Antonius Hambroek (1607 – 21 July 1661) was a Dutch

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

from 1648 to 1661, during the Dutch colonial era. Prior to working in Formosa, Hambroek was a minister in

Schipluiden Schipluiden is a village in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is the seat of the council of the municipality of Midden-Delfland. The village was founded relatively late in the 15th century and evolved around the Keen ...

between 1632 and 1647.

History

He was killed by

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...

as the Chinese-Japanese warlord wrested Taiwan from the Dutch. Koxinga had captured Hambroek along with his wife and three of his children, and sent him as a messenger to Frederik Coyett, the

Governor of Formosa The governor of Formosa ( nl, gouverneur van Formosa; ) was the head of government during the Dutch colonial period in Taiwan, which lasted from 1624 to 1662. Appointed by the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia (modern-day J ...

, to demand the surrender of the Dutch garrison at Fort Zeelandia and the abandonment of their colony. Koxinga promised the missionary death should he return with a displeasing answer; Coyett refused to surrender and Hambroek was executed on his return to Koxinga's camp. After the

Siege of Fort Zeelandia The siege of Fort Zeelandia () of 1661–1662 ended the Dutch East India Company's rule over Taiwan and began the Kingdom of Tungning's rule over the island. Prelude From 1623 to 1624 the Dutch had been at war with Ming China over the Pescador ...

, Koxinga took Hambroek's teenage daughter as a concubine. Other Dutch women were sold to Chinese soldiers to become their wives.

Antonius Hambroek, or the Siege of Formosa

The playwright Joannes Nomsz wrote a tragedy for the stage in 1775 about the martyrdom of Hambroek, "Antonius Hambroek, of de Belegering van Formoza" rendered in English as "Antonius Hambroek, or the Siege of Formosa", sealing the missionary's fame in Holland. The topic of the Chinese taking the Dutch women and the daughter of Antonius Hambroek as concubines was featured in Joannes Nomsz's play, which became famous and well known in Europe. This revealed European anxiety about the fate of the Dutch women and subjection to defeat by non-Europeans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hambroek, Antonius 1607 births 1661 deaths Protestant missionaries in Taiwan Dutch expatriates in Taiwan People of Dutch Formosa Clergy from Rotterdam Dutch Protestant missionaries 17th-century Christian martyrs