Cornelis Specx (15??-June 11, 1608), the brother of

Jacques Specx Jacques Specx (; 1585 – 22 July 1652) was a Dutch merchant, who founded the trade on Japan and Korea in 1609. Jacques Specx received the support of William Adams to obtain extensive trading rights from Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ''shōgun'' emeritu ...

, is known as a European who interacted with the

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

court. In 1601 he sailed under Joris van Spilbergen to

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

. The journey was organised by

Balthazar de Moucheron Balthazar de Moucheron (–) 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, ...

. Specx became a bookkeeper of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

in 1603. In June 1604 he was sent by Admiral Wijbrand van Warwijck to

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

with presents for king Naresuan, hoping to get access to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

with Siamese help.IJzerman, J.W. (1923) Cornelis Buijsero te Bantam. 1616-1618. Zijn brieven en journaal, met inleiding en bijlagen, p. 238. He established a trading post ("factory") in

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...

in 1604. An embassy of five people from the Kingdom of Siam was sent by the following Siamese ruler,

Ekathotsarot Ekathotsarot ( th, เอกาทศรถ, , ) or Sanphet III ( th, สรรเพชญ์ที่ ๓); 1560 – 1610/11) was the King of Ayutthaya from 1605 to 1610/11 and overlord of Lan Na from 1605 to 1608/09, succeeding his brother Nare ...

. and brought to Holland by Admiral

Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge Cornelis Matelief de Jonge (c. 1569 – October 17, 1632) was a Dutch admiral who was active in establishing Dutch power in Southeast Asia during the beginning of the 17th century. His fleet was officially on a trading mission, but its true inten ...

onboard ''Orange'', who had left Bantam on January 28, 1608. A few precious stones, taken on board by Specx, disappeared. The embassy arrived in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

on September 10, 1608, and met with

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

.''Galileo's Instruments of Credit: Telescopes, Images, Secrecy'', Page 96, by Mario Biagiol

/ref> Specx died during the journey. His goods were sold before the Mast (sailing), mast.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Specx, Cornelius 1500s births 1608 deaths Dutch sailors 17th-century Dutch diplomats