From Conflict Resolution to Conflict Management
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Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/65503 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation. Author: Ekama, K.J. Title: Courting conflict : managing Dutch East and West India Company disputes in the Dutch Republic Issue Date: 2018-09-13 COURTING CONFLICT ISBN: 978-94-92679-54-3 Printed by: Print Service Ede Cover images: Photograph of archival manuscript document: NL-HaNA, Hoge Raad Holland en Zeeland, 3.03.02, inv.nr. 778 (1686), Geextendeerde sententies, f. xxxiiii r; High Court judges: Detail from De begrafenisstoet van Frederik Hendrik. Pieter Nolpe after Pieter Jansz Post, 1651. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Courting Conflict Managing Dutch East and West India Company disputes in the Dutch Republic PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof. mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op 13 september 2018 klokke 10:00 uur door Kate Jean Ekama geboren te Kaapstad, Zuid-Afrika op 24 october 1986 Promotor: Prof. dr. Cátia Antunes Co-promotor: Dr. Karwan Fatah-Black Promotiecommisie: Prof. dr. Michiel van Groesen Prof. dr. Egbert Koops Dr. Justyna Wubs-Mrozewicz, University of Amsterdam Dr. Bram van Hofstraeten, Maastricht University Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................... iv List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................ v List of tables and figures ............................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 From conflict resolution to conflict management .......................................................................... 2 The High Court of Holland, Zeeland and West-Friesland ............................................................ 7 The court records .................................................................................................................................... 13 Beyond East and West ....................................................................................................................... 17 Company law and company courts ................................................................................................... 19 Suing the Companies .............................................................................................................................. 22 Company conflicts ................................................................................................................................... 24 1. The Companies in Court ................................................................................................................... 27 The legal framework............................................................................................................................... 27 From company court to High Court: the VOC .......................................................................... 27 A Scot in The Hague ....................................................................................................................... 28 Seeking redress: Goodschalk vs. VOC ..................................................................................... 32 From company court to High Court: the WIC........................................................................... 35 The Litigants ............................................................................................................................................. 38 Categorisation of cases .......................................................................................................................... 46 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 53 2. The companies’ competitors .......................................................................................................... 56 Chartering companies in the Republic ............................................................................................ 58 A difficult merger: the VOC.............................................................................................................. 59 Chartering the WIC ............................................................................................................................. 62 Company monopolies ........................................................................................................................ 68 Constricting the VOC charter area..................................................................................................... 70 The one that got away? Olivier van Noort’s Magellan Company ...................................... 71 The States General: Managing the companies’ conflicts ................................................. 76 Going to court, c. 1610-1635 ..................................................................................................... 77 ‘Discovering’ a route to circumvent the VOC: Isaac Le Maire’s Australia Company . 80 The VOC and WIC at odds ..................................................................................................................... 86 Contentious Cape Town.................................................................................................................... 86 Roggeveen .............................................................................................................................................. 87 Contracted entrance into the WIC charter area ........................................................................... 90 WIC vs. Verpoorten ............................................................................................................................ 91 WIC vs. Courland ................................................................................................................................. 93 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 99 i 3. Legal strategies, illegal trade ........................................................................................................101 Private trade in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans ........................................................................103 Transhipping on the Europe-Asia route .......................................................................................111 Spiriting goods to Batavia: Willem Toledo vs. VOC chamber Amsterdam ..................112 Jan Schull vs. VOC Chamber Amsterdam..................................................................................117 Contesting competence: The VOC’s strategy ...............................................................................121 Cooperation in illicit Atlantic affairs ..............................................................................................124 The infamous lorrendraaiers ........................................................................................................125 Smuggling gold ...................................................................................................................................130 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................135 4. Salaries and secondary markets .................................................................................................137 In company employ ...............................................................................................................................139 Present ‘uses’ for future earnings ...................................................................................................143 Escalating wage claims against the companies ..........................................................................147 Court cases ...............................................................................................................................................150 Inheritance ..........................................................................................................................................150 Hans Boije vs. VOC Chamber Amsterdam ...........................................................................152 Samuel and Metgen Elders vs. VOC Chamber Amsterdam ...........................................154 Wage payments and lost vessels .................................................................................................155 Jasperssen et al vs. WIC Chamber Zeeland .........................................................................156 Neeltje Claes vs. VOC Chamber Amsterdam ......................................................................158 Credit, debt and secondary markets for wage accounts ....................................................160 The secondary market in the Republic ................................................................................161 The secondary market overseas .............................................................................................167 Amsterdam