The Unfortunate Voyage of the Batavia – Episode 2: The Price of Spice
In an age when traditional European feudalism was breaking down, the United Provinces of the Netherlands chartered the world’s first corporation.
The VOC would become a major authority for thousands of people, all around the world. In this episode we explore why and how the company came into existence, and what that meant for those who were (un)lucky enough to have anything to do with it.
Here’s where things get spicy…
It was the Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias, who stumbled upon the route around the southern tip of Africa.
By the time Batavia set sail, the VOC had securely established its route to the Indies.
The VOC ultimately answered to the States General; the parliament of the Dutch Republic. The company, however, operated on the other side of the world in an age where no great oversight was possible, and at a time when the same families and class of society functioned within both bodies.
In 1619, under the command of Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies for the VOC, the city of Jayakarta was destroyed by Dutch forces.
In 1620, Coen established the fortress of Batavia, which would grow into a prominent trade city.
In 1621, Coen orchestrated the massacre of up to 14000 local people on the Banda Islands. Masterless Japanese samurai, known as ronin, fought in the battle as mercenaries for the VOC. Their presence shows how international the character and influence of the VOC was. It also shows what violent, brutal bastards they could be.