François Caron

François Caron (* around 1600 in Brussels ; † April 5, 1673 at sea) was General Director of the Dutch East India Company and later General Director of the French East India Company . His description of Japan is considered to be the first important work in this regard from the pen of a non-Catholic author.

The establishment of the East India Company on Hirado Island from 1609–41. (Engraving in Arnoldus Montanus, Gedenkwaerdige Gesantschappen der Oost-Indische Maetschappy in't Vereenigde Nederland, aen de Kaisaren van Japan , 1669)

Career start in Japan

François Caron was the son of French Huguenot refugees . Nothing is known about Caron's childhood. As a kitchen boy on the ship "Schiedam" he reached Hirado in Japan in 1619 , where the Dutch East India Company had had a trading post for a decade. He soon aroused the interest of his superiors with a good knowledge of Japanese.

In 1626 he received the rank of commercial assistant, which opened up a career for him as a businessman. In the following year he accompanied the governor of the Dutch possessions on Formosa, Pieter Nuyts , as a translator to the court of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu in Edo . Nuyts, who had caused considerable trouble on Formosa through his dealings with competing Japanese merchants, especially Hamada Yahyōe from Nagasaki , and now wanted to comment on this, was not admitted to Edo.

He left Japan in strife and in 1628 - again with Hamada - triggered an incident that shook the foundations of Dutch-Japanese trade relations, led to his dismissal, arrest and in the early summer of 1632 finally extradition to the Japanese authorities.

In October 1630 Caron acted as interpreter for the Dutch negotiator in Edo. In 1632 he concluded a new contract in Batavia (now Jakarta), which secured him the second position as a merchant behind the head of the Hirado branch. At some point during these years he married the daughter of the Japanese Eguchi Jūzaemon, with whom he had a total of five (according to other authors six) children. In July 1636 he succeeded in persuading the Japanese government to release Nuyt, who had been interned for four years. On February 12, 1639 he was appointed head of the Hirado branch as the successor to Nicolaes Couckebacker .

Questions from the General Director of the Dutch East India Company Philip Lucasz. to François Caron in the German edition by Christoph Arnold (Nuremberg, 1672)

In 1636 Caron wrote a font that made his name known throughout Europe. From Batavia was a list of 31 questions from General Director Philip Lucasz. arrived, who wanted to get a more accurate, current picture of the country and its people. Caron's answers reached Europe, were published - initially without his consent - but later also printed in an edition authorized by him and distributed in many different translations.

Shortly after Caron had finished this text, however, events occurred which in the years that followed were to fundamentally change the situation of Europeans in Japan. Since the beginning of their trading activities in Japan, the Dutch tried to weaken the influence of the Portuguese, who had been active in the country since 1549. Their relationship with the Japanese rulers had gradually deteriorated since the 1880s, but they still enjoyed a dominant position in supplying the country with important imported goods. After the 1637/38 outbreak (" Shimabara Uprising ") of the predominantly Catholic rural population in the southwest of Kyushu had been suppressed with great difficulty, the Japanese government decided in 1639 to expel all "southern barbarians" ( Nambanjin ) and to ban Christianity once and for all . Since the country was not self-sufficient, Caron was asked at meetings with the Imperial Councilor Sakai Tadakatsu and other high-ranking representatives of the Tokugawa government whether the company would be willing and able to supply Japan with raw silk, silk fabrics, medicines, etc. in such a case to guarantee. Since Caron repeatedly promised this and the company, unlike the Portuguese, showed no interest in missionary activities, the Dutch were the only European nation to be excluded from the expulsion of Europeans proclaimed in 1639.

However, there was considerable pressure on Caron to agree to the relocation of his trading post from Hirado to Nagasaki , a domain directly under the government. In 1641 the Dutch moved to the small artificial island of Dejima , where they traded more closely than before until the country opened in the 19th century, thus maintaining exchange with Europe.

One of the many new Japanese regulations stated that the heads of the branch had to be replaced every year from now on. This also affected Caron, who left the country on February 15, 1641 after more than twenty years. On April 21, he arrived in Batavia, where Anthonie van Diemen made him a temporary extraordinary member of the company's highest executive body, the Raad van Indië, in recognition of his services. On November 8th of that year he was appointed admiral of the “return fleet” to Europe. On December 13th, he set sail with nine ships. The "Heeren XVII", the seventeen-member directorate of the company in the Netherlands, were very satisfied with the report he made in September 1642. Caron received a reward of 1500 guilders and was asked a few weeks later to re-enter the service of the company, promising him a proper seat on the Council of India. In January 1643 he went to Asia for the second time on board the "Olifant" (elephant).

Zeelandia on the Taiwan Bay (Formosa), ca.1635

Stay in Batavia, Ceylon and Formosa

At the end of July 1642 he reached Batavia and received the promised regular seat on the Council of India on September 30th. His Japanese wife had since passed away, but the children were still alive. His second wife, the eighteen-year-old Constantia Boudaen, whom he had married in 1644 through the coeckebacker he authorized, arrived in Batavia in mid-1645. Frederick Coyett , who married her sister Susanna, became his brother-in-law.

In the autumn of 1643, Caron sails to Ceylon with eleven ships and 1700 men, including 950 soldiers . Since the Portuguese could not get along with the local ruler and their detachment from Spain tied up some forces elsewhere, it was decided in Batavia to attack their branches in Ceylon. Colombo proved to be impregnable and the occupation of the Negombo base and some districts with cinnamon production resulted in high losses, but the contract of Goa (1644) turned out to be quite favorable for companies.

Caron was promoted again thanks to this success and was now from May 1644 to July 1646 as governor on the island of Formosa ( Taiwan ). Here he took care of the gold, coal and sulfur mining and had the company's main base, the fortress Zeelandia , reinforced. At the same time, using Chinese workers, he expanded the cultivation area for rice and regulated the shooting of the red deer by the local tribes and the processing of the coveted skins. Unlike in Japan, the company used Dutch pastors on Formosa to proselytize the locals and, over time, expanded their influence to the entire west coast.

Truthful descriptions in the edition provided by Christoph Arnold , 1672 (title page)

In March 1646 Caron returned to Batavia, where he rose in the course of a reorganization of the top management on March 9, 1647 to "Directeur-Generaal" in the second highest position. In this capacity he was responsible for the consolidation of trade with the Coromandel Coast and Amboina . In Japan, the unauthorized landing of the Dutch expedition ship "Breskens" in Nambu (1643) as well as all sorts of information deficits in connection with the undesired arrival of a Portuguese ship (1647) in Nagasaki had once again accumulated explosives that threatened to impair trade relations. Caron once again made a name for himself in the meticulous preparation of an embassy to Edo , which in 1650 finally managed to calm the situation down again with some difficulty.

However, Caron had his envious people, and the accumulated fortune, the splendid town house in Batavia and a no less stately country house fueled suspicions of personal gain. The governor-general Cornelis van der Lijn , with whom Caron had been friends for a long time, also fell victim to these accusations in 1651. Both had to answer in the Netherlands. Van der Lijn obtained an honorable discharge including a cash gift for his services. It is not clear whether Caron succeeded in this. In any case, he went his own way from 1652 after the Amsterdam Chamber had satisfied his considerable financial demands.

In French service

During these years the French interest in Asia grew. At the instigation of Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert , the French East India Company ( Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales ) was founded on September 1, 1664 under the patronage of Louis XIV . Colbert managed to win Caron over for his project, and in 1665 he became general director of the young company. It was not without reason that this was viewed as treason in the Netherlands. Caron brought a wealth of experience. Shortly after his employment, he proposed one of the Bangka Islands as the main base in Asia . He also made sophisticated proposals with regard to Japan, which was still close to his heart. Colbert gave him largely a free hand.

The Indian subcontinent in Caron's time

On March 14, 1666, Caron set out with ten ships. Although he did not make any progress in Madagascar, he succeeded in establishing bases on the nearby islands of "Bourbon" ( Réunion ) and "Île-de-France" ( Mauritius ). In February 1668 he reached Surat in northwest India. Further outstations such as Rajapur, Mirza (Mirjan), Tellichery and Masulipatam (1669) on the east coast of the subcontinent followed.

Caron's position was not easy. As a Protestant, he was repeatedly met with the distrust of his Catholic environment, and the impression that he was being monitored was probably not out of thin air. In 1671 more French ships arrived. From Admiral Jacob Blanquet de la Haye he learned that he had been appointed a member of the (Catholic) Order of Michael ( Ordre de Saint-Michel ) at the behest of the king .

The following year passed with various attempts by Caron and de la Haye to expand the positions of the French, which inevitably led to conflicts with the Dutch. In July 1672, Mailapur (St. Thomé) was captured on the Coromandel coast . But there was a falling out with de la Haye. It was agreed that Caron should return home temporarily to report to the court. The French lost this enclave again during his crossing. Caron's ship, the "Jules", ran aground off the Portuguese coast on April 5, 1673, broke and sank. One of his sons who had accompanied him was rescued, but Caron drowned.

French authors usually describe Caron as the first French or the first French-speaking European in Japan, but a closer connection to France can only be said in the last decade of his life. As an intimate connoisseur of the country and its people, he was the first non-Catholic author to put an influential description of Japan on paper.

Works

• Beschrijvinghe Van het Machtigh Coninckrijcke Japan, Vervattende den aert en eygenschappen van't Landt, manners of the people, ale mede hart grouwelijcke wreedtheydt teghen de Roomsche Christenen, announced by Francois Caron. T'Amsterdam: door Ioost Hartgers, 1648.
• Rights Beschryvinge van het machtigh Koninghrijck van Iappan existed in different questions, concerning the self governing, coop trade, manner van leven, strict justitie & c. for the army Philips Lucas, directeur generael wegens den Nederlandsen staet in India / end of the army Francoys Caron, president over de comp. ommeslach in Iappan, answered inden iare 1636; Waste only through the selven autheur oversien, avoided en uytgelaten is de fabuleuse aentekeningen van Hendrick Hagenaer, so that everything with zijn voorige origineel comt te accorderen, en met copere figueren verrijckt. s'Gravenhage, [1662?].
• Carons, and iodine. Schouten's True Descriptions of two powerful kingdoms, Jappan and Siam. Along with many other things belonging to both kingdoms; which can be found in the preliminary report. Everything translated from Dutch. Joined to this is Johann Jacob Mercklein’s East Indian Journey, which he laudably accepted in 1664 and happily completed in 1653. With a complete register. [...] Nürnberg, In transfer Michael and Joh. Friederich Endters. In 1663.
• A true description of the mighty kingdoms of Japan and Siam / written originally in Dutch by Francis Caron and Joost Schorten; and novv rendred into English by Capt. Roger Manley London, Printed by Samuel Broun and John de l'Ecluse, 1663.
• Truthful descriptions of three powerful kingdoms, Japan, Siam, and Corea. Along with many other things reported in the preliminary report: So with new notes / and beautiful copper leaves / by Christoph Arnold / increased, improved and decorated. To which also added Johann Jacob Merkleins / von Winsheim East-Indian trip: which he praiseworthy accepted in 1644 / and happily completed in 1653. With a necessary register. With Rom. Kays. Your Majesty Freyheit. / Nuremberg / Relocated by Michael and Joh. Friedrich Endters. In the year MDCLXXII.
• A true description of the mighty kingdoms of Japan and Siam / written originally in Dutch by Francis Caron and Joost Schorten; and now rendred into English by Capt. Roger Manley. London, Printed for Robert Boulter, 1671.
• François Caron & Joost Schouten, A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan & Siam . Reprinted from the English edition of 1663 with Introduction, Notes and Appendixes by CR Boxer. London: The Argonaut Press, 1935.
• Caron, Francois; Lucas, Philips: Rights Description Van het Machtigh Koninghrijck van Iappan. 's Gravenhage: Tongerloo, 1661 digitized version of the University and State Library Bonn

literature

Caron's curriculum vitae is traced over and over again, but it is consistently a reproduction of older research. Among the pioneering works, the descriptions by Oskar Nachod (1897) and Charles Boxer (1935) should be emphasized.

• John Leonard Blussé, Margaretha Elisabeth Van Opstall, Ts'ao Yung Ho (eds.): De Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia, Taiwan 1629–1662 . M. Nijhoff, 's-Gravenhage 1986/95

1. 1629-1641 . 1985, ISBN 90-689-0059-5 (Rijks geschiedkundige publicatiën; 195).
2. 1641-1648 . 1995, ISBN 90-5216-067-8 (Rijks geschiedkundige publicatiën; 229).

• Leonard Blussé: Bull in a China Shop. Pieter Nuyts in China and Japan (1627–1636) . In the S. (Ed.): Around and About Dutch Formosa. Essays in honor of professor Ts'ao Yung-ho . Ts'ao Yung-ho Foundation for Culture and Education, Taipei 2003, ISBN 986-7602-00-5 .
• William Campbell: Formosa Under the Dutch. Described from Contemporary Records . SMC Publ., Taipei 1992, ISBN 957-638-083-9 (unchanged reprint of London 1903 edition).
• Detlef Haberland: Introduction. In: François Caron: Description of the mighty Kingdom of Japan 1645 (Foreign cultures in old reports; Volume 10). Jan Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2000, ISBN 3-7995-0609-8 .
• Reinier Herman Hesselink: Prisoners from Nambu. Reality and Make-Believe in 17th-Century Japanese Diplomacy . University of Hawai Press, Honolulu 2002, ISBN 0-8248-2409-1 (also dissertation, University of Honolulu 1992)
  • Dutch: De gevangen uit Nambu. Een was divorced over the VOC in Japan . Walburg Pers, Zutphen 2000 (translated by Jacques Meerman).
• University of Tokyo , Historiographical Institute (Ed.): Diaries Kept by the Heads of the Dutch Factory in Japan . Tokyo 1974–1981 (4 vols.)
• Journal du voyage des grandes Indes, contenant tout ce qui s'y est fait & passé par l'Escadre de sa Majesté sous le commandement de Mr. de la Haye, depuis son départ de la Rochelle au mois de Mars 1670. Avec une description exacte de toutes les iles, villes, ports, bayes, rades, forees, richesses, trafic, moeurs & religion des indiens, ensemble la relation de la prize de S. Thomé sur le Roy de Golconde & plusieurs combats donnez contre les indiens & hollandois jusques à la sortie de ladite ville from mois de Septembre 1674 . Francois Boyer, Orléans 1697.
• Paul Kaeppelin: La compagnie des Indes orientales et François Martin . Études sur l'histoire du commerce et des établissements français dans l'Inde sous Louis XIV (1664–1719) (Essays in history, economics and social sciences; vol. 11). Franklin Editions, New York 1967 (unchanged reprint of Paris 1908 edition).
• Gary P. Leupp: Interracial Intimacy in Japan. Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900 . Continuum International, London 2003, ISBN 0-8264-6074-7 .
• Wolfgang Michel : From Leipzig to Japan. The surgeon and trader Caspar Schamberger (1623–1706) . Iudicium, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-89129-442-5 (on behalf of the German Society for Nature and Ethnology of East Asia ).
• Wolfgang Michel: Medicine and Allied Sciences in the Cultural Exchange between Japan and Europe in the Seventeenth Century. In: Hans Dieter Ölschleger (Ed.): Theories and Methods in Japanese Studies. Current State & Future Developments; Papers in Honor of Josef Kreiner . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89971-355-8 , pp. 285-302 ( digitized in the Kyushu University Institutional Repository ).
• WM Mulder: Hollanders in Hirado 1597–1641 . Fibula-Van Dishoeck, Haarlem 1985, ISBN 90-228-3889-7 .
• Oskar Nachod : The Relations of the Dutch East India Company to Japan in the Seventeenth Century . Friese, Leipzig 1897 (also dissertation, University of Rostock 1897; digitized version of the Prussian State Library in Berlin ).
• Willem Otterspeer (Ed.): Leiden Oriental Connections, 1850-1940 (Studies in the history of Leiden University; 5). Brill, Leiden 1989, ISBN 90-04-09022-3 .
• Peter Rietbergen : Japan verwoord. Nihon door Nederlandse ogen 1600–1799 . Hotei Publ., Amsterdam 2003, ISBN 90-74822-54-1 .
• François Valentijn : Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën, vervattende Een Naaukeurige en Uitvoerige Verhandelinge van Nederlands Mogentheijd . Edition van Wijnen, Franeker 2002 (5 vols .; unchanged reprint of the edition Dordrecht-Amsterdam 1726).
• Willem Wijnaendts van Resandt: De Gezaghebbers of the East Indian Compagnie op hare Buiten-Comptoiren in Azië (Genealogical Library; Vol. 2). Uitgevereij Liebaert, Amsterdam 1944, pp. 125–128.

Web links

• The Dutch colonial era (school project, University of Münster)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wijnaendts van Resandt (1944), p. 121ff.
2. ↑ Nuyts repeatedly caused irritations and conflicts in almost all undertakings in his eventful life. More on this in Blussé (2003).
3. ↑ See also the era of the Namban trade
4. ↑ See the records in the service diary ( dagregister ) of the Hirado factory. Nationaal Archief van de Nederlandse Factorij in Japan: No. 55, July 20, 1639, July 22, 1639 and July 27, 1639. See Michel (2007).
5. ↑ More details on the circumstances of the relocation of the headquarters of the Dutch trading office near Nachod (1897), pp. 273–293.
6. ^ Nieuw Nederlands Biografisch Woordenboek
7. ↑ The report can be found in Valentijn, Deel V, Stuk II, p. 33ff.
8. ↑ Paintings attract van de Witte Olifant
9. ↑ [1]
10. ↑ Wijnaendts van Resandt (1944) indicates nine ships and 1,550 soldiers. Boxer (1935), who is more reliable here, includes two ships that later departed.
11. ↑ More details about this time can be found in the Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia, Taiwan . See also Campbell (1903) p. 75.
12. ↑ More on the so-called Breskens incident and the embassy under Andries Friese in Hesselink (2002). As a member of the legation, the Leipzig surgeon Caspar Schamberger triggered a lasting Japanese interest in European surgery through his treatment of some high-ranking gentlemen in Edo. See Michel (1999).
13. ↑ A detailed description of the French expedition is provided by the Journal du voyage des grandes Indes .