Two Zeeland Fortresses. Van der Dussen and Ghijsseling, the fortresses of two Zeeland merchants on the Brazilian coast

Authors

  • Hannedea C. van Nederveen Meerkerk

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7480/knob.101.2002.5.312

Abstract

In the seventeenth century European expansion extended to foreign coasts all over the world. From icy seas to palm-shaded beaches discoveries were made, settlements arose and military actions were undertaken, when necessary - and obviously this always seemed to be the case.

The Dutch followed the trend of the times, exploring the Asian, African and American continents, even as far as Antarctic and Australian regions. After the rise and fall of a handful of private companies, the East India Company for trade and commerce in the Far East (VOC, 1602) and the West India Company for the same purpose in the Americas (WIC, 1621) were founded.

By that time important aims were the defense of the Republic's international position during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and their own Eighty Years' War with Spain (1568-1648). In their battle against Portugal as part of the Spanish crown and a strong Roman Catholic ally opposing the revolting Calvinist Low Countries, the Dutch invaded the Northeast of Brazil in 1630, after a badly prepared adventure, which did not even last a year, in Sao Salvador da Bahia in 1624.

If this rich sugar country could be conquered, this would greatly damage the Iberian nations. And in fact, the successfully accomplished invasion by the Dutch admiral Lonck and commander Van Waerdenburgh in Pernambuco near the capital Olinda turned out to be the start of a large strategic and economic power. Establishing their position, the Dutch built a fair amount of fortresses and military constructions all along the coast of 'Dutch Brazil'.

In 1999 the Archaeological Identification Mission, consisting of drs O.F. Hefting and the author, reported to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences, on the then discovered remains of twelve locations, among which those of Fort van der Dussen and Fort Ghijsseling.

This article deals with the history of these two fortresses, erected by two merchants from the Province of Zeeland, in the fertile region of sugar plantations and orchards south of Recife. The Chamber of Zeeland with Middelburg was considered to be the most powerful in the board of the WIC, after the Chamber of the City of Amsterdam.

Although nowadays there is not much left of these fortresses, a visit to the original places appeals to the historian's imagination. By archaeological research a lot of the remains can still be found and conserved for later generations.

Author Biography

Hannedea C. van Nederveen Meerkerk

Dr. Hannedea C. van Nederveen Meerkerk promoveerde in 1988 aan de Technische Universiteit Delft op het, onder de bezielende leiding van Prof. Dr Ir C. L. Temminck Groll onstane, proefschrift: Recife. The rise of a 17-century trade city from a cultural-history perspective. Sindsdien heeft zij zich regelmatig met verschillende onderwerpen uit het koloniale verleden van de Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Provinciën bezig gehouden, zowel in Nederland, als in Brazilië.

Sinds 2000 geeft zij als gasthoogleraar aan de Federale Universiteit van de staat Alagoas (UFAL) colleges over de cultuur en sociaal-politiek-economische aspecten van de Gouden Eeuw in Nederland. De in 1999 ondernomen Archaeological Identification Mission, uitgevoerd door Drs. O.F. Hefting en de auteur, was aanleiding voor de beide leden tot de stichting van de Foundation for Exploration and Conservation of Monuments of the Dutch West India Company (MOWIC), waarvan zij resp. voorzitter en secretaris zijn.

De bemoeienissen van de MOWIC hebben in 2002 geresulteerd in historisch-archeologisch onderzoek van Fort Oranje op het eiland Itamaraca in de Staat Pernambuco. In ditzelfde jaar is het onderzoeks- en restauratieproject Projeto Trilha dos Holandeses van start gegaan. Dit behelst archeologisch en ecologisch onderzoek van een soldatenpad uit diezelfde periode. Het pad loopt van Fort Oranje naar Vila Velha, lett. Oude Stad, het toenmalige Schopstad. Bij dit project, dat onder auspiciën staat van de niet- gouvernementele organisatie Nassau400, ter herdenking van de vierhonderdste geboortedag van Johan Maurits van Nassau in Recife opgericht, hoort de restauratie van een bestaande brug op dezelfde plaats, waar ooit in 1633 een brug was gebouwd door de WIC.

Published

2002-10-01

How to Cite

van Nederveen Meerkerk, H. C. (2002). Two Zeeland Fortresses. Van der Dussen and Ghijsseling, the fortresses of two Zeeland merchants on the Brazilian coast. Bulletin KNOB, 101(5), 142–149. https://doi.org/10.7480/knob.101.2002.5.312

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