Frederick Coyett

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Statue of Coyett

Frederick Coyett , also Fredric Coijet (* 1615 or 1620 in Stockholm , † October 17, 1687 in the Netherlands ), was the last governor of the Dutch East India Company of Formosa (today's Taiwan ).

Life

The family emigrated to Sweden from Flanders probably around 1569 . The father Gillis Coijet or Julius Coyet the Younger († 1634) was a goldsmith and mint master. The mother Catharina von Steinberg was the daughter of the Stockholm merchant and goldsmith Johann von Steinberg.

Coyett, originally a baker's servant (?), Was hired by the Dutch East India Company and in 1644 became the second chief merchant in the fortress of Batavia . He was sent to Nagasaki three years later . He was the first Swede to step on Japanese soil. Here he headed the Dejima branch (Nagasaki) twice for one year each (1647–48, 1652–53) as head ( opperhoofd ). However, the first cycle was overshadowed by events over which it had no influence. In the summer of 1647, a Portuguese embassy also arrived in Nagasaki and tried to re-establish the relationship that had broken off by the Japanese in 1639. The company had even provided technical assistance to this ship in Batavia, but in the opinion of the surprised Japanese authorities had not complied with its information obligation. After tough negotiations, the Portuguese finally withdrew without having achieved anything. But the anger in Japanese government circles was so great that when Coyett moved to Edo the following spring to pay tribute to the shogun , the audience was canceled and the gifts they had brought with them were refused. This marked the second time that Dutch-Japanese relations had bottomed out in two decades. Coyett's next rotation in Japan was quieter, as the company had sent an elaborate special embassy to Japan in 1649/50, which was able to dispel the tensions that had accumulated during the 1940s. Together with his brother Peter Julius , he was raised to the Swedish nobility in 1649.

In March 1653 he was appointed second man ( secunde ) in Fort Zeelandia on the Bay of "Tayoean" on the island of Formosa (now Taiwan ) occupied by the company . In 1656 he was promoted to governor of the island. The fierce fighting on the mainland between the troops of the Manchu ( Qing ) and the declining Ming dynasty did not remain without effects on the situation of Formosa. The first wave of refugees occurred in 1658 and 1659. In 1661 the Chinese troop leader Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), a supporter of the Ming, landed with 25,000 men on the island to set up a base and regroup his forces. After nine months of siege and tough negotiations, Coyett surrendered Zeelandia at the beginning of February 1662 and moved with his family to Batavia. However, a significant number of Dutch people who were in the area were taken into captivity by China. The last survivors were not released until 1684. The age of Dutch control of the island ended after thirty-eight years.

The Generalgouvernement in Batavia reacted correspondingly violently. Coyett went to court and was exiled to the Banda Islands for 12 years . In 1675 he published the work "'t Verwaerloosde Formosa" ("The neglected Formosa"), in which he accused the company of ignorance. She refused to reinforce him, which led to the fall of Formosa. That wasn't entirely wrong. At Coyett's request a ship with soldiers under Dirk van der Laan had been sent to Zeelandia, but van der Laan considered Coyett's fears to be exaggerated and withdrew to Batavia. Among the soldiers he left behind was Albrecht Herport , who reported in detail about the events in his travel book.

Coyett married Helena von der Wik , the daughter of a general, in India in 1650 . Their son Balthasar Coyett (1651-1728) became governor of Ambon .

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Gabriel Anrep : Svenska Adelns Ättar-Taflor. Part 1, Norstedt & Söner, Stockholm 1858, p. 462 ( Google books ).
  2. ^ Wolfgang Michel : From Leipzig to Japan. The surgeon and trader Caspar Schamberger (1623–1706) . Iudicium, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-89129-442-5 , pp. 53-56.
  3. W. Wijnaendts van Resandt: De Gezaghebbers the East India Company op buiten hare-Comptoiren in Azië . Liebaert, Amsterdam 1944, ( Genealogische Bibliotheek 2), pp. 131-133.
  4. http://www.vocsite.nl/geschiedenis/handelsposten/amboina.html