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Joris van Spilbergen | |
|---|---|
 Joris van Spilbergen | |
| Born | 1 November 1568 |
| Died | 13 January 1620 (age 51) |
| Occupation | Naval officer |
Joris van Spilbergen (1 November 1568[1] inAntwerp – 13 January 1620 inBergen op Zoom) was a Dutch naval officer.
His first major expedition was in 1596, when he sailed to Africa.
He then left for Asia on 5 May 1601, fromVeere, a seaport on the island of Walcheren in Zealand, in command of the fleet of the company ofBalthazar de Moucheron (a trading company before the establishment of theVOC). His ships were theRam,Schaap, andLam.[2] Spilbergen met the king of Kandy (Sri Lanka)Vimala Dharma Suriya in 1602, and discussed the possibility of trade incinnamon.
In 1607, Spilbergen, onboardAeolus, was withJacob van Heemskerk at theBattle of Gibraltar.
In 1614, he sailed beyond theStrait of Magellan[1] with an expedition of five ships. Despite the fact that theTwelve Years' Truce between Spain and the Dutch Republic was in force, he raided the Spanish settlements on the coast of Mexico and South America. He fought the Spanish atCallao,Acapulco andNavidad.[3] On October 26, he captured the pearl fishing shipSan Francisco atZacatula.[4] After sacking the village ofSantos (thenPortuguese colony) in 1615, aiming to weaken theSpanish-Portuguese influence in South America (but being repelled by the local population), he sailed across thePacific Ocean to theMariana Islands, thePhilippine Islands and eventually toTernate in theMaluku Islands in March 1616.[3] He fought in theSecond Battle of Playa Honda and was defeated by the Spanish Armada in theSpanish East Indies (Philippines). He circumnavigated the earth, and returned to the Dutch Republic in 1617.
He died a poor man inBergen op Zoom in 1620.
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