Samuel Blommaert
Encyclopedia
Samuel Blommaert (Antwerp, 11 (or 21) August 1583, – Amsterdam
, 23 December 1651) was a Flemish/Dutch merchant and director of the Dutch West India Company
from 1622 to 1629 and again from 1636 to 1642. In the latter period he was a paid commissioner of Sweden
in the Netherlands and he played a dubious but key role in Pierre Minuit
's expedition that led to the Swedish colonizing of New Sweden
. In 1645 he was appointed for a third time as a manager of the WIC, being one of the main investors from the beginning.
, one of Belgium
's three regions. He was the son of Margaretha Hoefnagel and the wealthy merchant Lodewijk Blommaert (1537–1591), who in 1581 was schepen
of Antwerp and in 1583 captain at Fort Lillo on the eastern border of the Scheldt
. Margaretha died when Samuel was young and his father moved the family to London
, when Antwerp was occupied in 1585 by the Duke of Parma
. He remarried but died in 1591. Samuel was apprenticed in Stade
, The Hague
, and Vienna
. In 1602 he visited Benin
. In 1603, Samuel enlisted with the Dutch East India Company
and traveled to the Dutch East Indies
on a ship under admiral Steven van der Hagen
. In the years 1605-1606 he stayed on Borneo
. In 1607 he was send by the board to Sukadana
West Kalimantan
to rescue Hans Roeff, who had died when Blommaert arrived. He returned to Bantam with 633 diamonds. In 1609/1610 he again stayed on Sambas, Borneo. In September 1610 he left sooner than expected for Texel
and arrived in June 1611. Pieter Both
had to investigate the case.
He settled in Amsterdam
, where he became a prominent merchant. On 5 June 1612, he married Catharina Reynst, a daughter of Gerard Reynst
, with whom he would have 12 children between 1613 and 1633, each born in Amsterdam. His daughter Constantia (1626-) married the admiral Isaac Sweers
.
, together with Frans Jacobsz. Hinlopen, and Lucas van der Venne. In 1615 Jacob le Maire
carried a letter from his father to be presented to Governor Reynst, with an offer to carry (smuggle) goods to his son-in-law Samuel Blommaert in Amsterdam. Blommaert was investigated in Amsterdam by the board of the East-India Company on January 30, 1616 about a vessel, named Mauritius de Nassau, sailed from a Dutch port, under the command of Jan Remmetszoon, of Purmerend
. The ship was ostensibly destined for Angola
, but from there she was ordered to direct her course for "Terra Australe, called Terra del Fuego." The plan, therefore, was, from the west coast of Africa to sail southward, until the supposed South-land should have been reached, and then "to explore the whole of the coast of Terra Australi as far as the Straits of Magellanes
, on the chance of finding an opening that might allow a passage to the South-sea; and on such opening being found, to run into and through the same, in order to discover whether they could in such manner get into the South-sea; should such passage to the South-sea have been found, they had orders to return home forthwith, but in case adverse circumstances should prevent them from doing so, they were to run on for the East Indies."
After November 1620 he settled on Keizersgracht with a view on Westerkerk
. He told one of his neighbors, professor Nicolaes Tulp
, stories on bestiality he heard on Borneo.
. For years Blommaert was involved in the copper trade and industry. In 1627 he had an argument about a cargo of 34 Swedish guns. In 1628 he collaborated with Kiliaen van Rensselaer, Samuel Godijn en Albert Coenraetsz. Burgh
. In company with Godyn, a fellow-director, he bargained with the natives for a tract of land reaching from Cape Henlopen
to the mouth of Delaware river
. This was in 1629, three years before the charter of Maryland
, and is the oldest deed for land in the state of Delaware
. Its water-front nearly coincides with the coast of Kent
and Sussex
coast. The purchase was ratified in 1630 by Peter Minuit
and his council at Fort Amsterdam
.
A company including, besides the two original proprietors, Kiliaen van Rensselaer, Joannes de Laet
, the historian, and David Pietersen de Vries
was formed to colonize the tract. A ship of eighteen guns was fitted out to bring over the colonists and subsequently defend the coast, with incidental whale-fishing to help defray expenses. A colony of more than thirty souls was planted on Lewes creek, a little north of Cape Henlopen
, and its governorship was entrusted to Gillis Hosset. This settlement antedated by several years any in Pennsylvania
, and the colony at Lewes
practically laid the foundation and defined the singularly limited area of the state of Delaware
, the major part of which was included in the purchase. A palisade
d fort was built, with the "red lion, rampant," of Holland affixed to its gate, and the country was named Swaanendael or Zwaanendael Colony
, while the water was called Godyn's Bay now known as Delaware Bay
. The estate was further extended, on May 5, 1630, by the purchase of a tract twelve miles square on the coast of Cape May
opposite, and the transaction was duly attested at Fort Amsterdam
.
The existence of the little colony was short, for the Indians came down upon it in revenge for an arbitrary act on the part of Hosset, and it was destroyed, not a soul escaping to tell the tale. According to acknowledged precedent, occupancy of the wilderness served to perfect title; but before the Dutch could reoccupy the desolated site at Lewes, the English were practically in possession.
, outside Stockholm. Swedish chancellor Count Axel Oxenstierna
subsequently visited Holland. Soon after he left, Blommaert started to send letters to the Swedish chancellor. In 1636, Blommaert became the consul
for Sweden in Amsterdam. Blommaert secretly assisted with the fitting out of the first Swedish expedition with Fogel Grip
and Kalmar Nyckel
to New Sweden
in 1637 and engaged Peter Minuit
to command it. When two expeditions turned out to be unprofitable for Blommaert, he withdrew. In those years, Blommaert was so heavily interested in seizing Spanish ships, which sailed from the Caribbean
loaded with silver, to make the New Sweden colonization more successful.
Blommaert's thirty-eight letters to the Swedish chancellor Count Axel Oxenstierna
, from 1635-1641 are of great importance to the history of New Sweden. These letters were published in Repertorium Veterrimarum Societatum Litterariarum 1870-1879 of the Utrecht
Historical Society and in Bijdragen en Mededeelingen (1908).
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, 23 December 1651) was a Flemish/Dutch merchant and director of the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
from 1622 to 1629 and again from 1636 to 1642. In the latter period he was a paid commissioner of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in the Netherlands and he played a dubious but key role in Pierre Minuit
Peter Minuit
Peter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. He was the Director-General of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1633, and he founded the Swedish colony of...
's expedition that led to the Swedish colonizing of New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
. In 1645 he was appointed for a third time as a manager of the WIC, being one of the main investors from the beginning.
Early life
Samuel was born in Antwerp, capital of the Antwerp province in FlandersFlanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, one of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
's three regions. He was the son of Margaretha Hoefnagel and the wealthy merchant Lodewijk Blommaert (1537–1591), who in 1581 was schepen
Schepen
A schepen is a Dutch word referring to a municipal civic office in Dutch-speaking countries. The term is still in use in Belgium, but it has been replaced by wethouder in the Netherlands. The closest English terms are alderman, member of the municipal executive, councillor and magistrate,...
of Antwerp and in 1583 captain at Fort Lillo on the eastern border of the Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
. Margaretha died when Samuel was young and his father moved the family to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, when Antwerp was occupied in 1585 by the Duke of Parma
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
Alexander Farnese was Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1586 to 1592, and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592.-Biography:...
. He remarried but died in 1591. Samuel was apprenticed in Stade
Stade
Stade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...
, The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. In 1602 he visited Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
. In 1603, Samuel enlisted with the 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...
and traveled to 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....
on a ship under admiral Steven van der Hagen
Steven van der Hagen
Steven van der Hagen was the first admiral of the Dutch East India Company . He made three visits to the East Indies, spending six years in all there. He was appointed to the Raad van Indië...
. In the years 1605-1606 he stayed on Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. In 1607 he was send by the board to Sukadana
Sukadana
Sukadana is the capital city of North Kayong regency , on the island of Borneo. North Kayong regency is one of the regencies of West Kalimantan province in Indonesia...
West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....
to rescue Hans Roeff, who had died when Blommaert arrived. He returned to Bantam with 633 diamonds. In 1609/1610 he again stayed on Sambas, Borneo. In September 1610 he left sooner than expected for Texel
Texel
Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
and arrived in June 1611. Pieter Both
Pieter Both
Pieter Both was the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.Not much is known of his early years. In 1599, Both was already an admiral in the New, or Brabant Company. In that year, he traveled to the East Indies with four ships...
had to investigate the case.
He settled in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, where he became a prominent merchant. On 5 June 1612, he married Catharina Reynst, a daughter of Gerard Reynst
Gerard Reynst
Gerard Reynst was a Dutch merchant, father of a museum curator, and later the second Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies...
, with whom he would have 12 children between 1613 and 1633, each born in Amsterdam. His daughter Constantia (1626-) married the admiral Isaac Sweers
Isaac Sweers
Isaac Sweers was a 17th century Dutch admiral.HNLMS Isaac Sweers was Gerard Callenburgh class destroyer of the Royal Netherlands Navy, named after the admiral....
.
Early career
Blommaert was involved in a company which traded on AngolaAngola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, together with Frans Jacobsz. Hinlopen, and Lucas van der Venne. In 1615 Jacob le Maire
Jacob Le Maire
Jacob Le Maire was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the earth in 1615-16. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honor, though not without controversy...
carried a letter from his father to be presented to Governor Reynst, with an offer to carry (smuggle) goods to his son-in-law Samuel Blommaert in Amsterdam. Blommaert was investigated in Amsterdam by the board of the East-India Company on January 30, 1616 about a vessel, named Mauritius de Nassau, sailed from a Dutch port, under the command of Jan Remmetszoon, of Purmerend
Purmerend
Purmerend is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. The city became the trade center of the region but the population grew relatively slow. Only after 1960 did the population...
. The ship was ostensibly destined for Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, but from there she was ordered to direct her course for "Terra Australe, called Terra del Fuego." The plan, therefore, was, from the west coast of Africa to sail southward, until the supposed South-land should have been reached, and then "to explore the whole of the coast of Terra Australi as far as the Straits of Magellanes
Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...
, on the chance of finding an opening that might allow a passage to the South-sea; and on such opening being found, to run into and through the same, in order to discover whether they could in such manner get into the South-sea; should such passage to the South-sea have been found, they had orders to return home forthwith, but in case adverse circumstances should prevent them from doing so, they were to run on for the East Indies."
After November 1620 he settled on Keizersgracht with a view on Westerkerk
Westerkerk
The Westerkerk is a church of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands denomination in Amsterdam, built in 1620-1631 after a design by Hendrick de Keyser. It is next to Amsterdam's Jordaan district, on the bank of the Prinsengracht canal....
. He told one of his neighbors, professor Nicolaes Tulp
Nicolaes Tulp
Nicolaes Tulp was a Dutch surgeon and mayor of Amsterdam. Tulp was well known for his upstanding moral character.-Life:...
, stories on bestiality he heard on Borneo.
New Netherlands
By 1622, he had become one of the directors of the Amsterdam chamber of the recently founded Dutch West India CompanyDutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
. For years Blommaert was involved in the copper trade and industry. In 1627 he had an argument about a cargo of 34 Swedish guns. In 1628 he collaborated with Kiliaen van Rensselaer, Samuel Godijn en Albert Coenraetsz. Burgh
Albert Burgh
Albert Coenraadsz. Burgh was a Dutch physician who was mayor of Amsterdam and a councillor in the Admiralty of Amsterdam.-Biography:...
. In company with Godyn, a fellow-director, he bargained with the natives for a tract of land reaching from Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, Delaware...
to the mouth of Delaware river
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
. This was in 1629, three years before the charter of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, and is the oldest deed for land in the state of Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
. Its water-front nearly coincides with the coast of Kent
Kent County, Delaware
Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is coextensive with the Dover, Delaware, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population was 162,310, a 28.1% increase over the previous decade. The county seat is Dover, the state capital...
and Sussex
Sussex County, Delaware
Sussex County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 the population was 197,145, an increase of 25.9% over the previous decade. The county seat is Georgetown. The Seaford Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Sussex County.Sussex County is...
coast. The purchase was ratified in 1630 by Peter Minuit
Peter Minuit
Peter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. He was the Director-General of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1633, and he founded the Swedish colony of...
and his council at Fort Amsterdam
Fort Amsterdam
For the historic fort on the island of Saint Martin, see Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan that was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then British rule of New York from...
.
A company including, besides the two original proprietors, Kiliaen van Rensselaer, Joannes de Laet
Joannes de Laet
Joannes or Johannes de Laet was a Dutch geographer and director of the Dutch West India Company. Philip Burden called his History of the New World, "...arguably the finest description of the Americas published in the seventeenth century" and "...one of the foundation maps of Canada"...
, the historian, and David Pietersen de Vries
David Pietersen de Vries
Captain David Pieterszoon de Vries was a Dutch navigator from Hoorn, Holland.In 1617 de Vries went on a whaling voyage to Jan Mayen. In 1620 he sailed to Newfoundland and sold the dried fish in Italy. In Toulon he joined Charles, Duke of Guise. In 1624 he went to Canada again, still in French...
was formed to colonize the tract. A ship of eighteen guns was fitted out to bring over the colonists and subsequently defend the coast, with incidental whale-fishing to help defray expenses. A colony of more than thirty souls was planted on Lewes creek, a little north of Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, Delaware...
, and its governorship was entrusted to Gillis Hosset. This settlement antedated by several years any in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and the colony at Lewes
Lewes, Delaware
Lewes is an incorporated city in Sussex County, Delaware, USA, on the Delmarva Peninsula. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747, a decrease of 6.3% from 2000....
practically laid the foundation and defined the singularly limited area of the state of Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, the major part of which was included in the purchase. A palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
d fort was built, with the "red lion, rampant," of Holland affixed to its gate, and the country was named Swaanendael or Zwaanendael Colony
Zwaanendael Colony
Zwaanendael or Swaanendael was a short lived Dutch colonial settlement in Delaware. It was built in 1631. The name is archaic Dutch spelling for "swan valley" or dale...
, while the water was called Godyn's Bay now known as Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...
. The estate was further extended, on May 5, 1630, by the purchase of a tract twelve miles square on the coast of Cape May
Cape May
Cape May is a peninsula and island ; the southern tip of the island is the southernmost point of the state of New Jersey, United States. It runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...
opposite, and the transaction was duly attested at Fort Amsterdam
Fort Amsterdam
For the historic fort on the island of Saint Martin, see Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan that was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then British rule of New York from...
.
The existence of the little colony was short, for the Indians came down upon it in revenge for an arbitrary act on the part of Hosset, and it was destroyed, not a soul escaping to tell the tale. According to acknowledged precedent, occupancy of the wilderness served to perfect title; but before the Dutch could reoccupy the desolated site at Lewes, the English were practically in possession.
New Sweden
In 1635, he started a brass factory in NackaNacka
Nacka is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to an 16th century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mills are good...
, outside Stockholm. Swedish chancellor Count Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre , Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of first Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina.Oxenstierna...
subsequently visited Holland. Soon after he left, Blommaert started to send letters to the Swedish chancellor. In 1636, Blommaert became the consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
for Sweden in Amsterdam. Blommaert secretly assisted with the fitting out of the first Swedish expedition with Fogel Grip
Fogel Grip
The Fogel Grip was a Swedish sailing ship originally built in the Netherlands in the early 1600s. She was used on the first Swedish expedition in 1638 together with the Kalmar Nyckel to establish the colony of New Sweden.-The ship:Little is known about the vessel. Fogel Grip was a Full rigged...
and Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel
The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and...
to New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
in 1637 and engaged Peter Minuit
Peter Minuit
Peter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. He was the Director-General of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1633, and he founded the Swedish colony of...
to command it. When two expeditions turned out to be unprofitable for Blommaert, he withdrew. In those years, Blommaert was so heavily interested in seizing Spanish ships, which sailed from the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
loaded with silver, to make the New Sweden colonization more successful.
Blommaert's thirty-eight letters to the Swedish chancellor Count Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre , Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of first Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina.Oxenstierna...
, from 1635-1641 are of great importance to the history of New Sweden. These letters were published in Repertorium Veterrimarum Societatum Litterariarum 1870-1879 of the 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...
Historical Society and in Bijdragen en Mededeelingen (1908).
Primary Source
- Jameson, J.F.J. Franklin JamesonJohn Franklin Jameson was an American historian, author, and journal editor who played a major role in the professional activities of American historians in the early 20th century.-Early life:...
editor. Narrative of New Netherland 1609-1664 (Project Gutenberg - from the series: Original narratives of early American history. Original Printing 1909) http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext02/nwnth10.txt