Dutch Brazil ( nl, Nederlands-Brazilië), also known as New Holland ( nl, Nieuw-Holland), was a colony of the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
in the northeastern portion of modern-day
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, controlled from 1630 to 1654 during
Dutch colonization of the Americas
The Netherlands began its colonization of the Americas with the establishment of trading posts and plantations, which preceded the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch East Indies, Dutch in Asia. While the first Dutch fort in Asia ...
. The main cities of the colony were the capital
Mauritsstad
Mauritsstad (or Mauritius) was the capital of Dutch Brazil, and is now a part of the Brazilian city of Recife.
The city was built on the island of Antonio Vaz opposite Recife, and designed by architect Pieter Post. It was named after Governor ...
(today part of
Recife
That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15)
, image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg
, mapsize = 250px
, map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco
, pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...
), Frederikstadt (
João Pessoa), Nieuw Amsterdam (
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...
), Saint Louis (
São Luís),
São Cristóvão
São Cristóvão (, ''Saint Christopher'') is a Brazilian municipality in the Northeastern state of Sergipe. Founded at the mouth of the Vaza-Barris River on January 1, 1590, the municipality is the fourth oldest settlement in Brazil. São Crist ...
, Fort Schoonenborch (
Fortaleza
Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...
),
Sirinhaém
Sirinhaém is a municipality in Pernambuco with 46,361 inhabitants. The town was founded in 1614 making it among the oldest in the state. The Mayor is Camila Machado Leocadio Lins Dos Santos (PP, 2021 – 2024).
Access
BR-101, PE-060, PE-064 ( ...
, and
Olinda
Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state capi ...
.
From 1630 onward, the Dutch Republic conquered almost half of Brazil's settled European area at the time, with its capital in Recife. The
Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...
(GWC) set up its headquarters in Recife. The governor,
John Maurice of Nassau
John Maurice of Nassau (Dutch: ''Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen''; German: ''Johann Moritz von Nassau-Siegen''; Portuguese: ''João Maurício de Nassau-Siegen''; 17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679), called "the Brazilian" for his fruitful period as ...
, invited artists and scientists to the colony to help promote Brazil and increase immigration. However, the tide turned against the Dutch when the Portuguese won a significant victory at the
Second Battle of Guararapes
The Second Battle of Guararapes was the second and decisive battle in a conflict called the Pernambucana Insurrection, between Dutch and Portuguese forces in February 1649 at Jaboatão dos Guararapes in Pernambuco. The defeat convinced the Du ...
in 1649. On 26 January 1654, the Dutch surrendered and signed the capitulation, but only as a provisional pact. By May 1654, the Dutch Republic demanded that New Holland was to be given back. On 6 August 1661, New Holland was formally ceded to Portugal through the
Treaty of The Hague.
While of only transitional importance for the Dutch, this period was of considerable importance in the history of Brazil. This period also precipitated a decline in Brazil's sugar industry, since conflict between the Dutch and Portuguese disrupted Brazilian sugar production, amidst rising competition from British, French, and Dutch planters in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
.
[Lockhart and Schwartz, ''Early Latin America'', p. 252.]
Early Iberian-Dutch relations
The
Habsburg family
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
had ruled the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
from 1482; the area became part of the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
under the
Spanish Habsburgs
Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled be ...
in 1556; however, in 1568 the
Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...
(1568-1648) broke out, and the Dutch established the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in 1581. As part of the war, Dutch raiders attacked Spanish lands, colonies, and ships. In 1594
Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
, who was both king of Spain and (from 1580) of Portugal, gave permission for Dutch ships bound for Brazil to sail together once a year in a fleet of twenty ships. In 1609 the Habsburgs and the Dutch Republic signed the
Twelve Years' Truce
The Twelve Years' Truce was a ceasefire during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609 and ended on 9 April 1621. While European powers like France began treating the Republic as a sovereign n ...
, during which the Dutch Republic was allowed to trade with Portuguese settlements in Brazil (Portugal was in a
dynastic union
A dynastic union is a type of union with only two different states that are governed under the same dynasty, with their boundaries, their laws, and their interests remaining distinct from each other.
Historical examples
Union of Kingdom of Arago ...
with Habsburg Spain from 1580 to 1640). Portugal's small geographic size and small population meant that it needed "foreign participation in the colonization and commerce of its empire", and the Dutch had played such a role, which was mutually beneficial. As part of the truce of 1609-1621 the Dutch also agreed to delay the establishment of a
West India Company (WIC), a counterpart to the already existing
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 ...
.
By the end of the truce, the Dutch had vastly expanded their trade networks and gained over half of the carrying trade between Brazil and Europe. The northern Netherlands operated 29 sugar refineries by 1622, versus 3 in 1595. In 1621, the twelve-year peace treaty expired and the United Netherlands immediately chartered a Dutch West India Company. The
Dutch–Portuguese War
The Dutch–Portuguese War (; ) was a global armed conflict involving Dutch Republic, Dutch forces, in the form of the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, as well as their allies against the Iberian Union, and after 1640, t ...
, which had started in 1602, resumed, and through the new company the Dutch now started to interfere with the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas.
Unsuccessful 1624 invasion
As part of the ''
Groot Desseyn
The ''Groot Desseyn'' (Dutch for "Grand Design") was a plan devised in 1623 by the Dutch West India Company to seize the Portuguese/Spanish possessions of the Iberian Union in Africa and the Americas, in order that the Spanish would not collect eno ...
'' plan, admiral
Jacob Willekens
Jacob Willekens or Wilckens (1564–1649) was a Dutch admiral on a fleet to the Dutch Indies, and a herring seller, who went to sea again at the age of fifty for the Dutch West Indies Company. His most well-known success was the conquest of ...
led a WIC force to
Salvador
Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to:
* Salvador (name)
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
*Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music
** ''Salvador'' ( ...
in December 1623, which was then the capital of Brazil and the center of a captaincy famous for its sugarcane. The expedition consisted of 26 ships and 3,300 men. They arrived on 8 May 1624, whereupon the Portuguese governor Diogo Tristão de Mendonça Furtado
surrendered
Surrender, in military terms, is the relinquishment of control over territory, combatants, fortifications, ships or armament to another power. A surrender may be accomplished peacefully or it may be the result of defeat in battle. A sovereign ...
.
However, on 30 April 1625, a combined Spanish and Portuguese force consisting of 52 ships and 12,500 men
recaptured the city.
[Dutra, "Dutch in Colonial Brazil" p. 415.] The city would then play a critical role as a base of the Portuguese struggle against the Dutch for the control of Brazil.
In 1628, the seizure of a Spanish silver convoy by
Piet Heyn
Piet Pieterszoon Hein (25 November 1577 – 18 June 1629) was a Dutch admiral and privateer for the Dutch Republic during the Eighty Years' War. Hein was the first and the last to capture a large part of a Spanish treasure fleet which tra ...
in
Matanzas Bay
Matanzas Bay is a saltwater bay in St. Johns County, Florida; the entrance to the bay from the South Atlantic is via St. Augustine inlet. Bodies of water that connect to the bay in addition to the South Atlantic are clockwise from the inlet:
*Sal ...
provided the Dutch WIC the funds for another attempt to conquer Brazil at Pernambuco.
Northeastern Brazil in the Golden Age of Dutch rule
Establishment of Dutch Brazil
Successful 1630 invasion
In the summer of 1629, the Dutch coveted a newfound interest in obtaining the captaincy of
Pernambuco
Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...
, the largest and richest sugar-producing area in the world.
The Dutch fleet of 65 ships was led by
Hendrick Corneliszoon Loncq; the WIC
gained control of Olinda by 16 February 1630, and Recife (the capital of Pernambuco) and António Vaz by March 3.
Consolidation of Dutch control
Matias de Albuquerque
Matias de Albuquerque (Olinda, Colonial Brazil, colony of Brazil, 1580s – Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal, 9 June 1647), the first and only Count of Alegrete, was a Portuguese colonial administrator and soldier. He was nicknamed "Hero of Two Con ...
, the Portuguese governor of Pernambuco, led a strong Portuguese resistance which hindered the Dutch from developing their forts on the lands which they had captured. By 1631, the Dutch left Olinda and tried to gain control of the Fort of Cabedello on Paraíba, the Rio Grande, Rio Formoso, and
Cabo de Santo Agostinho
Cabo de Santo Agostinho (English: Cape of St. Augustine) is a 448 square kilometer sized municipality located 35 kilometers south of the city of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. It is believed by some historians that Vicente Yáñez Pinzón had set anc ...
. These attempts were also unsuccessful, however.
Still in control of António Vaz and Recife, the Dutch later gained a foothold at Cabo de Santo Agostinho. By 1634 the Dutch controlled the coastline from the
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", ref ...
to Pernambuco's Cabo de Santo Agostinho. They still maintained control of the seas as well. By 1635 many Portuguese settlers were choosing Dutch-occupied land over Portuguese-controlled land. The Dutch offered freedom of worship and security of property. In 1635 the Dutch conquered three strongholds of the Portuguese: the towns of
Porto Calvo
Porto Calvo is a municipality in Alagoas, Brazil. Its population was 27,249 in 2020 and its area is 260 km².IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística; IBGE) is the ag ...
, Arraial do Bom Jesus, and Fort Nazaré on Cabo de Santo Agostinho. These strongholds gave the Dutch increased sugar lands which led to an increase in profit.
Dutch Brazil under Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen
In 1637, the WIC gave control of its Brazilian conquests, now called "Nieuw Holland," to John Maurice of Nassau, the great-nephew of
William the Silent
William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...
. Within the year, Maurice of Nassau captured the captaincy of
Ceará
Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...
and sent an expedition to capture the West African trading post of
Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...
, which became the capital of the
Dutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...
. In 1641 the Dutch captured the captaincy of
Maranhão
Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...
, meaning that Dutch control now extended across the entire coastline between the
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
and
Sao Francisco rivers.
Governance under Maurits
![Sinagoga-kahal-zur-israel-recife](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Sinagoga-kahal-zur-israel-recife.jpg)
Maurice claimed to have always loved Brazil due to its beauty and its people, and under his rule, the colony thrived.
[Lockhart and Schwartz, ''Early Latin America'', p. 251.] His patronage of Dutch Golden Age painters to depict Brazil, such as
Albert Eckhout
Albert Eckhout (c.1610–1665) was a Dutch portrait and still life painter. Eckhout, the son of Albert Eckhourt and Marryen Roeleffs, was born in Groningen, but his training as an artist and early career are unknown. A majority of the works attrib ...
and
Frans Post
Frans Janszoon Post (17 November 1612 – 17 February 1680) was a painter during the Dutch Golden Age. He was the first European artist to paint landscapes of the Americas, during and after the period of Dutch Brazil In 1636 he traveled to D ...
, resulted in works showing different races, landscapes, and still lifes. He also invited naturalists
Georg Marcgrave
Georg Marcgrave (originally german: Georg Marggraf, also spelled ''"Marcgraf" " Markgraf"'') (1610 – 1644) was a German naturalist and astronomer, whose posthumously published ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' was a major contribution to early mo ...
and
Willem Piso
Willem Piso (in Dutch Willem Pies, in Latin Gulielmus Piso, also called Guilherme Piso in Portuguese) (1611 in Leiden – 28 November 1678 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch physician and naturalist who participated as an expedition doctor in D ...
to Brazil. They collected and published a vast amount of information on Brazil's natural history, resulting in the 1648 publication of ''
Historia Naturalis Brasiliae
''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' ( en, Brazilian Natural History), originally written in Latin, is the first scientific work on the natural history of Brazil, written by Dutch naturalist Willem Piso and containing research done by the German ...
'', the first organized European compendium of knowledge on the Americas, which was hugely influential in learned European scientific circles for well over a century.
Maurits organized a form of representative local government by creating municipal councils and rural councils with both Dutch and Portuguese members to represent the population.
[Schwartz, Stuart B. Early Brazil: A Documentary Collection to 1700. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2010.]
Maurits worked through the councils to begin modernizing the country with streets, bridges, and roads in Recife. On the island of António Vaz, he founded the town of
Mauritsstad
Mauritsstad (or Mauritius) was the capital of Dutch Brazil, and is now a part of the Brazilian city of Recife.
The city was built on the island of Antonio Vaz opposite Recife, and designed by architect Pieter Post. It was named after Governor ...
(also known as Mauricia), where he created an astronomic observatory and a meteorological station, which were the first created by Europeans in the Americas.
Under Maurits, protection for Portuguese Jews, who had been ostracized to that point, was increased. He allowed former Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity to return to their former faith. Non-Catholic Christians, such as Calvinists, were also allowed to practice their faith as part of religious toleration.
Furthermore, the Catholic majority in Dutch Brazil was allowed to practice their faith freely, at a time in history in which there was extreme religious conflicts such as the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants. This was formed into the new law of Dutch Brazil in the peace accord signed after the conquest of the captaincy of Paraiba. The monastic orders of the Franciscans, Carmelites, and Benedictines were quite prominent in the former Portuguese colony. They were also allowed to retain all of their friaries and monasteries and allowed to practice and preach Catholicism among the population.
Population of Dutch Brazil
Although there were Dutch immigrants to Brazil, the majority of the population was Portuguese and Brazilian-born Portuguese, African slaves, and Amerindians, with Dutch rule an overlay on pre-existing social groups.
The colony of Dutch Brazil had a difficult time of attracting Dutch colonists to immigrate and colonize Brazil, as the main attraction of the colony was the extreme riches one could reap from starting a sugar plantation, as it was one of the few major market exporters of sugar to Europe at the time. This would also most likely entail the buying of African slaves, and as such only rich men could afford to start a plantation.
There was also very significant risk with border contention and skirmish with the Portuguese from the parts of Brazil still under their control and the nonexistent loyalty of the local Portuguese to the Dutch colony. Most of the Dutchmen employed in the Dutch West India Company went back to the Netherlands after they were relieved of duty and did not stay to settle the colony. As such, the Dutch were a ruling minority with a Portuguese and Brazilian-born Portuguese population.
The Dutch settlers were divided into two separate groups, the first of which was known as ''dienaren'' (servants). The dienaren were soldiers, bureaucrats, and calvinist ministers employed by the WIC.
Vrijburghers (freemen) – or vrijluiden – were the second group of Dutch settlers who did not fit into the category of dienaaren. The vrijburghers were mostly soldiers formerly employed by the WIC but who then began to settle down as farmers or ''
engenho
Engenho () is a colonial-era Portuguese term for a sugar cane mill and the associated facilities. In Spanish-speaking countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico, they are called ingenios. Both words mean ''engine'' (from latin ''ingenium''). The word e ...
'' lords. Others who didn't fit the vrijburgher or dienaren categories included Dutch who left the Netherlands to find a new life in Nieuw Holland as traders. Most trade in Nieuw Holland was under the control of this group.
The end of Dutch Brazil
Departure of Maurits
In 1640,
John, 8th Duke of Braganza declared
Portuguese independence from Spain, ending the six decade-long Iberian Union. As a result, the threat of further Spanish intervention against Dutch Brazil declined, since Brazil was originally and had remained a Portuguese colony. In 1641-1642 the new Portuguese regime concluded a truce with the Dutch, temporarily ending hostilities, but the Dutch remained in Brazil. In 1643 Maurice of Nassau equipped the expedition of
Hendrik Brouwer
Hendrik Brouwer (; 1581 – 7 August 1643) was a Dutch explorer and governor of the Dutch East Indies.
East Indies
Brouwer is thought to first have sailed to the Dutch East Indies for the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1606. In 1610, ...
that unsuccessfully
attempted to establish an outpost in southern Chile.
[Robbert Koc]
The Dutch in Chili
at coloniavoyage.com[Kris E. Lane Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500–1750 1998, pages 88-92] In 1644, the WIC recalled Maurice to Europe in an attempt to cut military expenditures, following the cession of hostilities.
Demise of Dutch West India Company in Brazil
A year after Maurice was summoned back by the WIC board, the WIC faced a major uprising of Portuguese planters in June 1645. The Portuguese planters around Pernambuco had never fully accepted Dutch rule and had also resented the high interest rates charged by Dutch moneylenders for loans to rebuild their plantations following the initial Dutch conquest. In August, the planters revolted and prevailed over Dutch forces in a minor battle fought outside Recife, effectively ending Dutch control over the colony. That year, the Portuguese gained Várzea,
Sirinhaém
Sirinhaém is a municipality in Pernambuco with 46,361 inhabitants. The town was founded in 1614 making it among the oldest in the state. The Mayor is Camila Machado Leocadio Lins Dos Santos (PP, 2021 – 2024).
Access
BR-101, PE-060, PE-064 ( ...
, Pontal de Nazaré, the Fort of Porto Calvo, and Fort Maurits. By 1646, the WIC only controlled four toeholds along the Brazilian coast, chief among them being Recife.
In the spring of 1646, the Dutch sent a relief expedition to Recife consisting of 20 ships with 2000 men, temporarily forestalling the fall of the city. Back in Europe, the collapse of Dutch Brazil accelerated Dutch efforts to end its longstanding conflict with Spain, the Eighty Years' War. In August 1647, representatives from the Dutch province of
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
(the final holdout against peace with Spain) acquiesced to the
Peace of Munster
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
ending the war with Spain. In return, Zeeland obtained promises from the other Dutch provinces to support a second, larger relief expedition to reconquer Brazil. The expedition, consisting of 41 ships with 6,000 men, set sail on 26 December 1647.
In Brazil, the Dutch had already abandoned
Itamaracá on 13 December 1647. The new expeditionary force arrived late at Recife, with many of its soldiers either dead or mutinous from lack of pay. In April 1648, the Portuguese routed the expeditionary force at the
First Battle of Guararapes
The First Battle of Guararapes was a battle in the conflict called the , between Dutch and Portuguese forces in Pernambuco
Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of ...
, fought outside Recife. The Portuguese had sent an armada of 84 ships, including 18 warships to recapture Recife. The Dutch were dealt a further blow by the decisive Portuguese victory in the
Recapture of Angola
The Recapture of Angola, or Reconquest of Angola, was a military campaign fought between the Portuguese and the Dutch occupiers of Angola. Its most important episode was the siege imposed by the Portuguese on the far larger Dutch garrison of ...
, which crippled the Dutch colony in Brazil as it couldn't survive without the slaves from Angola. In February 1649, the Portuguese again routed the Dutch at the
Second Battle of Guararapes
The Second Battle of Guararapes was the second and decisive battle in a conflict called the Pernambucana Insurrection, between Dutch and Portuguese forces in February 1649 at Jaboatão dos Guararapes in Pernambuco. The defeat convinced the Du ...
.
Recapture of Recife
The
Recapture of Recife was a military engagement between the Portuguese forces under
Francisco Barreto de Meneses
Francisco Barreto de Meneses (1616 – 21 January 1688) was a Portuguese military officer and a colonial administrator in the colonies of São Tomé and Príncipe and Brazil.
He was born during the Iberian Union and his Portuguese father was a m ...
and the Dutch forces of Captain Walter Van Loo. After the Dutch defeats at Guararapes, their surviving men, as well as other garrisons of New Holland, joined in the area of Recife in order to make a last stand. However, after fierce fighting, the Portuguese victoriously entered the city and the remaining Dutch were ousted from Brazil.
The Dutch finally lost control of Recife on 28 January 1654, leaving to the Portuguese their colony of Brazil and putting an end to New Holland.
Role of the Amerindians and Africans
Although the historical focus is usually on the European rivals in the conflict, the local indigenous population was drawn into the conflict as allies on both sides. Most sided with the Dutch, but there were some notable exceptions. One was a
Potiguara
The Potiguara (also Potyguara or Pitiguara) are an indigenous people of Brazil. The Potiguara people live in Paraíba, in the municipalities of Marcação, Baía da Traição and Rio Tinto. Their population numbers sixteen thousand individual ...
chieftain who came to be known as Dom
Antônio Filipe Camarão, who was rewarded for his loyalty to the Portuguese by being made a knight of the
Order of Christ. In the aftermath of the conflict when the Dutch were expelled, there were reprisals against their Amerindian allies.
Both the Dutch and the Portuguese used African slaves in the conflict, sometimes with the promise of freedom for fighting. On the Portuguese side, one name went down in history,
Henrique Dias
Henrique Dias (died 8 June 1662) was a Portuguese soldier and militia leader born in the colony of Brazil. There is no consensus among historians whether he was born free or captive.
Military career
Dias led a military regiment composed of ensl ...
, who was awarded noble status by the monarch, but not the knighthood in the Order of Christ as promised.
Aftermath
In the aftermath of the Dutch occupation, Portuguese settled scores with Amerindians who had supported the Dutch. There were tensions between Portuguese who had fled the area under occupation and those who had lived under Dutch occupation. The returnees attempted to litigate so as to regain the properties they had abandoned, which in this sugar-producing area included sugar mills and other buildings, as well as cane fields. The litigation dragged on for years.
The conflict in Brazil's northeast had severe economic consequences. Both sides had practiced a
scorched earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...
policy that disrupted sugar production,
and the war had diverted Portuguese funds from being invested in the colonial economy. After the war, Portuguese authorities were forced to spend their tax revenues on rebuilding Recife. The sugar industry in Pernambuco never fully recovered from the Dutch occupation, being surpassed by sugar production in
Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
.
Meanwhile, the British, French, and Dutch Caribbean had become a major competitor to Brazilian sugar due to rising sugar prices in the 1630s and 1640s. After the WIC evacuated Pernambuco, the Dutch brought their expertise and capital to the Caribbean instead. In the 1630s, Brazil provided 80% of the sugar sold in London, while it only provided 10% by 1690. The Portuguese colony of Brazil did not recover economically until the
discovery of gold in southern Brazil during the 18th century.
The Dutch period in Brazil was "a historical parenthesis with few lasting traces" in the social sphere. Dutch artistic production in Brazil, particularly by Albert Eckhout and Frans Post left an important visual record of the local people and places in the early 17th century.
Peace treaty
Seven years after the surrender of Recife, a peace treaty was organized between the Dutch Republic and Portugal. The
Treaty of the Hague was signed on 6 August 1661, and it demanded that the Portuguese would pay 4 million
''réis'' over the span of 16 years in order to help the Dutch recover from the loss of Brazil.
Facsimile of the treaty
''Articulen van vrede en Confoederarie, Gheslooten Tusschen den Doorluchtighsten Comingh van Portugael ter eenre, ende de Hoogh Mogende Heeren Staten General ...;''
See also
* Colonial Brazil
Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Durin ...
* Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...
* Camarão indians' letters
* 17th century Dutch Brazil:
** Georg Marcgrave
Georg Marcgrave (originally german: Georg Marggraf, also spelled ''"Marcgraf" " Markgraf"'') (1610 – 1644) was a German naturalist and astronomer, whose posthumously published ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' was a major contribution to early mo ...
** Willem Piso
Willem Piso (in Dutch Willem Pies, in Latin Gulielmus Piso, also called Guilherme Piso in Portuguese) (1611 in Leiden – 28 November 1678 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch physician and naturalist who participated as an expedition doctor in D ...
** Caspar Barlaeus
Caspar Barlaeus (February 12, 1584 – January 14, 1648) was a Dutch polymath and Renaissance humanist, a theologian, poet, and historian.
Life
Born Caspar (Kaspar) van Baerle in Antwerp, Barlaeus' parents fled the city when it was occupied by Spa ...
** Frans Post
Frans Janszoon Post (17 November 1612 – 17 February 1680) was a painter during the Dutch Golden Age. He was the first European artist to paint landscapes of the Americas, during and after the period of Dutch Brazil In 1636 he traveled to D ...
** Albert Eckhout
Albert Eckhout (c.1610–1665) was a Dutch portrait and still life painter. Eckhout, the son of Albert Eckhourt and Marryen Roeleffs, was born in Groningen, but his training as an artist and early career are unknown. A majority of the works attrib ...
** Zacharias Wagenaer
Zacharias Wagenaer (also known as ''Wagener'', ''Wagenaar'' and ''Wagner'') (10 May 1614 – 12 October 1668) was a German-born Dutch clerk, illustrator, merchant, member of the Court of Justice, opperhoofd of Deshima and the only German governo ...
** Isaac Aboab da Fonseca
Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (or Isaak Aboab Foonseca) (February 1, 1605 – April 4, 1693) was a rabbi, scholar, kabbalist and writer. In 1656, he was one of several elders within the Portuguese-Israelite community in the Netherlands who excommunica ...
** Historia Naturalis Brasiliae
''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' ( en, Brazilian Natural History), originally written in Latin, is the first scientific work on the natural history of Brazil, written by Dutch naturalist Willem Piso and containing research done by the German ...
(1648)
* Recife and Pernambuco:
** Ricardo Brennand Institute
The Ricardo Brennand Institute (in Portuguese ''Instituto Ricardo Brennand'', IRB) is a cultural institution located in the city of Recife, Brazil. It is a not-for-profit private organization, inaugurated in 2002 by the Brazilian collector and bus ...
References
Bibliography
*Barlaeus, ''The History of Brazil Under the Governorship of Count Johan Maurits of Nassau, 1636-1644''. Gainesville: University of Florida Press 2011.
* Boxer, C.R., ''The Dutch in Brazil, 1624–1654'', The Clarendon press, Oxford, 1957.
*Boogaart, Ernst Van den, et al. ''Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, 1604-1679: A Humanitst Prince in Europe and Brazil''. The Hague: Johan Maurits van Nassau Stichting 1979.
* Boxer, C.R., ''The Dutch in Brazil, 1624–1654'', The Clarendon press, Oxford, 1957.
* Dutra, Francis A. "Dutch in Colonial Brazil" in ''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture
''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture'' is a comprehensive reference work, with over 5,000 articles by specialists in Latin American history, politics, and culture. The first edition of the encyclopedia comprises five print volumes ...
'', New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996, vol. 2, pp. 414–420.
*Feitler, Bruno. "Jews and New Christians in Dutch Brazil, 1630-1654," in Richard L. Kagan and Philip D. Morgan, eds. ''Atlantic Diasporas. Jews, conversos, and Crypto-Jews in the Age of Mercantilism, 1500-1800''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 2009, 123-51.
*Groesen, Michiel van. "Lessons Learned: The Second Dutch Conquest of Brazil and the Memory of the First," ''Colonial Latin American Review'' 20-2 (2011) 167-93.
* Groesen, Michiel van, ''Amsterdam's Atlantic: Print Culture and the Making of Dutch Brazil'', University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2017.
* Groesen, Michiel van (ed.), ''The Legacy of Dutch Brazil'', Cambridge University Press, New York, 2014.
*Israel, Jonathan I. "Dutch Sephardi Jewry, Millenarian Politics, and the Struggle for Brazil (1645-54)." In ''Diasporaporas Winthin a Disapora''. Jonathan I. Israel, ed. Leiden: Brill 2002.
* Israel, Jonathan, Stuart B. Schwartz
Stuart B. Schwartz is the George Burton Adams Professor of History at Yale University, the Chair of the Council of Latin American and Iberian Studies, and the former Master of Ezra Stiles College.
Education
Schwartz was born in Springfield, Massa ...
, and Michiel van Groesen. ''The expansion of tolerance: religion in Dutch Brazil (1624-1654)''. Amsterdam University Press, 2007.
*Joppien, Rüdger. "The Dutch Vision of Brazil: Johan Maurits and His Artists," in ''Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, 1604-1679: A Humanist Prince in Europe and Brazil'', ed. Ernst van den Boogaart, et al. 297-376. The Hague: Johan Maurits van Nassau Stichting, 1979.
*Klooster, Wim. “The Geopolitical Impact of Dutch Brazil on the Western Hemisphere.” In ''The Legacy of Dutch Brazil'', edited by Michiel van Groesen, 25-40. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
*Novinsky, Anita. “A Historical Bias: The New Christian Collaboration with the Dutch Invaders of Brazil (17th Century).” In ''Proceedings of the 5th World Congress of Jewish Studies'', II.141-154. Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies, 1972.
*
* Schmidt, Benjamin, ''Innocence Abroad: The Dutch Imagination and the New World, 1570-1670'', Cambridge: University Press, 2001.
*Wiznitzer, Arnold. ''Jews in Colonial Brazil''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.
External links
*
Facsimiles of 20 manuscripts from the Dutch West India Company
Relating about the events in Brazil in the 17th century (PT & NL)
* ttp://www.colonialvoyage.com/eng/america/brazil/dutch.html The Dutch in Brazil
History of Dutch Brazil and Guiana
The New Holland Foundation
History of Portuguese America, in Portuguese, by Sebastião da Rocha Pita
{{Authority control
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Former colonies in South America
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
1630s in Brazil
1640s in Brazil
1650s in Brazil
States and territories established in 1630
States and territories disestablished in 1654
1630 establishments in Brazil
1654 disestablishments in Brazil
1630 establishments in the Dutch Empire
1654 disestablishments in the Dutch Empire
1630 establishments in South America
1654 disestablishments in South America
Former settlements and colonies of the Dutch West India Company
17th century in the Dutch Empire