Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

The group consisted of Henderick Schaeff, a public notary and notary for the WIC, Jan
Willemsz. de Keert, skipper and pilot of the ship Bontekoe, and five men who appeared at De
Keert's request as witnesses. De Keert had arrived at Texel on September 3 and the following
day traveled directly to Amsterdam, where he had given “true words in place of an oath” before
the directors of the Amsterdam chamber of the WIC. Now, before the city's burgemeesteren, De
Keert gave the following testimony: On July 13, his ship arrived at Terceira, one of the “Flemish
Islands in the Spanish Sea [the Azores],” where it remained at port until August 20. On either
July 28 or 29, a caravel arrived from Bahia de Todos os Santos in Portuguese Brazil. According
to the officers and other people aboard the ship, the Portuguese had recaptured Paraiba, Cabo St.
Augustyn, and Rio Grande, three captaincies that previously had been under Dutch control.
Furthermore, the Dutch capital, Recife, was under siege. “Two days after this caravel arrived,”
De Keert continued, “there were signs all over the island of celebrations and the firing of cannon,
which it was said was for the victory in Brazil.” Two days later, two caravels arrived from
Lisbon “and took on soldiers from the fort to carry with them to Brazil.”
This testimony would have confirmed and extended the account found in the newspapers,
and may even have described events in Brazil that took place after the three company ships set
sail for Middelburg at the beginning of July. What was certainly new was the information about
the two caravels from Lisbon that collected soldiers to take to Brazil—a detail that could be
interpreted either as routine or as evidence that the Portuguese King was lending support to the
revolt. Perhaps for this reason the Amsterdam city government forwarded a copy of the
het selve aldaer byde Portugesen onder groot en clein & by yder een openmtlyck werde geseit, & hun getuige
dickwils voorgecomen is, presenterende sy getuigen, t' gunt voors. is, des noot synde naerder by eede te verclaeren,
gedaen t' Amsterdam ter presentie van daniel van der Schelde ende Jan Mastbiergher alhier als getuigen hier toe
versocht hebben noch Adriaen Tiercsen van hansbrouck out ontrent 23 Jaren, sipke pietersz van Molqueren out 25
Jaren, & sievert Pietersz. mede van molcqueren out mede ontrent 25 Jaren met boven gemelte attestant en t' voors.
verclaerde op den 7 september 1645 voorde heren Burgermeesteren der stede Amsterdam met Eede bevesticht.”
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