Dutch whaling cartel of the 17th century
Noordsche Compagnie
Industry
| Whaling
|
---|
Founded
| January 27, 1614
; 410 years ago
(
1614-01-27
)
in
Vlieland
,
Netherlands
|
---|
Founder
|
|
---|
Defunct
| 1642
(
1642
)
|
---|
Fate
| Dissolved
|
---|
Headquarters
| |
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The
Noordsche Compagnie
(English:
Northern Company
) was a Dutch cartel in the whaling trade, founded by several cities in the Netherlands in 1614 and operating until 1642. Soon after its founding, it became entangled in territorial conflicts with
England
,
Denmark
,
France
, and other groups within the
Netherlands
.
It was also known as the
Groenlandse Compagnie
(English:
Greenland Company
), but the name is misleading today since the "Greenland" referred to is
Svalbard
, previously thought to either be identical or connected to the island of
Greenland
discovered
and
colonized by the Norse
.
History
[
edit
]
In 1598, a whale beached at
Wijk aan Zee
. The animal was sold for 126
guilders
and the jaw was transported to
Dillenburg
and given to
Jan van Nassau
as a gift.
[1]
In 1612, the first mention is made of a commercial expedition to
Novaya Zemlya
after it was concluded that whaling at the
Cape of Good Hope
in the southern
Atlantic
offered little prospects of profit.
Willem Cornelisz. van Muyden
was one of the first skippers to set sail to the North. In 1613, he was the commander of the
Neptunus
and the
Fortuyn
, two ships that were sent to
Spitsbergen
(modern Svalbard, then considered part of Greenland) to hunt for whales. On board were twelve or thirteen French
Basques
.
[2]
The remaining crew of 48 men came from
North Holland
.
On 27 January 1614, the Noordsche Compagnie was founded for a period of two years on Vlieland.
[
citation needed
]
Tymen J. Hinlopen
and
Jacques Nicquet
were amongst the original investors.
[
citation needed
]
In 1617, the charter was renewed for another four years and, in 1622, for another twelve.
Whaling was done in the summer months. Ships and crew left the ports of the
Dutch Republic
in May or June. After a three-week journey they arrived at the coastal waters of
Spitsbergen
,
Jan Mayen
, or
Bear Island
. In August, September, or October the ships returned to the Republic. Soon
whaling stations
were established on Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen, the best known of these being
Smeerenburg
. These stations saved much space in the cargohold of the ships, and also held relieve the stench. For years the Noordsche Compagnie controlled the monopoly for
whale oil
. For every expedition, participants would invest capital. When the expedition had returned, the profit would immediately be divided amongst the investors.
Organization
[
edit
]
The administration of the Noordsche Compagnie was divided into five chambers. These were relatively independent and located in
Amsterdam
,
Hoorn
,
Enkhuizen
,
Rotterdam
, and
Delft
. Each city had its own installations on the polar islands. In 1616 the Zeelandic
Lampsin
family took part in the company. From then on
Vlissingen
,
Middelburg
and
Veere
also had a chamber. In 1634 the charter was renewed for another eight years. In 1636 two Frisian chambers were created:
Harlingen
and
Stavoren
.
Trading territories
[
edit
]
The trading area of the Noordsche Compagnie stretched from the
Davis Strait
to
Novaya Zemlya
, north of
Russia
. The company did not make any claims to the territory, they were only concerned with their trading-monopoly.
Initially the company made much use of
Basque
harpooners
and navigators. Aside from
whales
,
walrus
and
seals
were also hunted. The
polar bear
hunt resulted in skins and fur. Whale
baleen
was used to make
picture frames
for paintings,
walking sticks
and knifehilts.
Michiel de Ruyter
, the most famous Dutch admiral, served as pilot on a ship of the Noordsche Compagnie from 1633 to 1635. He was probably familiar with the route from the time that he was still a sailor.
The company was dissolved in 1642. The company had started receiving intense competition from Dutch interlopers and
Danish
whalers. Whaling was privatized, and taken over by the private sector.
The participation of the population of the
West Frisian Islands
to whaling is evident from the tombstones of the ship-captains buried there, which were made from whale jawbones.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Landwehr, J.
De Nederlander uit en thuis. Spiegel van het dagelijkse leven uit bijzondere zeventiende-eeuwse boeken
, pp. 102–103. 1981.
(in Dutch)
- ^
Hart, S.
De eerste Nederlandse tocht ter walvisvaart.
Op. cit. in
Jaarboek Amstelodamum
, p. 40. 1957.
(in Dutch)
- ^
Groenlandse pakhuizen
Archived
2011-09-28 at the
Wayback Machine
, Bureau Monuments and Archeology, Amsterdam
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Hart, S. (1957) De eerste Nederlandse tocht ter walvisvaart. In: Jaarboek
Amstelodamum
, p. 27-64. (Dutch)
- J.G. van Dillen
(1970) Van Rijkdom en Regenten. Handboek tot de Economische en Sociale Geschiedenis van Nederland tijdens de Republiek, p. 248-55. (Dutch)
External links
[
edit
]
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Until 1825
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Until 1853
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Until 1872
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Until 1949
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Until 1954
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Until 1962
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General
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Main institutions
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