Piet Pieterszoon Heyn

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Piet Heyn

Piet Pieterszoon Heyn , also in the spelling Hein , called Piet Hein , (born November 15,  1577 jul. In Delfshaven (today part of Rotterdam ); † June 18,  1629 greg. ) Was an admiral of the Dutch WIC , who served in the military and economic weakness had been established by the Spaniards in the Eighty Years War . He is best known for the deployment of the Spanish silver fleet off Cuba in 1628, which enabled the States General to continue the war.

Life

Heyn was born in Delfshaven as the son of a captain. There is a legend that he spent a few years on the Heidemühle in Schortens in his youth . He went to sea early on. In 1598 he was captured by the Spaniards and spent about four years as a galley slave until he was released in 1602 as part of a prisoner exchange. In 1603 he was captured again in Cuba and did not return to the Netherlands until 1607.

In 1607 he was hired by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and embarked on a five-year voyage to Asia, from which he returned as captain of the Hollandia . He remained in the service of the VOC until 1612. Then he commanded the Sphaera Mundi . In 1618, as captain of Neptunus , he was forced through Venice to fight against Naples . In 1621 he traveled back overland to his homeland.

In 1623 he became Vice-Admiral of the Dutch West India Company , where he was particularly active in the Caribbean in the area of ​​the West Indies.

With a fleet of 26 ships Heyn conquered the city of Salvador in Bahia (northeastern Brazil ) and made rich booty. An attack on the West African city of Luanda in Angola in 1624 failed. When he returned to Bahia, the city had fallen back into Portuguese hands a short time earlier on April 30, 1625.

After these rather unsuccessful ventures, Piet Heyn, now as an admiral, succeeded on September 17, 1628 in capturing the Spanish treasure fleet in the bay of Matanzas, ten miles east of Havana , without a fight. Its booty was estimated at twelve million guilders , which today corresponds to a value of around one billion euros . The loot from the silver fleet enabled the Dutch government financially to go on the offensive with a larger army in its ongoing war against Spain and to conquer the strategically important city of 's Hertogenbosch next year . According to Christoph Driessen , the capture of the silver fleet marked “the turning point in the second half of the war against Spain”. Since there were disputes with the West India Company over the division of the booty, Heyn quit the service. Heyn is said to have only received an amount of around 7,000 guilders, which was less than one per thousand of net profit.

In 1629 he was Lieutenant Admiral of Holland - actually as Commander in Chief of the Dutch fleet - in the service of Admiral-General Friedrich Heinrich , Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau. His new task was the blockade of Dunkirk , as many Spanish pirates operated from there.

Piet Heyn died in the same year in a sea battle near Ostend in the Scheldt Canal. He is buried in the Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Delft .

Piet Heyn as a folk hero

Piet Heyn's monument in Matanzas

Heyn, who was already popular in his lifetime, became a folk hero after his death , mainly because of his successful attack on the Spanish treasure fleet.

In the period that followed, countless poems and songs were written in honor of Piet Heyn. One from the pen of Jan Pieter Heye from 1844 is still a well-known Dutch folk song. As "De Zilvervloot" ( "Heb je van de zilveren vloot wel gehoord, / De zilveren vloot van Spanje? / Die had er veel Spaanse matten aan boord / En appeltjes van Oranje!" - Have you heard of the silver fleet / The silver fleet of Spain? / It had a lot of Spanish thalers on board / And a lot of oranges too!) Today it is one of the most popular fan chants in the country's football stadiums.

Streets and squares in the Netherlands were also named after Heyn. One statue each can be seen in Delfshaven and on the Bay of Matanzas. Heyn's coat of arms as well as a memorial stone and plaque are attached to the Piet Hein huisje ( ⊙ ), a successor to his birthplace from 1880 in Delfshaven.

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b Piet Heyn. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved November 29, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Pieter Pietersz. Heyn (1577-1629). In: Database of the Bibliothèque nationale de France . Retrieved November 7, 2018 (French).
  3. ↑ Horst Lademacher: History of the Netherlands . wbg , 1983, p. 147 .
  4. ^ Roland Hanewald: A poor Heidmühler miller's boy . In: Friesische Heimat (supplement to the Jeverschen Wochenblatt ) . No. 460 , January 24, 2013 ( full text [PDF; 3.5 MB ; accessed on November 28, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Christoph Driessen: History of the Netherlands, From the sea power to the trend country . Regensburg 2009, p. 80 .
  6. ↑ Spaanse mat was the Dutch nickname for a Spanish silver coin with a value of 8 reals , which was very common at the time , which corresponds to the thaler ; see nl: Spaanse mat (munt) .
  7. ↑ bagviewer.kadaster.nl. Basisregistraties adressen en gebouwen, accessed on November 30, 2018 (in Dutch, enter "Piet Heynstraat 6 Rotterdam" at "Zoeken").
  8. ↑ Photos of the house Piet Heynstraat 6, Delfshaven

literature

  • Graddy Boven: Piet Hein. De hero van Mantanzas. Soesterberg: Aspect, 2010, ISBN 978-90-5911-834-8
  • Christoph Driessen: Pirate Treasure for Holland, in: ders .: History of the Netherlands, From Sea Power to Trendland, Regensburg 2009, p. 78 ff.
  • Pieter Lodewijk Muller:  Heyn, Peter Peterssohn . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 374.
  • Simon Rozendaal: Zijn naam is small. Piet Hein en het omstreden verleden. Amsterdam / Antwerp: Uitgeverij Atlas Contact, 2019, ISBN 978-90-450-3878-0
  • Wendy de Visser: Piet Hein en de zilvervloot. Orlog in trade in the West. Hilversum: Lost, 2001, ISBN 90-6550-454-0
  • JCM Warnsinck: Piet Heyn. In: JCM Warnsinck: Drie Zeventiende-eeuwse admiraals, Piet Heyn, Witte de With, Jan Evertsen. 3. Edition. Rotterdam 1977, ISBN 90-6100-149-8
  • Arne Zuidhoek: De West Indian Compagnie en Piet Hein. Baarn: Prom, 1999, ISBN 90-6801-621-0

Web links

Commons : Piet Pieterszoon Hein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Heyn, Pieterszoon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hein, Pieterszoon; Hein, Piet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch privateer
DATE OF BIRTH November 15, 1577
PLACE OF BIRTH Delfshaven (now part of Rotterdam )
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 1629