Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

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integrates his scholarly output with his role as an expert, manager, strategist, and publicist. 123 This section steps back from the narrative to examine De Laet’s responsibilities as a company director. Following Jacob Soll, it argues that De Laet played a very similar role in the WIC that Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) played in the French State; that is, he was an “information master,” for whom information was a tool of politics. 124 This perspective helps complete important parts of his biography, but it also allows us to probe the relationship between information and power in the Dutch Republic. As Jaap Jacobs and others have shown, De Laet's influence within the WIC stemmed initially from his financial stake. 125 His personal investment of 54,000 guilders made him the company’s third largest single investor and ensured him a coveted directorship in the Amsterdam chamber, a position he retained for all but three years between 1621 and his death in 1649. 126 In addition, De Laet was one of a handful of investors in the agricultural and trading colony of New Netherland. 127 As his own correspondence attests, De Laet was torn between his managerial and his scholarly commitments: after briefly stepping down as director in 1639, he wrote to the English ambassador at The Hague, William Boswell (d. 1650), that it “was a most convenient thing for me, for I will be more free to be with my family and to conduct my studies; and I will not so often be an exile from my home.” 128 Four years later, when he had resumed his position, he complained to his close friend, the Leiden scholar Claude Saumaise (1588-1653), that, “Sometimes I greatly regret that I have shouldered this burden [...] for it is hardly possible to                                                          123 Eric H. Ash, ed., Expertise: Practical Knowledge and the Early Modern State (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). 124 Soll, The information master. 125 Jacobs, “Johannes de Laet en de Nieuwe Wereld.” 126 Regionaal Archief Leiden 501A, inv.nr. 6701; NA 1.05.01.01, inv.nr. 18*; Bekkers, “Introduction,” xvi; Jacobs, “Johannes de Laet en de Nieuwe Wereld.” 127 Jacobs, “Johannes de Laet en de Nieuwe Wereld”; Rink, Holland on the Hudson; Venema, Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1586-1643): designing a new world. 128 British Library Add Ms 6395, Johannes de Laet to William Boswell, August 10, 1639. John Kuhner kindly assisted translating from the original Latin.   79
devote myself to my books.” 129 A second letter, sent to Saumaise later the same year, explained the burden of his travel on the company’s behalf: I have been busy for the last 14 days with the affairs of the [company], and although I hope to be soon finished, there will soon be another meeting at The Hague, after which I will come back here again. Consequently I am going back and forth the whole summer, and can't promise myself any rest before the winter. 130 Quite aside from composing books and other materials for the company’s use, the frequent travel back and forth to The Hague, Amsterdam, and Middelburg required of a company director represented a considerable investment of time and energy. As De Laet grew older, and other senior directors from the founding generation of the company either resigned their positions or passed away, his responsibilities would have become proportionately greater. De Laet’s complaints suggest that the burden of this responsibility was not always welcome, but they also betray a long and deep commitment to actively promoting the company’s business. The nature and significance of this commitment become clearer when we reconstruct his activities at all three levels of the company's organization: the city (Leiden), chamber (Amsterdam), and board of directors (Heren XIX). De Laet came to Leiden as a student in 1597 and quickly established himself amongst the city’s intellectual elite. 131 He lodged with the Counter-Remonstrant theologian Franciscus Gomarus (1563-1641) and studied with the humanist scholar Joseph Scaliger (1540-1609), joining a small circle of talented students that included the young Grotius. 132 After brief periods of time in England, he returned to Leiden and became involved in city politics, most notably                                                          129 Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden PAP 7, Johannes de Laet to Claudius Salmasius, March 11, 1643. Chris Heesakkers generously assisted translating from the original Latin. 130 Ibid., August 3, 1643. 131 Bremmer Jr., “The Correspondence of Johannes de Laet as a Mirror on his Life.” 132 On Joseph Scaliger, see Anthony Grafton, Joseph Scaliger: a Study in the History of Classical Scholarship, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983).   80
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GOVERNING THE FREE SEA: THE DUTCH W
Page 3 and 4:
Abstract This dissertation takes a
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IV. “In the Service of Merchants
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for making the archive such an enjo
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Institute for International and Reg
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List of Tables 1. Delegates to the
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Illustration 1. Het West-Indische H
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eported to have said; any money sen
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nexus of commerce and power for whi
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Europe the Dutch Republic is emblem
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Although the VOC frequently used vi
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Van Dillen argued that over time th
Page 25 and 26:
the Western Hemisphere.” 46 Far f
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anxieties it generated, and what pl
Page 29 and 30:
capital from Zeeland in the south a
Page 31 and 32:
number of document series within th
Page 33 and 34:
character of Dutch political instit
Page 35 and 36:
Illustration 2. Vergaderzaal van he
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ecords must be traced backwards—a
Page 39 and 40: of note.” 93 But it is clear that
Page 41 and 42: formative periods in the company’
Page 43 and 44: enhance the role of central authori
Page 45 and 46: trade in which the company had only
Page 47 and 48: 5. A Note on Sources This dissertat
Page 49 and 50: 1645. 110 The manuscript is found i
Page 51 and 52: period 1620-1636. 115 For the remai
Page 53 and 54: at São Salvador da Bahia de Todos
Page 55 and 56: the revolt pushed the colony’s fa
Page 57 and 58: Amsterdam newspapers did publish st
Page 59 and 60: year by the Hoge ende Secrete Raad
Page 61 and 62: the Portuguese, had crossed the Rio
Page 63 and 64: ead aloud, two resolutions were pas
Page 65 and 66: On Wednesday, the same day the ship
Page 67 and 68: with subtle differences of fact and
Page 69 and 70: The group consisted of Henderick Sc
Page 71 and 72: XIX. Each chamber selected delegate
Page 73 and 74: Inden naeme den heeren amen Saturn.
Page 75 and 76: Middelburg’s decidedly incestuous
Page 77 and 78: Illustration 6. Portrait of Johanne
Page 79 and 80: crucial role that he played in its
Page 81 and 82: When the meeting resumed on Monday
Page 83 and 84: and to steer the discussion towards
Page 85 and 86: were chosen from among the ranks of
Page 87 and 88: emphasized the considerable sums in
Page 89: 4. Johannes de Laet as “Informati
Page 93 and 94: interests were adequately represent
Page 95 and 96: De Laet's substantive work in the A
Page 97 and 98: that, even at the beginning, De Lae
Page 99 and 100: De Laet’s presence at the meeting
Page 101 and 102: confessions under interrogation and
Page 103 and 104: Brazil this meant the Heren XIX, wh
Page 105 and 106: Illustration 7. Portrait of Willem
Page 107 and 108: peaceful settlement along the fring
Page 109 and 110: By analyzing the successive changes
Page 111 and 112: convene in Amsterdam; the following
Page 113 and 114: This formulation, which must previo
Page 115 and 116: Amsterdam or Middelburg. 29 In this
Page 117 and 118: (1566-1626), later burgemeester of
Page 119 and 120: placed next to his description of t
Page 121 and 122: That these two provisions remained
Page 123 and 124: provinces. The creation of the WIC
Page 125 and 126: The result was that the delegates f
Page 127 and 128: to the original charter gave the ch
Page 129 and 130: thus shows the political—as oppos
Page 131 and 132: 1/10 of the equipagie and two direc
Page 133 and 134: taken place. Once the draft letter
Page 135 and 136: Table 5. Seating for the delegation
Page 137 and 138: phase of the company’s Groot Dess
Page 139 and 140: to be understood the sending over o
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But by far the most important trans
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Illustration 8. Map of Mauritstad a
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geographers whose works remain a tr
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important military, administrative,
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noblemen played in overseas adminis
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good order, police and justice, and
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the council's size and authority, d
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servants. These individuals may not
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At this point the election was comp
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(Receiver General) of the United Pr
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Why did these candidates all refuse
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Alexander's name was almost certain
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None of the remaining records indic
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would be profitable and that their
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Haecxs thanked them for the honor t
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On June 22, 1645—just a week befo
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5. Wolter Schonenborch and the Ritu
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with the WIC presumably did not go
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Haecx recorded in his diary that on
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wavered, for De Laet, who was many
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privately to Brazil, legally or ill
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1. Introduction Chapter Five Free T
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left relatively open. 6 Where monop
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community saw greater profits in pr
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and close trade to private merchant
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trouble paying its bills, especiall
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means to capitalize the company wit
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director than his trade to Brazil,
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With the verhoging stalled, and ani
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e handled without gloves.” 55 In
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“walking the land half-naked” f
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While the resolution as a whole sho
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along with the two powerful Amsterd
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Cornelis Melijn, of a patroonschap
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this measure, he said, “no one in
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maintaining the company's solvency,
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colony, overestimated the number of
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And Maurits offered another argumen
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Stellingwerf, who sat in the States
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Provinces, plus smaller fees of 3%
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exclude private merchants from the
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clamoring for slaves. 136 The probl
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expedition's success, along with de
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trading locations on the Gold Coast
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directly from New Netherland, and s
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over trade was simply the projectio
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the area in which the company was b
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had not yet been renewed. 4 As the
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to the Dutch state, and that this d
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ookkeeping from late-fifteenth cent
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ambitions. 21 Although neither Spec
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expenses at each of the company's c
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included. 34 In Specx’s estimatio
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calculations yielded a profit of 41
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notes on these documents, suggest t
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It was, of course, a fiction. With
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to hang from the body [...] This sh
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van West-Indien (New World, or a De
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title page of the revised edition a
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It occurred to me that these miracu
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third in the Kort Verhael. This rep
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This extraordinary conclusion might
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enemy” and the positive effects o
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appeared in the late 1630s in the c
Page 269 and 270:
versus settlement. He was also more
Page 271 and 272:
An exceptionally cold winter delaye
Page 273 and 274:
failure of Dutch imperialism from t
Page 275 and 276:
that focuses on political and imper
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support to the WIC, but they also i
Page 279 and 280:
Maurits predicted and which was not
Page 281 and 282:
British Library Additional Manuscri
Page 283 and 284:
Burke, Peter. A Social History of K
Page 285 and 286:
Goffman, Erving. Frame Analysis: An
Page 287 and 288:
Jonge, J. K. J. De Oorsprong van Ne
Page 289 and 290:
Noorlander, Danny L. “Serving God
Page 291 and 292:
Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Na
Page 293:
1624-1654, edited by Marianne L. Wi
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