Willem Verstegen
Encyclopedia
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 chief trader of factory
VOC Opperhoofden in Japan
VOC Opperhoofden in Japan were the chief traders of the Dutch East India Company in Japan during the period of the Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the Edo period.Opperhoofd is a Dutch word which literally means 'supreme head[man]'...
in Dejima
Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...
.
Life
Willem Verstegen was born around 1612 in Flushing, NetherlandsFlushing, Netherlands
Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century...
. In 1629, he completed his apprenticeship, and following a short stay in Batavia, he was sent to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1632. There he was first employed at the factory (trading post)
Factory (trading post)
Factory was the English term for the trading posts system originally established by Europeans in foreign territories, first within different states of medieval Europe, and later in their colonial possessions...
in Firando (present-day Hirado, Nagasaki
Hirado, Nagasaki
is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on the island of the same name. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyūshū...
). In 1633, he became factor
Factor (agent)
A factor, from the Latin "he who does" , is a person who professionally acts as the representative of another individual or other legal entity, historically with his seat at a factory , notably in the following contexts:-Mercantile factor:In a relatively large company, there could be a hierarchy,...
and was assigned to Dejima, where he met several other Hollanders who were survivors of the shipwrecked galleon De Liefde. They had remained there since 1609 and were trading independently. The most prominent among them was Melchior van Santvoort
Melchior van Santvoort
Melchior van Santvoort was a Dutch seaman and surviving crew of the Liefde, the ship which transported William Adams to Japan in 1600....
, who had married a Japanese women and with whom he begot a daughter. Not long after arriving in Dejima, Verstegen asked Santvoort's daughter to marry him.
In 1635, he was appointed to the position of trader. On December 7 of that year, Verstegen wrote to Governor Antonie van Diemen that he had learned of some Japan's islands (at around the 37th parallel north
37th parallel north
The 37th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 37 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....
) where almost everything was made of gold and silver. This report of the gold and silver islands so captured their imagination that two expeditions were later outfitted in order to find the islands.
In 1639, all Japanese wives with European husbands were ordered by the Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
to leave the country along with their children. So, Willem Verstegen married Santvoort's daughter on Formosa
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
on their way to Batavia. After their arrival, an expedition under command of Matthijs Quast
Matthijs Quast
Matthijs Quast was a Dutch explorer in the seventeenth century. He had made several voyages for the VOC to Japan, China and Siam.-Pacific Expedition:Matthijs Quast has become known for an unsuccessful expedition to the Pacific....
was outfitted to search the gold and silver islands, but was unsuccessful and abandoned the search. A second expedition led by Maarten Gerritsz Vries
Maarten Gerritsz Vries
Maarten Gerritsz Vries, or Fries, also referred to as de Vries, was a 17th-century Dutch cartographer and explorer, the first Western European to leave an account of his visit to the Sea of Okhotsk and the island of Sakhalin.Not much is known about the life of de Vries...
and Hendrick Cornelisz Schaep departed in 1643. Schaep and nine of his crew were taken prisoner in Yamada
Yamada, Iwate
is a town located in Shimohei District, Iwate, Japan.As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 20,413 and a population density of 77.49 persons per km². The total area is 263.44 km²....
when they tried to supply their ship with fresh water.
Willem Verstegen replaced Reijnjer van Tzum
Reijnjer van Tzum
Reinier van Tzum or Tzom, sometimes Reijnjer van't Zum, worked for the Dutch East India Company and served in Siam, and as Opperhoofd at Dejima.-Early career:...
as chief trader in the factory of Dejima
Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...
and remained in this function from October 28, 1646, to October 10, 1647. He paid an obligatory visit
Dutch missions to Edo
The Dutch East India Company missions to Edo were regular tribute missions to the court of the Tokugawa Shogun in Edo to reassure the ties between the Bakufu and the Opperhoofd...
to Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu
Tokugawa Iemitsu
Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Iemitsu ruled from 1623 to 1651.-Early life :...
in Edo, bringing with him two camels, a civet
Civet
The family Viverridae is made up of around 30 species of medium-sized mammal, including all of the genets, the binturong, most of the civets, and the two African linsangs....
, a cassowary
Cassowary
The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia. There are three extant species recognized today...
, two cockatoo
Cockatoo
A cockatoo is any of the 21 species belonging to the bird family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae and the Strigopidae , they make up the parrot order Psittaciformes . Placement of the cockatoos as a separate family is fairly undisputed, although many aspects of the other living lineages of...
s, medicin, and a perspectiefkast (a miniature diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
in a chest or peepshow box, possibly by Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten
Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten
Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten was a Dutch painter of the Golden Age.-Biography:Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten was born and died in Dordrecht. He was...
who was known for this craft). Verstegen’s report of his trip to Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
is extremely detailed: he mentioned the names of places, described the landscape, recounted what he saw and heard. The Swede Frederick Coyett
Frederick Coyett
Frederick Coyett , born in Stockholm or Moscow in 1615?, buried in Amsterdam, October 17, 1687, was a Swedish nobleman and the last colonial governor for the Dutch colony of Formosa...
became his successor as chief trader in Dejima.
In 1651, Verstegen was appointed to Commissioner in Tonkin
Tonkin
Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, where he discovered a large network of private trading. Afterwards, he was sent to Formosa and resided in Fort Zeelandia
Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)
Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624–1634 by the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, in the town of Anping on the island of Formosa, present day Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of it...
to examine the bookkeeping. Zacharias Wagenaer
Zacharias Wagenaer
Zacharias Wagner was a clerk, an illustrator, a merchant, member of the Court of Justice, opperhoofd of Deshima and the only German governor of the Cape colony...
was his clerk, who later also was appointed as chief trader in Deshima.
Verstegen gained an extraordinary position on the Counsel of India (central governing body of the Dutch Asian colonies), but was recalled in 1652 back to the Netherlands. Not much is known of this period until February 1658, when Verstegen was in Dutch Suratte, accompanied by both his sons Geraerdt and Melchior, his daughter, and a niece. On January 11, 1659, he packed a few wagons, hired some people, and travelled to Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
to enlist himself in the army of Dara Shikoh
Dara Shikoh
His Highness, The Imperial Prince Dara Shikoh was the eldest son and the heir apparent of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. His name دارا شكوه in Persian means "Darius the Magnificent"...
. Shikoh was embroiled in a succession war and had promised great riches to European cannoneers. As report on October 6, 1659, Verstegen was killed during a battle near Ajmer
Ajmer
Ajmer , formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 , and is located west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur, 274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from...
.