The Flemish Influence on Henry Hudson

Recently I spotted an article by a Mr. James Kaplan entitled "Henry Hudson: The Failed Entrepeneur Who Founded New York". Mr. Kaplan's article follows the common, albeit mistaken, presumption that Henry Hudson is the underappreciated genius behind the settlement of New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Further, the article follows contemporary Anglo-American scholarship in ignoring the direct and overwhelming contribution of the Flemish emigres to the conception, financing, and exploitation of Henry Hudson's "discovery" of New York.

Of course, one cannot fault Mr. Kaplan: there is no comprehensive, scholarly treatment in English (or Dutch, for that matter) of the direct involvement of Flemings in Henry Hudson's third voyage. Moreover, no constituency up until this time has had reason to assert the claims of the Flemish Protestant emigres: the Anglo-Saxon world had no reason to diminish the supposed stature of Henry Hudson; the Dutch scholarly community had no reason to underscore the key role of Zuid Nederlanders in their Golden Century; and the Flemish Catholics had no reason to extol the success of emigre Flemish Protestants. I mean to transcend these barriers with this piece. It is my hope that a proper scholar pick up the baton from these pages. Until that time, I submit these findings to you, Gentle Reader, for review and consideration of the Flemish involvement in Henry Hudson's "discovery" of the Hudson River Valley and its subsequent settlement.

It Started in Antwerp

Shortly after Henry Hudson returned to England in late 1609, he met with and explained his findings to the man who had initially recruited him for the job, Emanuel Van Meteren. Van Meteren, although born in Antwerp in 1535, had moved to London with his father in 1550. By 1583 his standing with both the English and the Dutch-speaking Protestant elite in the Netherlands was such that he had been named Dutch Consul (in 1583), a position he was to hold until his death in 1611. Van Meteren, a Flemish Father of America although largely ignored today, deserves more than a passing mention in the history of Nieuw Nederland. [1]

Van Meteren was a confidant of the Prince of Orange and a first cousin of Willem Ortels, the Antwerp-born, “Dutch” cartographer better known as Ortelius, who created the world’s first atlas (sample page pictured above). [2] Another first cousin was Daniel Rogers, Queen Elizabeth’s personal envoy in the Netherlands as well as the translator (into English from Dutch) of the English navigator’s bible, “The Mariners Mirror” (Dutch version pictured below). Both Ortelius’ Atlas and Rogers’ “Mirror” were critical tools for transatlantic voyages to the New World by Netherlandic and English seafarers until well into the 1700s. [3]

Van Meteren, then, in his day was a very connected person. Moreover, it had been he who had hired and sent Henry Hudson to Amsterdam. At Amsterdam, for six months from the late months of 1608 until his departure in April, 1609, Hudson consulted with Petrus Plancius (Flemish cartographer born at Dranouter, near Ieper, who created all the maps for the “Dutch” East India Company). Plancius was aided by the interpreting skills of another Flemish cartographer, Judocus Hondius (born at Wakkene near Gent and a confidant of Sir Francis Drake).[4] Their discussions were formalized by a contract with the Dutch East India Company. Hudson’s engagement contract was actually signed by Dirck Van Os, the head of the VOC (Dutch East India Company), also a Fleming (born in Antwerp) and witnessed by Judocus Hondius who signed as well. In short Henry Hudson’s enterprise was literally conceived of, guided by, and financed by, and authorized by Flemings.

Henry Hudson, then, when he returned from his voyage, owed Emanuel Van Meteren an explanation for his activities and voyage. Van Meteren, who wrote the authoritative history of the momentous (for Europe at that time) struggle of the Dutch-speaking Protestants against the Spanish Catholics [5] (title page below), believed that trade and war went hand in hand. Thus, he believed that Hudson’s discoveries – to the extent that they offered new channels for trade – aided the battle against the Spanish (a theme we will return to later in a subsequent post).

With Henry Hudson nearby and Hudson’s journals literally in front of him, Van Meteren wrote the first account of Henry Hudson discovery of Manhattan and the Hudson River Valley, in 1610 (published in 1611).[6] Van Meteren wrote a detailed description which recounted the actual journey – including the specific navigational markers. The actual book and excerpts are pictured below, here.



More to the point, Van Meteren described the economic importance of this discovery. Henry Hudson and his crew “found this a good place for cod-fishing, as also for traffic in good skins and furs, which were to be got there at a very low price.”[7] This statement resonated with the Flemish émigré merchants in Amsterdam (as Van Meteren knew it would). After all, they made their money on trade and especially the high value-added cod-fishing and fur trade.[8]

Up until this time, Amsterdam-based merchants (many of them Flemish émigrés), had sourced their furs in Muscovy.[9] Furs were in demand not only for winter coats but also for hats, lining, and a myriad of other uses. As early as 1566 two Flemish merchants from Antwerp had journeyed to Muscovy.[10] Olivier Brunel of Leuven had been the first to open that trade between northern Europe and what we today call Russia.[11] The fact that he had also reached Chinese merchants overland through Muscovy had excited Petrus Plancius (and other Protestant Flemish merchants in Amsterdam) as early as the 1580s. It was that tidbit – eyewitness reports by Brunel, which Hudson also acknowledged [12] – that made the effort less of a gamble and more of a calculated business risk. Consequently, they sent Henry Hudson off in April, 1609 searching for a Northeast (a sea route to China through the Arctic waters north of the Russian landmass) or Northwest (north over the top of Canada) Passage.

When upon Hudson’s return the Flemish merchants at Amsterdam realized that Hudson had uncovered a new source for furs, so much the better. Merchants purchasing furs in Muscovy incurred a 5% duty on both the goods they imported to trade and on the furs they exported.[13] In an era of little insurance and great risk, every % paid to someone else raised not only the cost of conducting business but the risks as well. So the chance to simultaneously exploit rich fishing grounds and trade for inexpensive yet high quality furs was a 17th century entrepeneur’s dream. Luckily, Hudson’s landfall was in the “no-man’s land” between the fast-growing English colonies of Virginia (Jamestown) and New England (Plymouth) along the coasts and the expanding French trading posts of New France to the northwest and west.

The émigré Antwerpenaars wasted no time following up on this opportunity. Within weeks of the news hitting the quays of Amsterdam, in 1610, the Antwerpenaar Arnout Vogels, dispatched a ship to duplicate Henry Hudson’s route.[14] Other Flemings followed, sometimes literally in their wake. Oftentimes there were so many Flemish ships trading with the Indians in the same waters of the Hudson River at the same time that gunbattles between the ships broke out. At least once that we know of (from the notarial record) Petrus Plancius had to be called in to arbitrate an agreement between these Antwerp natives.[15]

By 1613, Adriaen Block, possibly a native of Dendermonde, and in the service of Antwerpenaars, had sufficiently mapped the area after three voyages to the area.[16] In 1614 the Block map of Nieuw Nederland (the first written record of the name “Nieuw Nederland”) had been submitted to the States General of the United Netherlands as part of a petition for the establishment of the New Netherland Company (Nieuw Nederland Compagnie).[17] The States General granted a monopoly of trading rights to the company for three years. This company was the origin of the so-called “Dutch” colony of North America.

Other Flemings, such as Hendrik Hunthum [18] (also of Antwerp) – a man with fur trading experience in Muscovy and Paris – who later assumed command of Fort Nassau (the small fortified trading post set up near present day Albany) played prominent roles. At the end of the New Netherland Company’s three years’ license (e.g., in 1618), their official rights to a monopoly had ended[19] but the voyages (by the company and others) had not stopped. It was at this point in time (1618) that the “Dutch” – as the Pilgrims referred to the Flemish emigres in Leiden and Amsterdam – approached the group of Separatist Englishmen located in the Pieterskerk about colonizing the trading area. [20]

The approach to the Pilgrims was likely carried by Matthew Slade, an Englishman who also happened to be the son-in-law of Petrus Plancius, the VOC cartographer and the fellow who had coached Henry Hudson and supplied him with the latest cartographic information. Unknown to either Petrus Plancius or to the Pilgrims, Slade was also a spy for the English Ambassador.[21] Thus not only were all movements and activities of the Separatists at Leiden diligently reported to King James’ court, but the London merchants close to King James, such as Sir Edwin Sandys and Sir Thomas Smith, investors in the Virginia Company running Jamestown, were also well-informed.

As students of Pilgrim history may well recall, the Pilgrims were soon (but secretly) approached with a counter offer from English merchants of the London Company. By 1619 more than 100 English Separatists at Leiden had begun the process of disposing of their worldly possessions, preparing for a life in the New World, and hiring two ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower. Within a year of those preparations, in 1620, the Pilgrims had set off for what we now call the Hudson River. Their intent – and the intent of their backers at the London Company – was to claim the territory that Henry Hudson’s third voyage – conceived of by Flemings, financed by Flemings, managed by Flemings, charted by Flemings, and ultimately publicized by Flemings – had “discovered” for the Flemish-dominated United Netherlands.

The London merchants saw natural riches to be exploited. The Separatist colonists saw a chance to separate themselves from what they viewed as indifferent or hostile administrations. Both groups saw a chance to profit from the peltries of North American mammals. Of course, both groups – and Henry Hudson as well – profited from the contributions – economic, political, cartographic, navigational, etc. – of the Flemish Protestant émigrés at Amsterdam. It remains to be seen whether the Flemish profited at all.

Subsequent posts will discuss prominent Flemings and Flemish Americans in 17th century North America.

Endnotes
[1] Despite his immense contribution to the discovery and settlement of North America – let alone his contributions to Anglo-Dutch relations, his important role in the Dutch Reformed Church in England, and his uncountable contributions to the struggle for the independence of the Netherlands against Spain, there is no scholarly treatment of Emanuel Van Meteren in English. I have drafted a very brief bio sketch of Van Meteren here: http://flemishamerican.blogspot.com/2009/07/flemish-fathers-of-america-emanuel-van.html . There is also a brief biographical sketch of Van Meteren in English in the introduction of John Parker, Van Meteren’s Virginia, 1607-1612, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1961), pp.8-9. However, for those who can read Dutch, the two books worth perusing are W.D. Verduyn, Emanuel Van Meteren, (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1926) and Dr. L. Brummel, Twee Balingen’s Lands Tijdens Onze Opstand Tegen Spanje, (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1972), especially p.81ff.

[2] The authoritative book on Ortelius, his life and his maps is Marcel Van den Broecke, Ortelius Atlas Maps: An Illustrated Guide, (Marcel Van den Broecke, 1996). http://www.orteliusmaps.com/publications.html See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Ortelius .

[3] "The Mariner’s Mirror” was a translation of “Spieghel der Zeevaart” by Lucas Waghenaer. The first copies in English were printed by Judocus Hondius in England in 1588. These became so popular that for a long time “Waggonners” was a synonym for “atlas” in England. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Janszoon_Waghenaer . It is almost certain that every English ship that set sail in the1600s and 1700s carried a “Waggonner”. See also Stanford University’s page here: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/pubs/icfa/logo.html

[4] See my earlier post, “Flemish Fathers of America – Judocus Hondius” here: http://flemishamerican.blogspot.com/2009/10/flemish-fathers-of-america-judocus.html

[5] Emanuel Van Meteren's book, called, Historie der Neder- landscher ende haerder Naburen Oorlogen ende Geschiedenissen, Tot den. Jare mvicxii (‘s Graven Haghe,1614 – see a copy here http://www.antiquariat.de/angebote/GID675382.html ) was widely read. It was one of the few books besides the Bible that William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony, owned. Some of the Pilgrims actually used it as a reference for religious debates (e.g., Matthew Slade). The book went through many editions in various languages and was completely sold out year after year (see here for a list of the various editions: http://dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/dutch/geschiedschrijvers/Pages/Meteren.aspx ). It appeared in translation in French, German, Latin and English. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the American John Lathrop Motley offered a new English translation (in 1855) which became the basis of his best-selling history called “The Rise of the Dutch Republic”.

[6] The most recent, full length English translation of Van Meteren’s account of Henry Hudson’s voyage can be found in Kenneth T. Jackson & David S. Dunbar, Empire City: New York Through the Centuries, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), pp. 23-25.

[7] J. Franklin Jameson, Ed., Narratives of New Netherland, (New York, 1909), Elibron Reprint, 2005, p.89.

[8] For Flemish pre-eminence in cod fishing note that as early as the late 1300s Flemings had been involved with improving technology in cod fishing. This included everything from vessels (the ‘Flemish Buss’), to hooks (the ‘Flemish hook’), lines (the ‘Flemish knot’), and pickling (e.g. by Willem Beuckelszoon). See my “800 Year Chronology of the Flemish Contribution to the Discovery and Settlement of America: 864 AD – 1664 AD” here: http://flemishamerican.blogspot.com/2010/09/chronology-of-flemish-contribution-to.html

[9] See Donald S. Johnson, Charting the Sea of Darkness: The Four Voyages of Henry Hudson, (New York: Kodansha International, 1993).

[10] Gerrit De Veer, The Three Voyages of William Barents to the Arctic Regions (1594, 1595, and 1596), Ed., Charles T. Beke 1853, (London: The Hackluyt Society, 1876), 2nd Edition, pp.vi-vii. The earlier (pre-Brunel) Antwerpenaars were Simon van Salingen and Cornelis de Meyer.

[11] Olivier Bruneel (or Brunel) was a native of either Leuven or Brussel – both are given as his hometown http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/brunel.html. Specifically, however, he is the direct link between the initial interest among the Dutch speakers and the Russian fur trade. He is the direct link between fur, the Flemish émigré merchants in Amsterdam, and Petrus Plancius’ ideas for reaching China and the east via a northern route. Ideas that Henry Hudson put into action at the direction of Van Meteren, Plancius, Hondius and Van Os.

[12] See Donald S. Johnson, Charting the Sea of Darkness: The Four Voyages of Henry Hudson, (New York: Kodansha International, 1993), p.69. Incidentally, this is a superb book for understanding the scope, origin and impact of Henry Hudson’s voyages.

[13] Thomas E. Burke, Jr., Mohawk Frontier: The Dutch Community of Schenectady, New York, 1661-1710, (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2009), 2nd Edition, p.3.

[14] Vogel’s voyage to the Hudson River Valley departed Amsterdam July 26, 1610. Van Cleaf Bachman, Peltries or Plantations: The Economic Policies of the Dutch West India Company in New Netherland 1623-1639, (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1969), p.4. Note that there is strong documentary evidence of earlier voyages to the Hudson Valley region by ships owned and chartered by Southern Netherlanders (Flemings and Walloons) but departing from Amsterdam back to 1591. See Simon Hart, The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, (Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam Press, 1959), pp.7-10. Parenthetically, Professor Gustaaf Asaert, in his excellent (and absolutely indispensable) 1585: De Val van Antwerpen en de Uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lannoo, 2004), pages 219, 223, 225, mentions de Familie De Vogelaers (and especially Marcus De Vogelaers). It is unclear to me (although circumstances suggest it) whether they are connected.

[15] See Simon Hart, The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, (Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam Press, 1959), pp.74-97. The specific reference to Petrus Plancius’ efforts at arbitration can be found in ibid, p.77. Just as with the VOC, the WIC was formed from the combination of competing merchant companies. The Flemish dominance of both the VOC (The Dutch East India Company) and the WIC (The Dutch West India Company) will be addressed in a future posting.

[16] Block’s ship was owned by Arnout (or Aert) Vogels up until April 29, 1613, according to the Amsterdam notarial record. See Simon Hart, The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, (Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam Press, 1959), p.73.

[17] Interestingly, these Flemish merchants, when referring to the area around the Hudson River in their notarial statements before 1614, frequently called the area “New Virginia”. See Simon Hart, The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, (Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam Press, 1959), p.75

[18] Hunthum was a Fleming but with a reputation for cruelty to the natives (mutilating an Indian chief’s genitalia when he did not receive beaver peltries quickly enough) was hardly a credit to the reputation of Flanders. For references to Huntum’s “black reputation”, see Van Cleaf Bachman, Peltries or Plantations: The Economic Policies of the Dutch West India Company in New Netherland, 1623-1639, (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1969), p. 131 and p. 131, n.35. That reputation hurt the Netherlanders’ trading opportunities with the Mohawks. For at least 20 years (1613-1633) Hunthum traded and lived in Nieuw Nederland. He was a ship captain and fur trader, later in the service of the WIC. Hunthum was killed by Cornelius vander Vorst in a quarrel in April, 1634 at Rennsselaerwyck. Hunthum’s father's name was Joris. Hunthum married Ibel Hendricks,the widow of Adriaen Mathyszen vander Put, on May 8th, 1618 at Amsterdam and his son Hans born 5/2/1619 in Amsterdam. Hans Jr. was first a clerk and later a cashier for the WIC in the 1630s. See Simon Hart, The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, (Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam Press, 1959), pp.60-61.

[19] The patent was granted by the States General of the United Netherlands on March 27, 1614 and expired January 1, 1618. See Simon Hart, The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, (Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam Press, 1959), pp.35-36. The owners of the New Netherland Company were all merchants who had trafficked to the region between 1610 and 1614. A large number of them were Flemish Lutheran émigrés from Antwerp such as the Pelgrom brothers, the Hunthum brothers, Jan Kindt (nephew of the Pelgroms and supercargo on Adriaen Block’s ship, which his uncles owned), etc. See Simon Hart, The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, (Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam Press, 1959), p.41 ff.

[20] In the Pieterskerk area the Pilgrims-to-be had continued and overwhelming contact with Flemish émigrés. First, Leiden was overwhelmingly Flemish – more than 67% of all inhabitants of Leiden in 1622 came from the Southern Netherlands. See Dr. J. Briels, Zuid-Nederlanders in de Republiek, 1572-1630: Een Demografische en Cultuurhistorische Studie, (Sint-Niklaas, Uitgeverij Danthe), Tabel XXI: Immigratie in de Noordelijke Nederlanden – Samenvatting, p. 214. For a breakdown of the origin of the elite in Leiden from Flanders, see ibid, Tabel VI: Immigratie in Leiden – 1575-1619. Bron: Poorterboeken.p.133.

[21] Slade’s perfidy is well documented in his own letters which have been published as Mathew Slade, 1569-1628: Letters to the English Ambassador, Ed., Willem Nijenhuis, (Leiden: Leiden University Press, 1986).

Copyright 2010 by David Baeckelandt. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction in any format permitted without my express, written consent.

Flemish Fathers of America - Judocus Hondius

Vermeer's "De Geograaf" may have shown the actual condition of cartographers in Judocus Hondius' time

Although known as an engraver and copper worker, Hondius’ lingering fame is as an innovative cartographer. But his appearance in our pantheon of Flemish Fathers of America is in part because of his role in promoting understanding of America through that medium. But more specifically it is his direct contribution to Henry Hudson’s voyage of discovery 400 years ago that we honor him today.

Judocus Hondius, as depicted in this posthumous engraving published by his sons in 1619

Joost de Hondt was born October 14, 1563 in a small East Flemish village outside of Gent called Wakken. This was shortly after the death of another native of Wakken[i], the Lord of Wakken, Adolf of Burgundy. It may not be an accident that both men were involved in sending Flemings to the New World.[ii] However, history knows this man simply as Hondius (his Latinized name, as was common among international men of letters at that time).

Like others before him, Hondius was a Flemish Protestant who, as the Spanish armies closed in on Gent, viewed London as the natural refuge. It is believed that he fled to London with his wife Coleta van den Keere, her parents, and his brother-in-law Pieter van den Keere (better known today as the cartographer Petrus Kaerius). It is likely at this time that Hondius came to the attention of Anglo-Flemish leaders such as Emanuel Van Meteren, since they attended the Flemish- established and Flemish-run “Dutch” Church at Austin Friars in London.

In London Hondius’ skills with copper, compass, and ink quickly became apparent. In 1587 he created the earliest copper engraved map of the world made in England.[iii] This was a significant development for cartography and especially because it focused on the polar regions. This mattered because for Dutch, English and French explorers seeking alternate paths to the riches of the Indies, the only unclaimed possibilities were either a “Northeast Passage” (over the Arctic coast of modern-day Russia) or a “Northwest Passage” (somewhere through the Canadian Arctic seaway). It is likely no accident that many of Hondius’ English friends – such as Sir Francis Drake and Richard Hackluyt – were aggressively pursuing just such a route to the Indies.

A modern representation of the Northwest passage today, 400 years after Hudson searched for it

Like many other expatriate Flemings before and afterwards in England, Hondius mastered the language sufficiently well to develop solid, professional relationships. In 1589, Hondius engraved and printed a map of “New Albion”, where Sir Francis Drake established the first English settlement in California in 1579.[iv] Hondius used Drake’s own journals as well as relying on other eyewitness interviews. Later, Hondius painted portraits of Drake and other English explorers.[v]

The Wright-Molyneaux map, whose gores and globe - the first in England - were created by Hondius







These ties may have opened up other doors for Hondius. He was asked to create the gores of the first English globe in 1592: the Wright-Molyneaux.[vi] The map of this globe, reprinted in Richard Hackluyt’s[vii] “Principall Navigations”[viii] established a new cartographic style (leaving unexplored portions blank). As basic as this may sound, this method enabled seafarers to better chart the areas for which cartographers had imperfect or ambiguous information. It was Hondius' globe that guided first Queen Elizabeth and later King James in their global sea plans against Spain. Reference to this globe also aided and assisted countless other English expeditions to the New World.





A posthumous publication detailing the actual globe that Hondius created in England




Hondius’ engraving and cartographic talents – especially his ability to incorporate a variety of sources from multiple languages – led to deeper friendships with the foremost English explorers. He became a friend of William Davis[ix] – whose discovery of the channel between Canada and Greenland is now called the Davis Strait. Davis' effort was but one of many attempts by Englishmen utilizing Flemish maps to seek out a “Northwest Passage” to Asia. Davis, for example, was inspired by John Dee (educated at Leuven and best friends with Mercator) who in turn depended greatly on the Flemish cartographic friends and rivals Gerard Mercator and Abraham Ortellius. Much of this cartographic information about the New World for the English came through the extensive network of Protestant Anglo-Flemings, such as Ortelius’ first cousin, Emanuel Van Meteren.

Hondius’ successful contributions to English cartography brought him full circle back to the Low Countries, the locus of European excellence in cartography. In the post 1585 world of the Fall of Antwerp to the Spanish, this meant Amsterdam. Amsterdam at this time (in the early 1600s), was so beset with Flemings that it literally changed the pronunciation of the local dialect.[x] Moreover, it was the center of a great deal of fervent activity by Flemish Protestants seeking to not only promote global trade but also continue the fight of the Eighty Years’ War against Spain.

By 1604 Hondius was in Leiden, where he purchased the engraved plates for Gerard Mercator’s many maps at a bookseller-hosted auction from Mercator’s grandson and namesake.[xi] Hondius, a man with a keen sense of marketplace interests, added text and maps to cover regions that Mercator had neglected to come out with what many of the time believed to be a dramatic improvement when it rolled off the press in 1606. Hondius also titled a pocket edition of his Mercator-Hondius version as the Atlas Minor.[xii] Nearly every year afterwards and until 1630, first Hondius then his sons came out with additional editions that added color, detail and languages to his Atlas. In all, the family printed 29 versions over the following quarter-century. Including pirated editions that were reproduced as far away as the Ottoman Empire, approximately 50 editions of Hondius’ Mercator-based Atlas were printed in the 17th century.

An example of the world map Hondius created in 1607 - and likely referenced when planning with Henry Hudson

Although an international man and one who by now was well known and regarded Hondius did not forget his roots. He was a self-styled 'graveur' whose logo said 'de wackere Hond' and 'Canis Vigilans' (puns on his surname and birthplace). Hondius often reminisced about his birthplace near Gent.

Since his shop was in the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam neither the waterfront bustle nor the tumultuous English Separatist congregations were far away. In fact, Hondius’ shop was also not very far from his fellow Fleming (and co-navigator for the Hudson expedition), the theologian-cartographer Petrus Plancius, whose son-in-law was the Englishman Matthew Slade.[xiii] All of these individuals soon met and welcomed a band of 100 English sectarians that landed in Amsterdam in 1608 and stayed for a year: the congregation we know today as that of the Pilgrim Fathers.

It was there, at Hondius’ shop on Kalverstraat, in Amsterdam, that much of the planning and discussion for Henry Hudson’s April 1609 departure to find the Northwest Passage to Asia likely occurred. Of course, the reason why Hondius was hosting Hudson in the first place was because of his church ties to Emanuel Van Meteren (from his stay in London) and the reputation Hondius had gained there as a cartographer (which had endeared him to Van Meteren’s cousin Abraham Ortelius as well as Petrus Plancius, the supplier of maps to the VOC). Hondius’ recently rediscovered 1603 massive wall map of the world, was likely one of the key planning tools that Henry Hudson and his Flemish backers used when planning the famous 1609 trip whose quadricentennial is currently being celebrated.[xiv]

Hondius in fact acted as the simultaneous interpreter for Henry Hudson in all discussions. Their agreement – to seek out the long-sought after Northwest Passage - was signed by only four individuals: Henry Hudson, Judocus Hondius (as witness), J. Poppe (whose details are unknown, but nevertheless a member of the VOC) and Dirck Van Os. Van Os, of whom we shall hear more in a later posting, was not only a founder and the managing member of the VOC (he ran it out of his home with his brother Hendrik), but also a Flemish refugee from Antwerp.[xv] The majority of the contractual parties of Henry Hudson’s voyage to America then were Flemings. Later, Hondius translated the text of the agreement between Henry Hudson and the “Dutch” East India Company for his signature.[xvi] As one can see, to call Hudson's endeavor anything but a Flemish-led, Flemish-conceived, and Flemish-financed exploration is a misrepresentation of the fact.

Although in the early days merchants like Dirck Van Os made decisions for the VOC, ultimately it was governed by a group of seventeen - de Heeren XVII - depicted above.

The master ‘graveur’ of Wakken continued to have close ties with the English even after Hudson’s voyage. John Speed, credited with producing the first English language world atlas, actually outsourced the printing (and perhaps even many cartographic details) to Hondius between 1605 and 1610. Speed’s Atlas became the guide for a whole new generation of English seafarers.[xvii] Modern English chronicler's of Speed's contribution to English cartography (he is often viewed as the 'father' of it) readily admit Speed's wholesale plagiarism of what they call "Dutch" maps. The maps Speed copied were those of Hondius, Ortelius and Mercator: all Flemings.

Hondius died on February 12, 1612. Hondius’ offspring for several generations continued to prosper as printers/cartographers/ booksellers well into the 18th century.[xviii] Jodocus Hondius’ sister Jacomina Hondius had worked as a calligrapher at the court of Queen Elisabeth of England. She married the Gentenaar Pieter van den Berghe, who is better known to posterity as Petrus Montanus (1560-1628). Judocus Hondius’ brother-in-law, Peter van den Keere – better known as Petrus Kaerius (1571-1646) – published the first folio atlas of the Netherlands[xix]. Henricus Hondius (1597-1651), Judocus’ son, succeeded his father as a cartographer too. Elisabeth Hondius, a sister of Henricus, married the famous mapmaker, Jan Janssonius (1588-1664), who later purchased some of the family plates. Judocus Hondius the Younger (1601-1650) married an Antwerpenaar by the name of Anna Stafmaeker. Today their descendants include Americans who consider themselves “Dutch-Americans”.[xx]

The Hondius-Mercator world map, this one printed by Hondius' son Henricus just one year before the Pilgrims left Amsterdam for the New World.

Endnotes
[i] Now part of the municipality of Dentergem: http://www.dentergemonline.com . Unfortunately the modern municipality does not seem to recognize any connection with its famous sons (there is no reference to Hondius that I could find on the municipality’s official website).
[ii] “In 1517 Dutch [sic] admiral Adolf of Burgundy escorted Charles V from the Netherlands to Spain, where he was to be crowned king of Aragon and Castilia [sic]. For his services Adolf was awarded the island of Cozumel off Yucatan. It took him a couple of years to organize an expedition to his newly acquired property, but when his ships finally set sail from the Netherlands in 1527 they never got further than the ports of Spain.” Jaap Jacobs, New Netherland: A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth-Century America, (Leiden: Brill, 2005), p.1
[iii] See a recently offered example at auction here: http://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/19055/A_mapp_of_the_north_part_of_the_equinoctial/Hondius-Rogers.html
[iv] See the Wikipedia reference here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Albion
[v] http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp07123&role=art for the portraits by Hondius of Sir Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish.
[vi] Donald S. Johnson, Charting the Sea of Darkness: The Four Voyages of Henry Hudson, (New York: Kodansha, 1995), p. 207. An interesting reference to the globe can be found in this recent online auction catalogue: http://www.forumrarebooks.com/Hues-Tractatus-de-globis-coelesti-et.html .
[vii] Notice the interlocking relationships between all of these key Flemish Protestant elites – Hondius, Van Meteren, Mercator, Ortellius, Marnix, etc. – and the English elites – Walsingham, Davis, Drake, Sidney, Hackluyt, etc. http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/hakluyt.html
[viii] Which can be downloaded here gratis: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7182 .
[ix] The Wikipedia reference ignores the Flemish contributions but is otherwise a reasonable sketch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Davis_(English_explorer)
[x] The most noticeable manifestation of this for native Dutch speakers being whether the ‘g’ was hard (northern Netherlands) or soft (Flanders). “Zo betreden we een stadsgedechte waar zeer veel ‘Vlamingen’ verblijf hielden en de zachte g niet van de lucht was.” Gustaaf Asaert, 1585: De val van Antwerpen en de uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lannoo, 2004), p.141. For a discussion of the soft g issue, please see, (in Dutch with an abstract in English), Pieter vanReenen and Nanette Huijs, “De harde en de zachte g”, online here: http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/taalentongval/artikelen/Reenen_Huijs.pdf
[xi] Note that every bookseller in Leiden at this time was also a printer. And, with the exception of the Englishman Thomas Basson, these ‘boekdrukkers’ were all Flemish expatriates. And even Basson owed his existence in the trade to his Flemish rivals. See J. A. Van Dorsten, Thomas Basson, 1555-1613: English Printer at Leiden, (Leiden: University Press of Leiden, 1961), pp. 1-3
[xii] See a nicely page-by-page scan online here: http://digital.fides.org.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=19&dirids=1
[xiii] Slade’s role as a conduit to the English Ambassador in the Netherlands as a spy on the activities of the Pilgrims there is nicely covered in Willem Nijenhuis, ed., Matthew Slade, 1569-1628: Letters to the English Ambassador, (Leiden: E.J. Brill/Leiden University Press, 1986). Please note, that Slade, who was married to the Antwerp born step-daughter of Petrus Plancius, seemed to play many sides of an argument at the same time. He may have been the go-between for the Dutch merchants’ discussions with the Pilgrim Fathers to settle in New Netherland. I will treat this subject in more detail in a future posting.
[xiv] See the article here: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_1_155/ai_53590439/ for the significance of this map to cartographic history.
[xv] Henry C. Murphy, Henry Hudson in Holland: An Inquiry into the Origin and Objects of the Voyage Which Led to the Discovery of the Hudson River, (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1909), p.34.
[xvi] For an English translation of the contract between the VOC and Henry Hudson please see: Henry C. Murphy, Henry Hudson in Holland: An Inquiry into the Origin and Objects of the Voyage Which Led to the Discovery of the Hudson River, (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1909), pp.32-34.
[xvii] As usual, Hondius is usually listed as a “Dutch” cartographer even though he was clearly Flemish born and raised. Speed was a tailor who likely absorbed some of his cartographic curiousity from the Flemish weavers in his midst. See http://www.antiquemaps.com/uk/info/jspeed.htm . For examples of Speed’s maps, also see http://www.philaprintshop.com/speed.html#Countries .
[xviii] See Gustaf Asaert, 1585: De val van Antwerpen en de uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lanoo, 2004) pp.229-230
[xix] These maps now command from collectors prices as high as 60,000 STG. See http://www.shapero.com/images/Image/PDF/CartographyII.pdf for a recent auction catalogue.
[xx] http://varletfamily.pbworks.com/Chapter-10:-The-Staffmaecker-Family


Copyright 2009 by David Baeckelandt. All rights reserved and no use permitted without my express, written permission

Flemish Fathers of America - Emanuel Van Meteren

To understand the Founding of America one must know the story of the American Pilgrims. To understand the story of the Pilgrims one must understand the story of the English Reformation. And to understand the English Reformation one must know the story of those men and women whose fiery convictions crossed the Channel with them and seeded Britain’s Protestant Reformation.

That story thread is entwined with and inseparable from the struggle of the Dutch-speaking peoples for independence.[i] For much of at least the first half of the Eighty Years’ War (1566-1648), from the initial smash of porcelain religious statuary in Flanders in 1566 to the final triumph of arms of the grandsons of Flemish Protestants in 1648, the combined region of the Netherlands with the British Isles, might, as one historian has described it, be considered one country with two languages (Dutch and English). These ties were close enough for the Flemish dominated leaders of the Dutch Revolt to consider asking Queen Elizabeth to be their new sovereign, in 1583. These ties extended to the cultural, familial and even linguistic. As the contemporary “Dutch” historian of this period, the Antwerp-born Emanuel Van Meteren, once stated, the English language was, in his view, no more than “broken Dutch”.

In fact, few men embody this transition of the 16th century for the Anglo-Flemish Protestants more than Emanuel Van Meteren (1535-1612)[ii]. Sometimes written to or about with name variations such as Emanuel Meteren or Emanuel Demetrius[iii], Van Meteren was prominent at the nexus of scholarship, politics, religion and business between the Low Countries and England. Critically, Van Meteren left a lasting impact not only on his times and place but also in the wider world.

Late in his life Van Meteren identified and engaged an unemployed English captain for a mission that required secrecy and bravery. On behalf of a loose coalition of Flermings – nearly all passionate, Protestant refugees from Antwerp – Van Meteren convinced Henry Hudson to sail under the Dutch flag. The VOC (Vereinigde OostIndische Compagnie – Dutch East India Company)[iv] sought to fulfill patriotic impulses through the pursuit of profits. Their goal: to seek an unguarded (by their Iberian enemies, the Spanish and Portuguese) route to Asia and thereby capture for themselves the lucrative spice trade in Europe.[v]

Upon Henry Hudson’s return from America, Van Meteren took the primary role of disseminating the knowledge of this New World discovery in Europe. Since there are only three primary source accounts for Henry Hudson’s voyage to America[vi] – and only Van Meteren had access to both Henry Hudson as well as his journals – understanding who the man behind the Discoverer will help us understand the discovery itself. In other words, if we wish on the Quadricentennial to honor Henry Hudson’s discovery of the river and valley that bear his name, should we not at least pay tribute to the man who not only provided the opportunity but also publicized his accomplishments?

Emanuel Van Meteren’s critical involvement at the very beginning and at the very end of Henry Hudson’s Third Voyage earns Van Meteren the first place as a Flemish Father of America and of course the reason for the biopic. Later, I hope to add other, “Flemish Fathers of America” to this gallery.

Endnotes
[i] My reference here to the “Dutch-speaking peoples” is of course intentional. The Netherlands-speaking peoples of the current Low Countries – Belgium and the Netherlands – were united in their efforts to free themselves from Spain and in fact it was the fiery efforts of the Flemish that provided leadership, finance, men, and materiel for a good proportion of the first half of what we know as the Dutch Revolt and what the Dutch-speakers call de Tachtigjarige Oorlog. A good starting point is Hugo DeSchepper, Belgium Nostrum' 1500 - 1650. Over Integratie en Desintegratie van het Nederland, (Antwerpen: De Orde van de Prince, 1987). Note also that a disproportionately large proportion of the non-local troops were Walloons, not Flemings, serving Spain’s reconquista of the Low Countries (cf the various military units composition at the Battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nieuwpoort).
[ii] Van Meteren according to Dutch sources [W.D. Verduyn, Emanuel Van Meteren, (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1926), p.37] was born July 9, 1535 (Gregorian - which calendar change did not take place in the Low Countries until 1585). One online Dutch source depicted his birthdate as 09.06.1535 which American usage interprets as “September 6, 1535”. This sloppiness has passed into the English version of Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_van_Meteren ) and its clones: the utterly false and fanciful (http://pheeds.com/info/guide/e/em/emanuel_van_meteren.html) and the sloppy plagiarism http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Emanuel:van:Meteren.html - hence the confusion around birthdates.
[iii] Men of letters in late 15th century Europe – or even merchants with a scholarly bent like Van Meteren – often Latinized their names at this time since Latin was of course the lingua franca of the Christian world at this time. Many of these Latinized names – e.g., Mercator for De Kremer, Ortelius for Ortels, etc. – survive as the preferred name we know these figures by today.
[iv] The best study in English I am aware of the study of the West India Company’s birth is Simon Hart, The Prehistory of the New Netherland Company, (Amsterdam: City of Amsterdam Press, 1959). The classic (although light on details) study in Dutch is W.R. Menkman, De Geschiednis van de West-Indische Compagnie, (Amsterdam: Van Kampen & Zoon, 1947).
[v] For the spice trade there are innumerable books but starting points might include Jack Turner, Spice: The History of a Temptation, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004). For an interesting angle on spice history please see Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicants, (New York: Vintage Books, 1992).
[vi] The three primary sources include only one English account: that of Hudson’s prime mutineer, Robert Juet of Limehouse. Juet’s account has issues partly because it was written more than a decade after the fact (1625) and partly because of course he was directly responsible for Hudson being set adrift in the Arctic in 1610. Van Meteren had direct access to both Henry Hudson in person as well as his logbooks – as evidenced by the preciseness of dates and cartographic positioning. Johannes De Laet in his Nieuwe Wereldt ofte Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien, uit veelerhande Schriften ende Aen-teekeningen van verscheyden Natien, (Amsterdam, 1625). De Laet, in fact, most likely knew Van Meteren directly, from both his Anglo-Flemish in-laws, his connection with prominent Leiden humanists of the age, and his tenure in London as a merchant beginning in 1603.

Copyright 2009 by David Baeckelandt. No reproduction permitted without my express, written consent.