Coen, Jan Pieterszoon

Autor: Coen, Jan Pieterszoon
Rok: 1587-1629

Jan Pieterszoon Coen (8 January 1587 – 21 September 1629), the founder of Batavia, was an officer of the Dutch East India Company in Indonesia (VOC) in the early seventeenth century, holding two terms as its Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.Renowned for providing the impulse that set the VOC on the path to dominance in the Dutch East Indies, he was long considered a national hero in the Netherlands. A famed quote of his from 1618, "Despair not, spare your enemies not, for God is with us", illustrates his single-minded ruthlessness, as well as his unstinting belief in the divinely-sanctioned nature of his project. The utilization of such self-professed divine sanction in the use of violence pursuant to his ultimate goals of Monopoly Trade was deemed by many to be excessive, even for such a relatively violent age. Consequently, since the independence of Indonesia he has been looked at in a more critical light, and historians view his often violent means to have been excessive.Coen was known in his time on account of strict governance and harsh criticism of people who did not share his views, at times directed even at the 17 Lords of the VOC (for which he was reprimanded). Coen was known to be strict towards subordinates and merciless to his opponents. His willingness to use violence to obtain his ends was too much for many, even for such a relatively violent period of history. When Saartje Specx, a girl whom he had been entrusted to care for, was found in a garden in the arms of a soldier, Pieter Cortenhoeff, Coen showed no mercy in having Cortenhoeff beheaded. Specx only escaped the death penalty by drowning because she was still underage.Further but more extensive actions perpetrated by order of Coen, are recounted in a BBC Television documentary series "The Spice Trail" (episode 2: "Nutmeg and Cloves"). The program also contains details of wanton acts of destruction committed by the Dutch in the spice islands of (now) eastern Indonesia, the purpose of which was to create scarcity of natural produce in order to maintain price levels.