Reinier van Tzum

Reinier van Tzum also Reijnjer van't Zum , (* approx. 1600 in Tzum ; † September 21, 1670 in IJlst ) worked in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a businessman and head of the trading branches in Siam , Japan . After his return home he became mayor of IJlst, one of the "Frisian eleven cities" (ndl. Friese eleven steden )

Early career

Ayutthaya around 1665 ( Vingboons Atlas )

Van Tzum came from the Frisian town of Tzum near Franeker . His father Marten Jansz was a captain with the Admiralty of Friesland. The first evidence of his career in the Dutch East India Company can be found in 1629, when he was a sub-merchant in Ayutthaya (Siam). He also held this rank in 1636. In 1640 he became a merchant. In the following year he took over the management of the branch, initially provisionally, then with official confirmation. In this position he worked closely with well-known factories such as Johan van Twist in Malacca , François Caron in Dutch Formosa and the heads of the branch in Persia ( Bandar Abbas ) and on the Coromandel coast . On February 6, 1644, he brought a letter from the King of Siam to Batavia, and on May 3, he returned to Ayutthaya with gifts and a letter from the Governor General.

Dejima around the middle of the 17th century. From: Arnoldus Montanus : Gedenkwaerdige Gesantschappen der Oost-Indian Maetschappy in't Vereenigde Nederland, aen de Kaisaren of Japan . 1669

Japan

As a letter from Batavia dated June 2, 1645 to his uncle and church councilor Pieter Hessel in Tzum shows, Van Tzum actually intended to return home, but he was sent to the Dejima branch in Nagasaki Bay for one rotation . The transfer made sense, because Siam supplied sappan wood , animal hides, gum lacca , coconut oil , putschuk (Costus indicus), ivory and the like. a. m. for the Japanese market, so experience in both branches was an advantage. Van Tzum's ship reached Nagasaki on September 29, 1645. The incumbent director, Pieter Antonisz , led him until he officially took up his duties. Overwater into the shops.

The situation at that time was rather precarious. A Dutch expedition ship, the “Breskens”, had abandoned a boat two years earlier in Nambu (northern Japan) to take in water, despite all strict Japanese prohibitions. Captain Hendrick Cornelisz Schaep and nine of his men were promptly arrested and transferred to Edo. After much back and forth the nationality of these foreigners was cleared up, the Shogun showed mercy and in February 1644 the ten finally transferred to the Dejima trading post. However, the incident had caused enormous anger in Japanese government circles, and considerable efforts and signs of gratitude were expected from the East India Company.

At the end of December, Van Tzum set out on the annual trip to Edo (now Tokyo ), where the factory leaders thanked the Shogun for permission to trade with Japan in a ceremony on the occasion of the Japanese New Year. With six compatriots and a large Japanese entourage, he reached his accommodation in the court town on February 7, 1646. As every year, the Dutch brought gifts for the Shogun and other high-ranking gentlemen. The commissioner responsible for security in the country, Inoue Masashige, and the Reichsrat Kuze Hiroyuki tried in detailed interviews to determine the attitude of the company and the background to the incident in Nambu. However, neither the gifts (glasses, lenses, medicines, etc.) nor Van Tzum's explanations were considered sufficient, and it would be years before the tensions were eased by an elaborate special delegation.

On October 7th, Van Tzum handed over the official business to his successor Willem Verstegen . His ship left for Batavia three weeks later. Van Tzum felt "released".

home trip

The stresses caused by the year in Japan are likely to have reinforced the decision to return home. On January 16, 1647, he set out on board the "Haerlem". On March 25th, however, her ship ran aground while circumnavigating the Cape of Good Hope in violent gusts. It was not until 1652 that the Dutch set up a supply base here under Jan van Riebeeck , so that they holed up as best they could and waited for help from other company ships. Van Tzum managed to find shelter on the "Olifant" (elephant), but sixty men had to stay ashore for a year.

Friesland

Back in the Netherlands, Van Tzum moved to Cornjum , where he married Margaretha van Aesgema in 1648. In 1651 he became the owner of a farm called "Salwerd" near Franeker. In 1654 he moved to IJlst, became a member of the Vroedschaps and took over the office of mayor within a few years. In 1657 he became a church elder, the following year a member of the Frisian provincial parliament, where he took care of the finances of the province in the accounting chamber.

Gravestone of Reinier van Tzum and his wife

literature

• Cannegieter, Dominicus: Reynier van Tzum, Gecommitteerde naar Japan in 1645. (Nieuwe) Friesche Volksalmanak, 1890, pp. 143-145.
• Cannegieter, Dominicus: Reynier van Tzum, een levensschets . Franeker, Telenga, 1904.
• Hesselink, Reinier H .: Prisoners from Nambu: reality and make-believe in seventeenth-century . University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2002.
• Michel, Wolfgang: From Leipzig to Japan . Iudicium Verlag, Munich 1999. ISBN 3-89129-442-5
• Roarda, RS: De East-Ynjeske Opperkeapman Reijnier van Tzum. In nije samling oer libben en wurk fan in apart man út de 17e ieu . Ljouwert, 1961. (19 pp.)
• Ruangsilp, Bhawan: Dutch East India Company merchants at the court of Ayutthaya . Leiden, Brill, 2007.
• Trakulhun, Sven: Siam and Europe. The Kingdom of Ayutthaya in Western Reports 1500-1670 . Wehrhahn, Laatzen 2006 ( ISBN 3-86525-252-4 )
• Wijnaendts van Resandt, Willem: De Gezaghebbers of the East Indian Compagnie op hare Buiten-Comptoiren in Azië . Amsterdam: Uitgevereij Liebaert, 1944, pp. 260f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Roarda, RS (1961): De-East Ynjeske Opperkeapman Reijnier van Tzum.
2. ↑ Dagregister van het Kasteel van Batavia, dl. 1636/37, p. 137.
3. ^ Twist, Johann van: Generaele beschrijvinghe van India. Amsterdam, Hendrick Doncker 1651
4. ↑ Register of various letters in the holdings of the East India Company ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
5. ↑ Wijnaendts van Resandt, S. 261st
6. ↑ The letter was published by Cannegieter (1890). Van Tzum used this opportunity to send 100 reals to the poor in the city, especially those belonging to the Reformed sect. The money arrived on October 1, 1646 in the form of 250 guilders.
7. ^ For more on the Breskens incident and its consequences, see Hesselink (2002) and Michel (1999), pp. 44–63.
8. ↑ Cannegieter, D. (1904) Reynier van Tzum, een levensschets. Franeker.
9. ^ Archieven van de Friese Stadhouders. By AP van Nienes, M. Bruggeman. Koninklijk Huisarchief [1]

Web links

• Dutch East India Company merchants at the court of Ayutthaya
• (Nieuwe) Frisian folk almanac