François Caron
Encyclopedia
François Caron was a French Huguenot
refugee to the Netherlands
who served the Dutch East India Company
(VOC) for 30 years, rising from cabin boy to Director-General at Batavia
(Jakarta), only one grade below Governor-General. He was later to become Director-General of the French East Indies Company (1667–1673).
He is sometimes considered the first Frenchman to set foot in Japan: he was actually born in Brussels
to a family of French Huguenot refugees; but he only became a naturalized citizen of France when he was persuaded by Colbert to become head of the French East Indies Company, which was intended to compete with the Dutch and the English in Asia. He disputes that honour with the French Dominican
missionary Guillaume Courtet
.
as the interpreter for the VOC mission to the shogun
al capital. He is not quite the first known instance of Franco-Japanese relations
, since he was preceded by the visit of Hasekura Tsunenaga
to France in 1615.
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Caron stayed in Japan for over twenty years, from 1619 to 1641, eventually becoming the VOC's opperhoofd
(chief factor
or merchant) in Japan. During this period, he married a Japanese woman (the daughter of Eguchi Jūzaemon) and had six children. His entire family followed him to Nagasaki when the Japanese forced the Dutch to abandon their outpost at Hirado; The family moved with him to Batavia when he left Japan in 1641.
In 1626, Caron was working in Hirado as full assistant. On April 9, 1633, Caron was promoted as a senior merchant, making him the second ranking Company official in Japan. On February 12, 1639, he succeeded Nicolaes Couckebacker
as President and head of the Company's trade in Japan.
The Company's headquarters were moved from Hirado, while he had put a Christian year on the warehouse (1638), to Dejima
in Nagasaki in 1641.
In 1641, Caron's Japan contract with the company expired, and he went to Batavia awaiting a transfer to Europe. At that time, he was nominated member of the Council of the East Indies, the governing body of the VOC in Asia, next to the Governor-General. On December 13, 1641, Caron sailed back to Europe as commander of the merchant fleet.
In 1644, Caron was then named governor of Formosa
(Taiwan
); and he was the chief VOC official on the island until 1646. During this period, Caron his achievements included restructuring the production of rice, sulfur, sugar and indigo, and moderating the trade with Chinese pirates.
He had to return to Batavia in 1646. In 1647, he was appointed Director-General, second in command after the Governor-General. In 1651, Caron was recalled to the Netherlands, together with Cornelis van der Lijn
, due to allegations of private trade, but he successfully defended his case, and was able to resign with honor from the Company.
persuaded Louis XIV to grant a patent to a newly-contrived French East Indies Company. Somehow Colbert managed to entice Caron into accepting a leadership role in this nascent enterprise. He became the company's Director General in 1665. This action was perceived as treason by the Dutch, and Caron was banned eternally from the Provinces.
. The Company failed to found a colony
on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Île-de-France (today's Réunion
and Mauritius
). In the late 17th century, the French
established trading posts along the east coast.
(1668) and at Masulipatam (1669) in India
; and Louis XIV acknowledged those successes by awarding him the Order of St. Michael. He was "Commissaire" at Surat
between 1668 and 1672. The French East India Company formally set up a trading centre at Pondicherry in 1673. This outpost eventually became the chief French settlement in India.
In 1672, he helped lead French forces in Ceylon, where the strategic bay at Tincomalee was captured and St. Thomé (also known as Meilâpûr) on the Coromandel coast was also taken; however, the consequences of his military success was short-lived. The French were driven out these modest conquests while Caron was en route to Europe in 1673.
He died as his ship sank off Lisbon on April 5, 1673, as he was returning to Europe.
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
refugee to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
who served the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(VOC) for 30 years, rising from cabin boy to Director-General at Batavia
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
(Jakarta), only one grade below Governor-General. He was later to become Director-General of the French East Indies Company (1667–1673).
He is sometimes considered the first Frenchman to set foot in Japan: he was actually born in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
to a family of French Huguenot refugees; but he only became a naturalized citizen of France when he was persuaded by Colbert to become head of the French East Indies Company, which was intended to compete with the Dutch and the English in Asia. He disputes that honour with the French Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
missionary Guillaume Courtet
Guillaume Courtet
Guillaume Courtet was a French Dominican priest who has been described as the first Frenchman to have visited Japan. He was martyred in 1637 and canonized in 1987.-Career:Courtet was born in Sérignan, near Béziers, in 1589 or 1590...
.
Japan
Caron began as a cook's mate on-board the Dutch ship Schiedam bound for Japan, where he arrived in 1619. His language skills had developed; and in 1627, he traveled to EdoEdo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
as the interpreter for the VOC mission to the shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
al capital. He is not quite the first known instance of Franco-Japanese relations
Franco-Japanese relations
France-Japan relations refers to bilateral relations between France and Japan. The history of goes back to the early 17th century, when a Japanese samurai and ambassador on his way to Rome landed for a few days in Southern France, creating a sensation...
, since he was preceded by the visit of Hasekura Tsunenaga
Hasekura Tsunenaga
Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga or was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai....
to France in 1615.
Opperhoofd
Opperhoofd is a Dutch word which literally means 'supreme head'.The Danish equivalent Overhoved, which is derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch word, is also treated here....
(chief factor
Factor (agent)
A factor, from the Latin "he who does" , is a person who professionally acts as the representative of another individual or other legal entity, historically with his seat at a factory , notably in the following contexts:-Mercantile factor:In a relatively large company, there could be a hierarchy,...
or merchant) in Japan. During this period, he married a Japanese woman (the daughter of Eguchi Jūzaemon) and had six children. His entire family followed him to Nagasaki when the Japanese forced the Dutch to abandon their outpost at Hirado; The family moved with him to Batavia when he left Japan in 1641.
In 1626, Caron was working in Hirado as full assistant. On April 9, 1633, Caron was promoted as a senior merchant, making him the second ranking Company official in Japan. On February 12, 1639, he succeeded Nicolaes Couckebacker
Nicolaes Couckebacker
Nicolaes Coeckebacker or Couckebacker was twice Chief of the Dutch trading factory at Hirado, the Japanese trading post of the Dutch East India Company. He arrived in 1633 and stayed till fall 1635...
as President and head of the Company's trade in Japan.
The Company's headquarters were moved from Hirado, while he had put a Christian year on the warehouse (1638), to Dejima
Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...
in Nagasaki in 1641.
Return to the Netherlands
New assignements in Asia
Although he was rewarded handsomely for his services with a capital of 1,500 guilders, he again left for Asia in 1643 aboard the Olifant. In September 1643, he headed an army of 1,700 men against the Portuguese in Ceylon.In 1644, Caron was then named governor of Formosa
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
(Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
); and he was the chief VOC official on the island until 1646. During this period, Caron his achievements included restructuring the production of rice, sulfur, sugar and indigo, and moderating the trade with Chinese pirates.
He had to return to Batavia in 1646. In 1647, he was appointed Director-General, second in command after the Governor-General. In 1651, Caron was recalled to the Netherlands, together with Cornelis van der Lijn
Cornelis van der Lijn
Cornelis van der Lijn was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1646 until 1650.-Early career:Van der Lijn was born in Alkmaar, possibly in 1608. He went, in 1627, as Assistant to Batavia, Dutch East Indies aboard the Wapen van Hoorn. From 1632 to 18 January 1636 he was Accountant-General...
, due to allegations of private trade, but he successfully defended his case, and was able to resign with honor from the Company.
Appointment with the French East Indies Company
The arenas of French rivalry with England and Holland expanded to Asia in 1664 when the French Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
persuaded Louis XIV to grant a patent to a newly-contrived French East Indies Company. Somehow Colbert managed to entice Caron into accepting a leadership role in this nascent enterprise. He became the company's Director General in 1665. This action was perceived as treason by the Dutch, and Caron was banned eternally from the Provinces.
Madagascar
In 1664, François Caron, sailed to MadagascarMadagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. The Company failed to found a colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Île-de-France (today's Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
). In the late 17th century, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
established trading posts along the east coast.
India
Caron succeeded in founding French ouposts at SuratSurat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
(1668) and at Masulipatam (1669) in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
; and Louis XIV acknowledged those successes by awarding him the Order of St. Michael. He was "Commissaire" at Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
between 1668 and 1672. The French East India Company formally set up a trading centre at Pondicherry in 1673. This outpost eventually became the chief French settlement in India.
In 1672, he helped lead French forces in Ceylon, where the strategic bay at Tincomalee was captured and St. Thomé (also known as Meilâpûr) on the Coromandel coast was also taken; however, the consequences of his military success was short-lived. The French were driven out these modest conquests while Caron was en route to Europe in 1673.
He died as his ship sank off Lisbon on April 5, 1673, as he was returning to Europe.
Works
- (1636). Beschrijvinghe van het Machtigh Coninckryck Japan und Siam. Amsterdam (in Dutch).
- (1646). Beschrijvinghe van het Machtigh Coninckryck Japan.] Amsterdam (in Dutch).
- (1648). Beschrijvinghe van het Machtigh Coninckryck Japan. Amsterdam (in Dutch).
- (1663). Nürnberg (in German).
- (1663). A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (translated by Roger Manley). London: Samuel Broun & John de l'Ecluse.
- (1671). A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam. London: Samuel Broun & John de l'Ecluse. [reprinted from the 1663 English edition]
- (1935). A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (Introduction and notes by Charles R. Boxer). London: Argonaut. [reprinted from the 1671 English edition]
- (1672). Wahrhaftige Beschreibung zweyee mächtigen Königreiche Japan, Siam, und Corea. Nürnberg (in German).
See also
- Nanban trade period
- Franco-Japanese relationsFranco-Japanese relationsFrance-Japan relations refers to bilateral relations between France and Japan. The history of goes back to the early 17th century, when a Japanese samurai and ambassador on his way to Rome landed for a few days in Southern France, creating a sensation...