Cornelis van der Lijn (1608 – 27 July 1679) was

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies ( nl, gouverneur-generaal van Nederlands Indië) represented Netherlands, Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, indep ...

from 1646 until 1650.

Early career

Van der Lijn was born in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

, possibly in 1608. He went, in 1627, as assistant ( nl, assistent) to

Batavia, Dutch East Indies Batavia was the capital of the Dutch East Indies. The area corresponds to present-day Jakarta, Indonesia. Batavia can refer to the city proper or its suburbs and hinterland, the Ommelanden, which included the much-larger area of the Residen ...

aboard the ''Wapen van Hoorn''. From 1632 to 18 January 1636 he was accountant-general ( nl, boekhouder-generaal). In 1639 he became counsellor-extraordinary ( nl, Raad extra-oridinair) to the

Council of the Indies The Council of the Indies ( es, Consejo de las Indias), officially the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies ( es, Real y Supremo Consejo de las Indias, link=no, ), was the most important administrative organ of the Spanish Empire for the Amer ...

. A year later he was appointed president of the ''Schepenrechtbank'' (a maritime court, but with various other functions). One further year later he was made a full counsellor ( nl, Raad ordinair); he followed Philips Lucasz ( whose portrait was painted by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

) as Director-General of the Indies.

Council of the Indies

Shortly before his death on 19 April 1645, Governor-General Antonio van Diemen called upon the Dutch Council of the Indies (12 April 1645) to establish Cornelis van der Lijn as his successor. This was not in line with the instructions of the (

Heren XVII 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 co ...

), who has laid down in 1617 that immediately after the death of a governor-general, the council should choose a provisional governor-general. Only once the Seventeen Lords had agreed to the choice would the appointment come into actual force. The

at first cancelled Van Diemen's decision, but then afterwards named the very same Cornelis van der Lijn as his successor. On 10 October 1646 he was named by them as governor-general. Cornelis van der Lijn was not a strong ruler. He built a little on what his predecessor Van Diemen had established, but did not go much further. He signed peace treaties with

Solor Solor is a volcanic island located off the eastern tip of Flores island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, in the Solor Archipelago. The island supports a small population that has been whaling for hundreds of years. They speak the lang ...

, Bantam and Mataram. Moreover, on 24 September 1646 he signed a (largely trade) agreement with the Prince of Mataram, the first of such contracts signed by the Dutch with Javanese rulers. Strenuous measures were taken to maintain the monopoly 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 ...

(VOC) in the

Moluccas 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 ...

. After a fierce struggle, the fortress at Kapaha on

Thitu Island Thitu Island, also known as Pag-asa Island ( tl, Pulo ng Pag-asa, lit=Island of Hope; pag, Ilalo, having an area of , is the second largest of the naturally occurringNote that in 2014 the PRC embarked on a number of reclamation projects in the ...

(''Hitu'') was taken. The severe regulations would soon lead to riots. The rulers in the Netherlands allowed Van der Lijn, ''at his own request'', to retire with honour on 7 October 1650.

Carel Reyniersz Carel Reyniersz (1604–1653) was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1650 until 1653. Reyniersz (or ''Reiniersz'') was born in Amsterdam in 1604 (or perhaps 1602). He left for the Indies in 1627 as Upperbuyer (''opperkoopman'') on th ...

was then named as governor-general. In 1651, Cornelis van der Lijn left aboard the ''Prinses Royaal'' for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. His reception in the homeland was as cool as his departure from the

Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...

. The customary reception and congratulations given to a returning fleet, and its commander were denied to him.

Mayor of Alkmaar

He established himself in

where he was elected mayor ( nl, burgemeester) on 24 December 1668. He died there on 27 July 1679.

Notes

References

Site in Dutch dedicated to the VOC
* ''Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indië'', part H–M. * * , 2003. ''Oud en Nieuw oost-Indiën, deel IV/A''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lijn, Cornelis Van Der 1608 births 1679 deaths Dutch accountants Governors-General of the Dutch East Indies Mayors of Alkmaar People from Alkmaar