Dutch (in) Brasil
1609 – 1661
feet on the ground 1626-1636
Maurits' Brasil 1637-1644
last stand 1645-1654
road to peace with portugal in 1661
Early trade history with Brasil – 1609 building trade posts and operating sugar refineries
The crusades. Decisive and fundamental for the first direct contacts between Portugal and the Netherlands, however, were also the Great Crusades to the East (1096-1270), coming from the North. The very first contact was friendly, as temporary allies against the common enemy, the Saracens, during the siege and conquest of Lisbon. In connection with the Crusades, we recall here the influence of the pilgrimages from Central Europe to Santiago de Compostela, which is so close to Portugal, as well as the strong rapprochement with Flanders in particular, which was the result of the marriages between prominent Portuguese and Dutch people.
We can gratefully acknowledge that these political ties of cooperation and friendship also laid the historical foundations for the first maritime trade relations between Portugal and the Netherlands. Returning to their Dutch environment, the Crusaders will certainly have recognized the possibility of importing from Portugal the products they had seen in abundance there, and which may have been scarce and expensive on their own markets. In exchange they could offer Northern products that were scarce on the peninsula. And the Portuguese merchants could proceed in the opposite direction. These first direct trade relations by sea go back to the end of the 12th century. The very first maritime trade contact showing Portuguese interest in the Dutch markets dates back to 1194, during the reign of King Sancho I. This is about a Portuguese ship that was on its way from Lisbon to Bruges with a cargo of wood, olive oil and molasses, and was shipwrecked. Bruges (1200-1500), Middelburg-Arnemuiden (1450-1550), Antwerp (1511-1585) and Amsterdam sequentially became important trading hubs with the Portuguese.
Because after the revolt of the Northern Netherlands against Philip II, Protestant-Calvinist Amsterdam had become very difficult to access for the Roman Catholic merchants from the peninsula. But such religious intransigence was not a sufficient reason for the Amsterdam merchants to break off their contacts with Portugal through the devious ways of ‘illicit trade’. And so, the Dutch businessmen, technically supported by a powerful and numerous fleet, proceeded to make clandestine calls at the Portuguese ports, especially Lisbon. Their commercial interest was then particularly in Portuguese wines and in salt, especially that of Setúbal, the best in Europe, which was an indispensable product in the profitable herring trade of Holland and Zeeland.
Facing great difficulties and dangers, violating numerous prohibitions of the Spanish ruler, the Dutch businessmen traded on Portugal using the strangest wiles and cunning: they forged certificates and passports (mostly bought from Southern Netherlanders) , they sailed under foreign flags, they pretended to be Roman Catholics, they bribed customs officers, hired politically neutral ships, etc. involved in that so-called ‘paradoxical war’.
In 1594 Philip II, who was both king of Spain and (from 1580) of Portugal, only gave permission for Dutch ships out of the Southern part of the Netherlands (still loyal to Spain) bound for Brazil to sail together once a year in a fleet of twenty ships. The rebellious Northern Netherlands however traded clandestinely with Brazil, at least from 1578 to 1606 (12 years truce), mainly attracted by sugar, of which that country was the largest world producer in the mid-17th century. In that case the Dutch smuggling trade was greatly facilitated by the venality of the Portuguese on the spot, making this product highly profitable.
In 1609 the Habsburgs and the Dutch Republic signed the Twelve Years’ Truce, during which the Dutch Republic was allowed to trade with Portuguese settlements in Brazil (Portugal was in a dynastic union 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.
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, 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.
The grand design
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 (Spain and Portugal together) in Africa and the Americas, in order that the Spanish would not collect enough money for their war against The Netherlands. Read more.
Capture of Salvador de Bahia
On May 8 the Dutch fleet appeared off Salvador to the capture of the port to use it as a commercial base to ensure Dutch trade with the East Indies. In addition, they would control much of the sugar production in the region. At dawn the next day the city was surrounded by more than 1,000 Dutch soldiers and the surprised Portuguese militia surrendered. Read more.
Failed attempt to conquer Luanda in Angola
After the capture of Salvadore, Admiral Piet Hein left with a fleet of 6 ships and a very small detachment of 150 soldiers to capture Luanda in Angola. He would not proceeed because the Portuguese had fortified the small town and he was heavily outnumbered. In the night of October 31 and November 1, he tried to destroy the Portuguese ships in the harbour but this also turned into failure. After returning to the the Bay of all Saints in Bahia, he learned of the Portuguese siege and later capture of the town. Read more.
Salvador recaptured by the Portuguese
When news of the loss of Salvador arrived to Spain in August 1624, Philip IV ordered to immediate response. On November 22 a fleet went to Brasil and after a short siege the Dutch capitulated om May 1, 1625. 1,912 Dutch, English, French, and German soldiers surrendered, and 18 flags, 260 guns, 6 ships, 500 black slaves, and considerable amount of gunpowder, money, and merchandise were captured
Failed attempt to conquer San Juan
After hearing the Portuguese tried to recapture Salvadore, the WIC ordered Admiral Boudewijn Hendricksz, seconded by Vice Admiral Andries Veron, to rescue Bahia. He was given 34 ships with good artillery and 6,500 men, but by the time he arrived in Brazil the Spanish had already expelled the Dutch from the town. After a short battle, Hendricksz decided to withdraw to open sea. Spanish warships attempted to pursue him but a galleon ran aground and the chase was abandoned. Hendricksz met with Piet Hein's fleet and divided his fleet in three groups. One of them returned to Holland with the supplies and ammunition for the garrison of Salvador; the other two attacked respectively the Spanish Caribbean colonial town of San Juan de Puerto Rico and the Portuguese African trading post of the Castle of Elmina but were both decisively defeated. Read more about the battle of San Juan.
Massacre at Elmina
The Battle of Elmina on October 25, 1625 over control of the Portuguese fortress of São Jorge da Mina (present-day Ghana). The fortress that dominated or protected the city of Elmina was the most important of the Portuguese Gold Coast. The battle ended in a catastrophic defeat for the Dutch. In autumn 1625 a fleet of 15 ships under the command of Jan Dircksz Lam and Andries Veron with about 1200 soldiers attacked, but were massacred by local warriors. The Dutch had lost 375 soldiers, including Admiral van Veron and 66 sailors. Many of the Dutch were horribly mutilated and beheaded. Read more.
Other events in the same period related to the Republic
During the same period the following events took place in Patria and other territories related to the Dutch Republic.
1623
Februari 1 – Pieter de Carpentier succeeds Jan Pieterszoon Coen as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (Batavia).
March 23 – In the East Indies, 10 Englishmen, 9 Japanese and 1 Portuguese are beheaded on charges of plotting against the Dutch garrison. This later called ‘Ambon Murder’ has an aftermath in the relations of the Republic with England and is partly used as an excuse for the English to start the first Dutch-Anglo war in 1652.
No date – 23 plays by William Shakespeare, who died in 1616, are published in London.
1624
February – Invasion of the Oldambt and Westerwolde (East Groningen) by pro-Spanish troops of governor Lucas Cayro van Lingen and superior Gauchier from Grol, Lingen and Oldenzaal. Winschoten, Heiligerlee, Scheemda, Eexta, Noordbroek and Slochteren are set on fire after the demanded fire estimate has not been collected quickly enough by the population. The state commander Stakenbroeck drives the Lingers out of the country with his horsemen, but not before they have captured a large amount of cattle and money.
Februari 16 to 24 – Hispanic Count Hendrik van den Bergh invades the Veluwe and part of the county of Zutphen with a Spanish army. The attack is repelled by Frederik Hendrik and the army of Ernst Casimir and the attackers have to flee.
May – arrival of the Nieu Nederlandt, a ship chartered by the West India Company, at the island of Manhattan. There are about thirty families from the South of the Netherlands on board: most of them are Walloons, accompanied by a number of Flemings and Brabanders. They have a six-year contract and will help found New Amsterdam there, the current New York.
May 3 – Claes Michielsz Bontenbal is beheaded in Rotterdam for his contribution to a plot against Maurits van Oranje.
June 10 – Treaty of Compiegne. Louis XIII of France, concerned about the shaky state of the Republic, gives his ally 1 million guilders a year (about 7% of their defense expenditure).
August 25 – The Dutch East India Company agrees to the Chinese demand to vacate the Penghu Islands and move its trading post to Taiwan.
August 28 – Ambrogio Spinola besieges Breda; after more than nine months of siege, the city will fall on June 5, 1625.
1625
January 29 – Goch is after three days of fighting by the Spanish occupiers by treaty surrendered to the states after the capture of Goch.
February 1 to 24 – Battle of the Persian Gulf between a Dutch-English and a Portuguese fleet.
April 2 – The Nassause fleet arrives with two captured ships for Ambon. The 900 soldiers help Herman van Speult with a small army of 2,000 men in May and June in the destruction of plantations on the west coast of Ceram, destroying 150 boats, cutting down or stripping 65,000 clove trees. There are 90 dead and 130 injured on the Dutch side.
April 4 – Frederik Hendrik van Oranje-Nassau marries a second cousin, Amalia van Solms-Braunfels, in The Hague.
April 22 – The Amsterdam Chamber of the WIC orders the construction of a fort and ten structures on an island off the North American coast, better known today as Manhattan. This will be Fort Amsterdam.
April 23 – Maurice of Orange dies. Frederik Hendrik Count of Nassau inherits the title of Prince of Orange from Maurits and succeeds his half-brother as Captain-General of the State troops. He tries to save Breda during the Siege of Breda.
May – The lieutenant governor of Ambon Herman van Speult goes on a “hongi tour” with an army of 2,000 men. The devastation of plantations on Ceram’s west coast destroyed 150 boats, 65,000 clove trees were felled or stripped of their bark. There are 90 dead and 130 injured on the Dutch side.
June 5 – Spanish troops under Ambrogio Spinola conquer Breda after a siege of nine and a half months. Northwest Brabant is now under Spanish rule again.
November 1 to 7 – To divert attention from domestic troubles, an English fleet launches an attack on Cádiz. Fifteen ships from the Republic, which is still at war with Spain, are also participating. The entire expedition becomes a dismal failure. Read more.
Feet on the ground – the second attempt – 1626 – 1636
Events that led to the second attempt to conquer Brasil
After the disasters in the years 1623 to 1625, the Dutch had had enough of the conquest of Brasil for the time being.
1626 – 1627
They limited themselves to a number of hit and run actions on multiple ports, including on Rio de Janeiro in 1626 and two attacks on ships in the port of Salvador in 1627. See The second tour to Brasil of Piet Hein (1626 – 1627).
1628
The Battle in the Bay of Matanzas of 6 and 7 September 1628 was a naval battle in which a Dutch squadron under Piet Hein and Witte de With was able to defeat and capture a Spanish treasure fleet. Read more. The money captured, funded the Dutch army for eight months, allowing it to capture the fortress ‘s-Hertogenbosch and reignited ‘the great design’ to capture Brasil form the Portuguese and use South America as a strong hold to further initiate new plans to capture other silver fleets.
Overkoeplend tekst opnemen periode 1630 – 1637
Conquest of Recife Pernambuco (1630)
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Battle of Abrolhos (1631)
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Expanding territory in Brasil (1634 - 1635)
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Maurits’ Brasil
Maurits sails to Brasil and directly takes control
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Elmina conquered
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Free trade versus trade monopoli
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Siege of Salvador
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New attempt to conquer the silver fleet a second time
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Portuguese prepare to retake Recife
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Battle of Itamaracá
The action of 12–17 January 1640 was a naval battle between a Dutch fleet and a combined Spanish-Portuguese fleet during the Eighty Years' War. The battle took place on the Brazilian coast off Pernambuco and was an attempt by a fleet consisting of approximately eighty vessels transporting about 5,000 soldiers under the command of Portuguese Admiral Fernando de Mascarenhas to land reinforcements to bolster the Portuguese militia besieging the city of Recife. On 12 January this fleet was intercepted by a Dutch task force of about forty ships commanded by Willem Loos. The ensuing battle lasted with occasional breaks until the evening of 17 January, when the Spanish and Portuguese fleet retreated and sailed away to the north. Read more.
Terror
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Capture of Luanda in Angola
São Paolo de Loanda was the largest Portuguese slave depot on the African coast. In 1641 the Dutch conquered the town of Loanda on the coast of Angola. The conquerors renamed the Portuguese fortress Aardenburgh. The WIC had already attempted to conquer Loanda in 1624, but the attack failed due to insufficient men and ships. Between 1641 and 1648 the Dutch managed the slave trade. During this period, the Loango-Angola area was governed by a governor who had his seat in São Paolo de Loanda and not from Elmina, where the WIC had its main administration for the west coast of Africa. The area turned out to be a loss rather than a gain: Between 1641 and 1648 "only" 14,000 slaves were transported from Loanda. After 1648, the WIC no longer sailed in places further south than Congo.. Read more.
Capture of São Tomé and Annobón
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Capture of São Luís do Maranhão and Axim
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Ratification Portuguese independence (formal cease fire)
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Maurits is recalled back to Patria
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Other events in the same period related to the Republic
During the same period the following events took place in Patria and other territories related to the Dutch Republic.
1637
Date
1638
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1639
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1640
January 6 – The Siege of Salses ends almost six months after it had started on June 9, 1639, with the French defenders surrendering to the Spanish attackers.
March 8–13 – Siege of Galle: Dutch troops take the strategic fortress at Galle, Sri Lanka from the Portuguese.
May 22 – The Catalan Revolt (Guerra dels Segadors) breaks out in Catalonia.
June 7 – Catalan rebels assassinate Dalmau de Queralt, Count of Santa Coloma, beginning the three-day Corpus de Sang riots.
July 13 – On 12 July 1640, Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, Stadtholder of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe (b. 1612) was wounded at the battle of Hulst. He died the next day. Hendrik Casimir is buried in Leeuwarden, and was succeeded in his titles by William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz.
August 9 – Forty-one Spanish delegates to Japan at Nagasaki are beheaded.
September 20 – The Siege of Turin ends in Italy after almost four months with a victory by French and Piedmontese after having started on May 22, and the city is recpatured from Spain.
December 1 – The end of the Iberian Union of Spain and Portugal begins, as a revolution organized by the nobility and bourgeoisie causes John IV of Portugal to be acclaimed as king, thus ending 60 years of personal union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain, and the rule of the House of Habsburg (also called the Philippine Dynasty). The Spanish Habsburgs do not recognize Portugal’s new dynasty, the House of Braganza, until the end of the Portuguese Restoration War in 1668.
December 1 – Pieter van den Broecke (25 February 1585, Antwerp) dies during the siege of Malacca.
1641
Date unknown – The Dutch found a trading colony on Dejima, near Nagasaki, Japan.
January 14 – The Battle of Malacca concludes with the Dutch East India Company ending Portuguese control of Malacca.
January 18 – The Junta de Braços (parliament) of Catalonia, led by Pau Claris, proclaims the Catalan Republic under French protection.
May 24 – The Isla de Providencia, a Caribbean island and haven for English pirates off of the coast of what is now Colombia, is captured in a joint operation of the Spanish Navy in an attack led by Don Francisco Díaz Pimienta, and the Portuguese Navy lea by the Count of Castel-Melhor Sousa. The expedition takes 770 prisoners, 380 slaves and a fortune in plundered gold and silver.
June 1 – In Paris, representatives of Portugal and France sign a treaty of alliance.
July 12 – Portugal and the Dutch Republic sign a Treaty of Offensive and Defensive Alliance at The Hague. The treaty is not respected by both parties, and as a consequence has no effect in the Portuguese colonies (Brazil and Angola) that are under Dutch rule.
November 4 – Battle of Cape St Vincent: A Dutch fleet, with Michiel de Ruyter as third in command, beats back a Spanish-Dunkirker fleet off the coast of Portugal. Read more.
1642
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1643
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1644
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