Olivier van Noort
Encyclopedia
Olivier van Noort was the first Dutchman
to circumnavigate
the world.
Olivier van Noort was born in 1558 in Utrecht
. He left Rotterdam
on 2 July 1598 with four ships and a plan to attack Spanish possessions in the Pacific and to trade with China
and the Spice Islands
. His ships were poorly equipped, especially in the way of armament and the crews were unruly.
Nonetheless, Van Noort sailed through the Magellan Strait, and captured a number of ships (Spanish and otherwise) in the Pacific. He lost two ships on the way due to a storm, one was lost in an engagement with the Spanish
near the Manila Bay
in the Philippines
. The Spanish lost their flagship, the galleon San Diego
, the wreck of which was found in 1992 and yielded a treasure in porcelain
and gold pieces.
Van Noort returned to Rotterdam via the Dutch East Indies
and the Cape of Good Hope on 26 August 1601 with his last ship, the Mauritius, and 45 of originally 248 men. The venture barely broke even, but was the inspiration for more such expeditions. The united Dutch East India Company
was formed a few months later.
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...
to circumnavigate
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
the world.
Olivier van Noort was born in 1558 in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
. He left Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
on 2 July 1598 with four ships and a plan to attack Spanish possessions in the Pacific and to trade with China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and the Spice Islands
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
. His ships were poorly equipped, especially in the way of armament and the crews were unruly.
Nonetheless, Van Noort sailed through the Magellan Strait, and captured a number of ships (Spanish and otherwise) in the Pacific. He lost two ships on the way due to a storm, one was lost in an engagement with the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
near the Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The Spanish lost their flagship, the galleon San Diego
San Diego (ship)
The galleon San Diego was built as the trading ship San Antonio before hastily being converted into a warship. On December 14, 1600, the fully laden San Diego was engaged by the Dutch warship Mauritius under the command of Admiral Olivier van Noort a short distance away from Fortune Island,...
, the wreck of which was found in 1992 and yielded a treasure in porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
and gold pieces.
Van Noort returned to Rotterdam via the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
and the Cape of Good Hope on 26 August 1601 with his last ship, the Mauritius, and 45 of originally 248 men. The venture barely broke even, but was the inspiration for more such expeditions. The united 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...
was formed a few months later.
Further reading
- Gerhard, Peter. Pirates of the Pacific 1575-1742. Glendale, Ca: A.H. Clark Co., 1990. ISBN 0803270305
- Gerhard, Peter. Pirates of New Spain, 1575-1742. Mineola, Ny: Courier Dover Publications, 2003. ISBN 0-486-42611-4
- Lane, Kris E. Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750. Armunk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1998. ISBN 0-7656-0257-1
- Schmidt, Benjamin. Innocence Abroad: The Dutch Imagination and the New World, 1570-1670. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-521-80408-6
- Silverberg, Robert. The Longest Voyage: Circumnavigation in the Age Of Discovery (1972) 1997 Ohio University Press, ISBN 0-8214-1192