Carel Reyniersz, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetCarel Reyniersz
Dutch Governor-General of the VOC
Date of Birth: 01-Jan-1604
Place of Birth: Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Date of Death: 19-May-1653
Profession: politician
Nationality: Netherlands
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn 
About Carel Reyniersz
- Carel Reyniersz (1604–1653) was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1650 until 1653. Reyniersz (or Reiniersz) was born in Amsterdam in 1604 (or perhaps 1602).
- He left for the Indies in 1627 as Upperbuyer (opperkoopman) on the Dutch Coromandel (Karnataka).
- He was promoted to Governor of the Coromandel Coast in 1635, even though he had been accused of engaging in (forbidden) private/personal trading.
- In 1636 he became Counsellor-extraordinary (Raad extra-ordinair) of the Dutch Council of the Indies.
- He returned to Amsterdam as Admiral of the returning fleet in 1638 and established himself as a merchant there.
- However, he lost his entire fortune, so left again, this time aboard the Salamander, for India on 24 April 1645.
- He arrived there on 3 December 1645.
- The following year, 1646, he became a full Counsellor of the Indies. His allocated task was to carry out a new policy in the Indies.
- Most importantly, he was, as far as possible to eliminate sources of competition.
- He was to take action against private trading and to deal with too much production of spices by having trees cut down.
- Reinier stuck strictly to this policy, which led to much conflict in West Ceram, where the population would not accept the destruction of their plantations.
- It took until 1658 for the area to be pacified. Four years after Reyniersz become a Counsellor, Governor-General Cornelis van der Lijn received an honorable discharge (sic) and on 26 April 1650, Reyniersz was named his successor, a task he very much looked forward to.
- Four years later he was dismissed.
- The governors of the company were not pleased by the weakness of his rule.
- There still exists in the Netherlands his letter of dismissal.
- It indicates he was being dismissed because he had been unable to carry out the duties of his office, particularly maintaining peace.
- The letter was never sent, because Reynier had already written to the Seventeen Lords (Heren XVII) asking to be relieved of his office on health grounds.
- This letter arrived just before his dismissal letter was to be sent.
- The Seventeen Lords willingly agreed to his request, though he died before their response reached him, on the night of 18/19 May 1653.
- He was buried in Batavia, Dutch East Indies and was succeed as Governor-General by Joan Maetsuycker.
Read more at Wikipedia