w ...

Lieuwe van Aitzema Lieuwe (Leo) van Aitzema (19 November 1600 – 23 February 1669) was a Dutch historian, diplomat, bon viveur, libertine and spy.Israel, J. (1995) The Dutch Republic. Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477-1806, p. 684, 731-2. He was born at Dokkum, ...

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

. Hulkenberg, A.M. (1975) Keukenhof. Uitgave van de Historische Vereniging Holland, p. 49-51.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Adriaen Maertensz 1580s births 1661 deaths People from Gouda, South Holland Sailors on ships of the Dutch East India Company