Olivier van Noort (1558 – 22 February 1627) was a Dutch merchant captain and
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
and the first Dutchman to
circumnavigate
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...
the world.
[Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', page 246]
Olivier van Noort was born in 1558 in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
. He left
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
on 2 July 1598 with four ships and a plan to attack Spanish possessions in the Pacific and to trade with
China and the
Spice Islands
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are ...
during the
Eighty Years' War between the Netherlands and Spain. His ships were poorly equipped, especially in the way of armament, and the crews were unruly.
Nonetheless, Van Noort sailed through the
Strait of Magellan, and captured a number of ships (Spanish and otherwise) along the Pacific coast of South America.
[ While in the strait his men killed around forty indigenous ]Selknam Selknam or Selk'nam may refer to:
*Selk'nam people
The Selk'nam, also known as the Onawo or Ona people, are an indigenous people in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina and Chile, including the Tierra del Fuego islands. They were one ...
, in what was the bloodiest recorded event in the strait until then.
He lost two ships on the way due to a storm, including his largest ship, the ''Hendrick Frederick'', which was wrecked on Ternate
Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the ...
in the Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
.[ In November and December 1600, he established a berth for his two remaining ships, ''Mauritius'' and ''Eendracht'', in the surroundings of ]Corregidor Island
Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...
at Manila Bay
Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phi ...
in the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. From there he engaged in what were perceived by the Spanish as pirate activities, targeting the sailing route to and from Manila. This situation was ended after the naval combat of Fortune Island on December 14, 1600. The Spanish lost their flagship, the galleon ''San Diego'' (its wreck would be found in 1992 and yield a treasure in porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
and gold pieces) but the Spanish captured the Dutch ''Eendracht'', making van Noort's position untenable and forcing him to retire from the Philippines.
Van Noort returned to Rotterdam via what would become the Dutch East Indies and the Cape of Good Hope on 26 August 1601 with his last ship, the ''Mauritius'', and 45 of originally 248 men. The venture barely broke even, but was the inspiration for more such expeditions. The united 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 ...
was formed a few months later.
Van Noort's voyage is also told by Hans Koning
Hans Koning (born Hans Königsberger, since 1949 officially Hans Konigsberger; July 12, 1921 – April 13, 2007) was a Dutch author of over 40 fiction and non-fiction books, was also a prolific journalist, contributing for almost 60 years to many ...
in the book ''The Golden Keys'' ( Doubleday 1956, 1970), a fictionalized retelling of the voyage for children.
References
Further reading
* Gerhard, P. ''Pirates of the Pacific, 1575–1742''. Glendale, Ca: A.H. Clark Co., 1990.
* Gerhard, P. ''Pirates of New Spain, 1575–1742''. Mineola, Ny: Courier Dover Publications, 2003.
* Lane, K. E. ''Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500–1750''. Armunk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1998.
*
* Schmidt, B. ''Innocence Abroad: The Dutch Imagination and the New World, 1570–1670''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
* Silverberg, R. ''The Longest Voyage: Circumnavigation in the Age Of Discovery (1972)'' 1997 Ohio University Press,
* Bennett, R. S. "Australia and its neighbours, 1494–1799: Western powers reach out to the East and Pacific Ocean" Auckland, New Zealand RSB Publications 2014 .
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noort, Olivier Van
1558 births
1627 deaths
Circumnavigators of the globe
People from Utrecht (city)
16th-century Dutch explorers
17th-century Dutch explorers
Dutch people of the Eighty Years' War (United Provinces)