The Veerse Compagnie (Company of Veere) was a pre-company from the

Republic of the Seven United Netherlands 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 ...

that was founded 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, ...

, a ship owner from

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

. After the

fall of Antwerp The Fall of Antwerp on 17 August 1585 took place during the Eighty Years' War, after a siege lasting over a year from July 1584 until August 1585. The city of Antwerp was the focal point of the Protestant-dominated Dutch Revolt, but was force ...

he moved his business to

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 fleet of the ''Veerse Compagnie'' was made up of two ships; 'Leeuw' (Lion) and 'Leeuwin' (Lioness) and was headed by

Cornelis Houtman Cornelis de Houtman (2 April 1565 – 1 September 1599) was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the Po ...

. Its fleet left from Veere on 28 March 1598 and returned to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in 1600.

History

A voorcompagnie (pre-company) is the naming given to the trading companies from the

that traded on Asia between 1594 and 1602, before they all merged to form 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 ...

(VOC). The pre-companies were financed by merchants from the

Northern Netherlands 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 ...

and rich immigrants from the

. Because of the deadly competition, the government forced the smaller trading companies to unite and form the (United) East India Company, that on its turn received exclusive rights for the trade with Asia for the following 21 years., ''De VOC en het Aziatische handelssysteem'' (1992)

Veerse Compagnie

In 1597

Cornelis de Houtman Cornelis de Houtman (2 April 1565 – 1 September 1599) was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the Po ...

succeeded in the so-called

Eerste Schipvaart The First Dutch Expedition to East Indies (Dutch: ''Eerste Schipvaart'') was an expedition that took place from 1595 to 1597. It was instrumental in opening up the Indonesian spice trade to the merchants that eventually formed the Dutch E ...

(first expedition) to sail to Indonesia via

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

. From this moment on, Moucheron focussed on that trade route. Moucheron founded the ''Veerse Compagnie'' and became a main shareholder. In 1598 the ''Veerse Compagnie'' sent two ships, ''De Leeuw'' (the lion) and the ''Leeuwin'' (the lioness), under the supervision of

Cornelis Cornelis is a Dutch language, Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius (name), Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees (given name), Kees, Neel and Nelis. Cornelis (Kees) an ...

and

Frederik de Houtman Frederick de Houtman ( – 21 October 1627) was a Dutch explorer, navigator, and colonial governor who sailed on the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies from 1595 until 1597, during which time he made observations of the southern cel ...

to East-India. The fleet returned in 1600 without the two brothers. Cornelis was killed and Frederik was captured on

Atjeh 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 ...

. Initially the expedition was not a financial success.Henry C. Murphy (2010). Henry Hudson in Holland. New York: Cosimo Classics. p.6.

Citations

References

Sources: *Unger, W.S. (1948) ''De oudste reizen van de Zeeuwen naar Oost-Indië''. De Linschoten-Vereeniging LI. Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff. *Jonge, Jhr. Mr. J.K.J. de (1862
''De opkomst van het Nederlandsch gezag in Oost-Indië, (1595-1610) Eerste deel''
Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff
’’De familie de Moucheron’’
Rijksmuseum. URL bezocht op 12 April 2008. *Wijnroks, E.H. (2003) ''Handel tussen Rusland en de Nederlanden, 1560-1640'' Hilversum * (2009) Geschiedenis van de VOC, p. 17-22. * {{aut, Witteveen, M. (2002) Een onderneming van landsbelang. De oprichting van de Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie in 1602

History

Veerse Compagnie

Citations

References

External links