Cornelis de Houtman

Cornelis de Houtman was a Dutch explorer and merchant who discovered a new sea route from Europe to Indonesia and managed to begin the Dutch spice trade which marked the end of the Portuguese monopoly in the spice trade.

By several Amsterdam merchants Cornelis was sent to Lisbon in 1592. His mission was to spy on Portuguese and to obtain as much information as he could on the spice trade: the location of the Spice Islands, winds, currents, reefs, ports, etc.

From the information collected by Cornelis de Houtman a group of Amsterdam merchants, gathered in the Compagnie van Verre, decided to send four ships on a trade and exploration mission to Indonesia. Cornelis was in charge of the mission. On April 2, 1595 four ships left Amsterdam: the Amsterdam, Hollandia, Mauritius and Duyfken.

The mission was not a commercial success, but it proved that Dutch can reach Spice Islands without much confrontation with Portuguese who held the monopoly on the spice trade. In part this first Dutch mission to the Spice Islands was unsuccessful because of the De Houtman’s ill temper, he even got into conflict with native population of Indonesia. Other problems were pirates and scurvy. Nevertheless, De Houtman’s mission marked the beginning of Dutch supremacy in the spice trade.