Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

geographers whose works remain a treasure trove for the study of colonial Brazil. 7 As historians
have long recognized, however, Maurits' reputation among the directors of the WIC, for whom
he nominally worked, was altogether different. During his tenure in Brazil Maurits rarely
corresponded directly with the Heren XIX, preferring instead to address his letters to the States
General, who then forwarded copies. He was arrogant and difficult to control. But, most
important of all, he was expensive, and the company, which by 1643 was nearly bankrupt,
decided—against the objections of the States General and the Prince of Orange—that he must be
replaced. 8
This chapter looks closely at how this was done. Replacing Maurits and designing a new
council to govern Dutch Brazil dominated discussions within the Heren XIX in Amsterdam in
1644 and was still unresolved by the beginning of the fall meeting in Middelburg in September
of 1645. There the matter appeared as the second item on the agenda, to be resolved “without
further delay,” but this was considerably more difficult than it might at first appear. 9 Charles
Boxer noted the troubles the WIC faced in agreeing upon a suitable candidate and argued that
this episode brought into sharp relief the limitations of the Dutch political system for
administering colonies overseas. 10 Without a strong central authority, it was, according to Boxer,
nearly impossible to reach collective agreement quickly or to take decisive action in the face of
mounting problems abroad. 11 This judgment is certainly correct, but it overlooks a more subtle
conflict that emerges at several important places in the records of the negotiations themselves,
7 The most famous text to come from this group is Piso, Markgraf, and Laet, Historia Natvralis Brasiliae [...] : In
Qua Non Tantum Plantæ Et Animalia, Sed Et Indigenarum Morbi, Ingenia Et Mores Describuntur Et Iconibus
Supra Quingentas Illustrantur.
8 Boxer, The Dutch in Brazil, 1624-1654.
9 NA 1.01.04 inv.nr. 5758. Poincten waerop alle de Cameren van de West Indische Comp. beschreven worden,
omme in conformite van den Octroye tegens den tweeden vande aenstaende maent September 1645, etc. August 12,
1645.
10 Boxer, The Dutch in Brazil, 1624-1654, 173–175.
11 Ibid., 175.
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