The Dieppe Company (french: Compagnie de Dieppe) was a 17th-century French overseas trading company. It was founded on 1 June 1604 through the issuance of letter patents by Henry IV to

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

merchants, with an eye to

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

trade possibilities. The establishment of the company gave the merchants exclusive rights (within France, at least) to the Asian trade for 15 years, but ultimately no trading expeditions were mounted by the company under this name.''Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume III: A Century of Advance. Book 1'' by

Donald F. Lach Donald Frederick Lach (pronounced "Lach, as in Bach") (24 September 1917 – 26 October 2000) was an American historian based as a professor in the Department of History at the University of Chicago. He was an authority on Asian influence in th ...

pp. 93–9

/ref> Following the king's death in 1610, the charter was renewed in 1611 for a period of 12 years. The company remained inactive however during the troubles of the regency of Marie de Medicis, and other cities such as Rouen maneuvered to also obtain trading rights. In 1615, Marie de Medicis caused the different parties to be joined into the

Company of the Moluccas The Company of the Moluccas () was a French trading company which was established in 1615 for trade in the East Indies. The company received trading privileges for the Far East for a period of 18 years. On 1 June 1604, the French king Henry IV is ...

, with trading privileges for 18 years. In 1616, two expeditions were dispatched to Asia from

Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honf ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

: three ships left for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, and two ships for Bantam. One ship returned from Bantam in 1617 with a small cargo, and letters from the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

expressing their hostility towards French ships in the

East 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 ...

. Also in 1616, two ships were sent from

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the All ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

. One was captured by the Dutch, but the other obtained an agreement from the ruler of

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

to build a fortress and a factory there, and came back with a rich cargo. In 1619, an armed expedition composed of three ships (275 crew, 106 cannons) was sent from Honfleur, to fight the Dutch in the Far East. They encountered the Dutch fleet off

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. One ship was captured, another remained in Asia for inter-country trade, and the third returned to

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

in 1622. In 1624, the Treaty of Compiègne was negotiated by French

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

and Dutch ambassadors. It agreed that French and Dutch forces would cease fighting the French in the Far East.

Notes

{{reflist Trading companies of France 1604 establishments in France Defunct companies of France Dieppe

See also

Notes