Yore Life as a Dutch Sailor on an East Indiaman bound for the East Indies (Indonesia) - Part 1/4

Cheers,

Parts 2, 3 and 4 are also in the playlist!

If you are a fan of the Aubrey-Maturin books like Master and Commander or Horatio Hornblower then you will likely enjoy these as they put you into the seat of the protagonist. You aren't the Captain in this, instead you are an average dutch citizen from the farming class seeking riches and adventure aboard a VOC ship to the east.

The video is presented in 2nd person which if you are a fan of Role Playing games you will enjoy. If you aren't but enjoy Historical Fiction then you will enjoy this like a great History documentary in which YOU play the starring role. This voyage now takes 15 hours by air from Amsterdam to Jakarta. But back then it was an 8 month voyage by VOC ship with up to 25 percent of the crew succumbing to illness before arrival.

History sometimes blurs reality with romantic notions of how it was in the past. While this is sometimes true, often the reality is harsher and much less romantic than imagined.

In this episode you are Piet Van Westen from the small dutch village of Gouderak. The year is 1655 and the Netherlands is in the midst of a Golden Age.

Your dreary life and future as a farmer holds zero appeal against the backdrop of the adventure to be had wth the VOC fleet that sailed for the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).

You head off for Amsterdam and the uncertainty of life on board a 17th century VOC company ship. What adventures will you experience? What was the food like or the living conditions on board such a ship!? Could you have survived the conditions on board and made it to journey's end?

I received a LOT of inspiration from the following channels: Baz Battles, Historia Civilis and Kings and Generals!

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Other videos in this series:

Sources:
The East Indiamen - The Seafarers - Time Life Books
The Embarrassment of Riches - Simon Schama
The Dutch Republic - Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall - Jonathan Israel
Art and Commerce in the Dutch Golden Age - Michael North

Music:

#EastIndiaMan #DutchGoldenAge #AgeofSail

[YoreHistory]

UPDATE March 5, 2020

This series has exploded (for my channel) in popularity since about February 22nd 2020. Still not sure what the catalyst was but its been great to see this series get more views as it was fun to make. I do want to talk about a few points though.

This series was NOT about justifying the colonialism of Indonesia. For those leaving comments I would urge you to please watch the videos first THEN comment. There are *clear* mentions (albeit summarized) of the poor treatment by and downright savagery at times of the VOC throughout the series and it was in no way an attempt to diminish/justify or hide from that history. However, this was a story about life of the average sailor. Some have accused it of being a romanticized account..if that is your idea of romanticizing the period I don't think i would have wanted to sail with you on your vessel. Others have levied the complaint that it is unrealistic as there is no way the typical sailor would go through all of this. To those I would say you are correct and will explain in the next paragraph. However, the average VOC sailor although from that era had nothing to do with the evils committed although they were sometimes complicit by association. The VOC transported more people and tonnage of trade over the few hundred years of its existence by a wide margin over all the other European company's combined.

The primary goal for me was to tell a story that showed the underbelly of mariner life rather than the romanticized notions from movies like "The Bounty". Every event or happenstance your sailor finds himself wrapped up in is based on factual actual experiences of VOC sailors. However, there is no one sailor other than yours that I know of that experienced ALL of them on one journey lol...again that was for the purpose of narrative, dramatic pacing and wanting to cover as much of the era and profession on board such a ship as possible.

At the end of the day it was about marine life. This was NOT a video about colonialism in Indonesia nor one on the history of the VOC as an entity. I am sensitive to that reality having studied its history and having been to Indonesia many times as an awe struck tourist and human brother (albeit a Dutch one) reveling in the majesty, diversity and complexity that is Indonesian culture. My wife is from a country also of Malay ancestry (Philippines) and we have a grown daughter. Her country went through the Spanish version of a similar colonialism.

With all of that said...I don't believe in punishing the "son for the sins of the father"...or in this case the great great great grandfather of mine who sailed with the VOC. That is not my sin nor my daughters nor the sin of the current Dutch nation which in its modern incarnation is comprised of a mosaic of peoples, many from or have family that lived in those once colonies. Should we avoid dealing with history that was unpleasant? Do we, like the archaeologists who first re-discovered Pompeii, cover up the murals of history because we are uncomfortable looking at them? History is our shared bond as humans. History is important for ensuring we learn from its mistakes as we savor its successes.

I try (stressed) to cover history from a neutral unbiased point of view. Watch my Persian empire series if you haven't already and honestly tell me if you felt it was as most accounts slanted towards western bias. I would challenge anyone who jumps to that conclusion to just watch them first then post me your thoughts.

Please feel free to post your thoughts even if they are negative as that is as much your right as our shared history is our collective right. I only ask that you keep it civil and on point. Thanks all and appreciate the dialogue AND your dropping by to watch the content!

[sarcasmo]

Similar to my experience onboard the Diamond Princess.

[gevoel]

My ancestor went on one of those VOC ships as a soldier. He took out a loan from the VOC, which basically funded his voyage, food and clothes for the voyage. For that he had to work for two years for the VOC as a soldier and earned a small salary. Lucky for me, these 17th century VOC contracts are kept in an archive in the Netherlands and it was amazing to find the contract of my ancestor and the name of the ship he went on. It has all been digitilized now and uploaded on the internet. He was suppose to go to the East Indies but the VOC wanted to build a castle in Cape Town, South Africa, to protect their harbour from pirots and other Europeans. So it took him more than 3 months of voyage at sea before he got to Cape Town. There he worked for the VOC to help build the Castle of Good Hope, which you can still see in Cape Town today. After two years of working for the VOC he was a "free burger". Basically a free citizen to go back to the Netherlands or keep on working for the VOC or do your own thing. He decided that he was going to start farming in the Cape and sell the produce to the VOC for more money. He obviously liked what he was doing now and with more and more Dutch farmers coming over to the Cape Colony now, he decided to stay and start a small family. Very interesting history.

[simeon]

So here we all are, full circle on a dreary ship called *The Quarantine.*

[pavanatanaya]

The longest 5years of my life was a three hour flight on Delta Airlines

[sgt]

Thanks to the Youtube algorithm for putting this in my recommended videos, even more so, thank you for the time and effort you have put into this.

[petergorm]

This is very interesting. I thank the algorithm. And ofcourse the uploader!

[DutchBane]

my ancestor (admiral lichthart) was a west indies admiral in the 17th century, he is even on wikipedia. everyone up to my son is named after him and all of us besides my son ( he is 3) have served in the dutch navy (warships until 1932, from then on out we my greatgrandad, grandad, father and i have served on submarines). videos like this really give me something to connect to my roots. thank you

[Jleelowrey]

I couldn't figure out how to send you a private message, so I'll do it here. This is remarkably great. Please do more like this, I've been thinking about this unremarkable sailor's story for days. You have something here in your story telling. Thank you, I can't wait for more.

[dorianphilotheates]

This is exceedingly well done. Thanks!

[OriginalThinker_]

This might explain why a distant relative jumped ship in New Amsterdam harbor and started my family line in US.

[fl]

Great presentation here, I really found this easy to track with and immerse myself in

[Sshooter]

When you pronounced "process" I saw a big maple leaf flag in my mind

[volkerwendt]

Wonderful series, prettily researched and beautifaully narrated. Thanks a lot for this.

[antonludwigaugustvonmacken]

This channel is a godsend. Love the content

[brokenbridge]

Ah to be a sailor at this time. What a hard knock life it must have been.

[unknownauthor]

Please make 2 & 3 also should make one on the Caribbean during the Buccaneer days such as 1660 with a Buccaneer crew.

[Worldtimes]

That Hank Guys, sounds like a decent human being!

[geodezix]

Although Yore History didn't bother to explain, VOC stands "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie", or in English, Dutch East India Company, officially the United East India Company.

[tellemhowbeer]

Awesome vid again. Im hooked. Cheers from Texas