This article examines the issue of private investment in the seventeenth-century Dutch colony in Brazil. For the first time, new archival discoveries allow for a reconstruction of the size of... Show moreThis article examines the issue of private investment in the seventeenth-century Dutch colony in Brazil. For the first time, new archival discoveries allow for a reconstruction of the size of private investment in the colony, as well as a breakdown into distinct investment activities. The article argues that private investment was an absolute necessity for the West India Company in the hope of making its colony successful, as it could not provide the required funds by itself. Private individuals claimed to have invested over eleven million guilders in the colony, nearly one-and-a-half times the WIC’s original capitalization. A number of case studies elaborate the overall figures presented and show that Dutch investors did indeed move into sugar cultivation and even moved into agricultural property development. Presenting these data and sources will, it is posited, allow for a fuller picture of the role of former inhabitants of Dutch Brazil in the development of plantation systems in the wider Caribbean from the mid-1640s onwards. Show less
From 1630 until its fall in 1654, the Dutch West India Company maintained a colony in northeastern Brazil where it tried to profit from the cultivation of sugar using enslaved African labor. Count... Show moreFrom 1630 until its fall in 1654, the Dutch West India Company maintained a colony in northeastern Brazil where it tried to profit from the cultivation of sugar using enslaved African labor. Count Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen served as this colony’s governor-general from 1636 until 1644, this being the most heavily studied period of the colony’s existence. But the role of Johan Maurits in the transatlantic slave trade and enslavement in Brazil is poorly covered by research, with some historians recently arguing that there is ‘no proof’ of any personal involvement. This article presents a clear argument for the personal involvement of Johan Maurits in the slave trade and shows his involvement in slave-smuggling. Understanding the social relations between the count, his court and the Luso-Brazilian elite is in fact simply impossible without bringing in the trade and smuggling of enslaved Africans. Show less
Alcantara Rodriguez, M.; Francozo, M.; Andel, T.R. van 2019
The Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (HNB, 1648) is the most complete treatise on Brazilian flora and fauna created in the seventeenth century. Scientists Marcgrave and Piso depicted hundreds of plants... Show moreThe Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (HNB, 1648) is the most complete treatise on Brazilian flora and fauna created in the seventeenth century. Scientists Marcgrave and Piso depicted hundreds of plants and described uses, vernacular names, and diseases in Dutch Brazil. We aimed to verify whether these plants are still used similarly, using herbarium vouchers and taxonomic literature to identify the species described in the HNB and reviewing historical and modern ethnobotanical literature to analyze whether the HNB documented specific plants and uses for the northeast region. We highlighted Old World species, as they indicate plant introduction before and during the trans-Atlantic slave trade and exchange of African ethnobotanical knowledge. Of the 378 species found in the HNB, 256 (68%) were useful, mostly used for healing and food in a similar way (80%) both in the seventeenth century and in modern Brazil. Only one species (Swartzia pickelii) is endemic to northeast Brazil, while the others are more widely distributed. The HNB includes one of the first reports on African crops in Brazil, such as sesame, okra, and spider plant. This study brings insights on indigenous and African plant knowledge retentions since the creation of the HNB and acknowledges its non-European contributors. Show less
Covering defeat or disaster in print required considerable journalistic finesse in the Southern Netherlandish news market, since the primary role of privileged courantiersin the Habsburg empire was... Show moreCovering defeat or disaster in print required considerable journalistic finesse in the Southern Netherlandish news market, since the primary role of privileged courantiersin the Habsburg empire was to provide accounts of royal successes. This article investigates the ways in which the Antwerp printer-publisher Abraham Verhoeven and Brussels newsman Pierre Hugonet covered two main Atlantic events with a negative outcome for the Habsburg monarchy: the Dutch invasion of Brazil in 1624 and the English capture of Jamaica in 1655 respectively. By comparing these major Atlantic news stories, this article will deepen our understanding of how these gazetteers, who differed in professional background and operated decades apart, dealt with defeat suffered in the Western Hemisphere. It will argue that both newspapermen presented the Habsburg setbacks in a strikingly similar way, using largely the same editorial and rhetorical strategies. This suggests that there appeared to be a ‘discourse of defeat’ in the Habsburg Netherlands, which newspaper publishers adapted to satisfy both their customers and central authorities throughout the seventeenth century. This ‘discourse of defeat’, however, was not confined solely to the southern provinces, as Dutch and English courantiers employed similar tactics to cover up bad news. Therefore, government control and pre-emptive censorship, which continue to be considered dominant features of the Southern Netherlandish media landscape, appear to have played a less decisive role in the way newspaper publishers covered defeat than hitherto has been presumed. Show less
Over the years the 1640 naval battle of Paraíba (Brazil) has attracted the attention of several historians, including F.A. Varnhagen, H. Wätjen and J.C. Warnsinck, who made extensive use of Dutch... Show moreOver the years the 1640 naval battle of Paraíba (Brazil) has attracted the attention of several historians, including F.A. Varnhagen, H. Wätjen and J.C. Warnsinck, who made extensive use of Dutch sources. By combining the Dutch and Portuguese accounts, C.R. Boxer and, more recently, M.J. Guedes shed new light on the episode. The Portuguese material comprises the original papers of Fernando Mascarenhas, the commander in-chief of the armada. These papers are gathered in four voluminous codices and record events concerning the armada between April 1638 and October 1640. Written in Portuguese and Spanish, they comprise various documents, including correspondence, as well as instructions, reports, and minutes of meetings of the Council of Captains. The documents in these codices constitute the bedrock of this article which focuses on the armada leaders’ perceptions of their opponent during their sojourn in Brazil, a topic still insufficiently explored in the literature. Given the goal of the expedition, gathering information on the Dutch military and naval power was crucial for defining a strategy to oust them from Pernambuco. How did the armada leaders acquire intelligence? How reliable was it when cross-checked against other sources and to what extent did the outcome of the battle depend on it? Show less
