The Batavia
A Dutch East Indiaman
Brinae Bain Architecture of the Global Renaissance Professor Christy Anderson University of Toronto
Introduction
1650 World Map Published by Jan Janssonius
The Early Modern period is often characterized as a time of innovation, global connectivity, and emerging visual culture. Often discussed are the brilliant Italian duomos, the rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman structures, and the interest in idealized forms. The Early Modern period however was also a time of exploration and the international exchange of ideas and commodities. People, spices, mahogany, silver, gold, silk, and intellectual theories moved across the globe from East to West, from Europe to the Americas, and back again establishing a never-ending trade network of communication and reciprocation. With this, architecture often found itself intertwined in the exchange of ideas and as such, influences from Europe are often found in port-cites and settlements throughout the world.
When examining the global exchanges of the Early Modern period it is important to consider the transitory period, the in-betweens of origin and settlement. It is impossible to understand the early modern trade network without understanding how things moved, particularly, in the maritime realm of commodity exchange. The ship often served as a warehouse, a fortress, and a community, yet we must also consider a more abstract occupation. The ship was a vehicle for global exchange; it is a conveyor of ideas, information, culture, and art. I will be looking at East Indiamen of the Dutch East India Company (the VOC) through the narrative of the Batavia, a mid-seventeenth-century Dutch East Indiaman compromised by greed and mutiny.
Emerging markets and settlements required the construction of new establishments: factories, warehouses, forts, tombs and homes. According to Dutch Golden Age painter, Jan de Bray, “buildings of our time should agree with our lands’ customs and circumstances.1� De Bray suggests that architecture outside of Europe should not be dependent on historical traditions but adaptations and developments necessary to exist in a new region, a new climate. Jan Janssonius, Map of the Castle and the City of Batavia, on the island of Java. 1681. Etching based on drawing by Clement de Jonghe.
VOC Shipbuilding
Joseph Mulder, Het scheepswerfterrein van de VOC op Oostenburg in Amsterdam. 1726.
In 1628 the construction of the VOC ship, the Batavia, was completed at a shipyard in Amsterdam, soon to leave the island of Texel on a mission to Batavia, the new East Indies VOC headquarters in the North West of Java.2 The Batavia was a Dutch East Indiaman, the primary model of VOC ship prized for its adaptability; it was bigger and faster than a fluyt and typically rivaled the defensive power of military vessels.3 At 650 tons burthen and 53 meters in length, the Batavia was a standard, but hefty, ship size for the VOC. The vessels of the European East India companies varied greatly in size, most ranged from 300-800 tons; their capacity was greatly influenced by the intended distance of travel and cargo necessity.4 During the time of the Batavia, the VOC was almost exclusively producing their own ships, rather than contracting private contractors. It took about eighteen months from the time of the construction order to the delivery of a ship, with only three months of actual building.5 Materials were imported from outside of the Netherlands; oak from the Rhine and Westphalia, pine from Norway, Iron from Sweden and Spain, Hemp from Italy, and Coal from England; then all
treated in Holland.6 The wood, carefully selected by master shipbuilders, was primed for six months to prevent later mold growth and warping. With the importation of materials, the ship exists as a composite of European identities; while Dutch built, it represents an achievement of continental conglomeration. The specifics of ship construction during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are not completely known, as building plans for vessels simply did not exist until the late eighteenth century.7 The building of a ship relied almost exclusively on the master shipwright’s knowledge and experience. Shipbuilding was a trade skill, intertwined with the establishment of guilds.8 The first book published on shipbuilding came in 1587 out of Mexico City; it was not until Nicolaes Witsen published Aeloude en Hedendaegse Scheepsbouw en Bestier out of Amsterdam in 1671 that the Dutch had their own publication.9 Even then, his manual was more of a descriptive process in the production of military ships than an instructional guide.
piece, the wood was formed and contorted for the ship’s specific requirements. Merchant ships featured wider flatter bottoms allowing for maximum carrying capacity, whereas naval ships were narrower, allowing for quicker movement in the water. The square-sterned Batavia had a wider hull for the transportation of goods, was armed with twenty-four iron cannons, and twenty-one kilometers of rigging.10
However, with historic remains, artists’ sketches, and some literary sources, we do know the basics of East Indiamen construction. Ships like the Batavia were constructed from the bottom up, shaped piece by Photograph of Batavia remains with illustrations from Hoving, Shipbuilding
Leaving Texel
Ludolf Bakhuizen, Dutch ships in the roadstead of Texel, 1671. Oil on Canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Like many of the ships of the VOC, the Batavia was commissioned as part of fleet leaving Texel, Holland to deliver goods to the East Indies. Specifically, the Batavia, commanded by Francisco Pelsaert, was to deliver a large sum of silver coins, two works of the artist Peter Paul Rubens, and pre-fabricated sandstone blocks for an archway to the city of Batavia in Java.11 The intent to deliver the stone portico and Rubens antiquities to the Indonesian island is evidence of the cultural exchange that paralleled the merchant activity during the period. There were three hundred and forty one passengers on the Batavia; most were seamen and merchants, thirty-eight were civil passengers intending to find work or join their families in the newly settled colonies. Notable persons were the ship’s captain Adrian Jacobsz, the under merchant Jeronimus Cornelisz, both who wished to plan a mutiny and go pirating with the ship and its riches.12 Following the departure from the Cape of Good Hope, the Batavia lost its fleet, and ended up alone; they never made it to their destination in Java. The vast majority of the crew lodged in the main deck, the uppermost deck that reaches from bow to stern,
There were 200-300 seamen and soldiers, with their meager luggage in chests, crammed together between the hammocks, mattresses and guns. Contaminated water in the bottom of the ship, the crewmen’s body odour and forbidden excrement hidden in outof-the-way corners produced stuffy and musty air below deck.13
Cramped living quarters, the stench of bodily disintegration, and rotting food often provided a breathing ground for disease and contamination. However, even living separate from the crew does not guarantee immunity, as with the case of Pelsaert. Following the departure from Cape Town, Pelsaert fell ill; confined to his cabin in the stern castles, the upper rear deck, he could do little to discontinue the rebellious schemes planned by Jacobsz and Cornelisz. The Batavia crashed off of the western coast of Australia in June of 1929. Pelsaert documented the event in his journal, FOURTH of JUNE, being Monday morning, on the 2 day of Whitsuntide, with a clear full moon about 2 hours before daybreak during the watch of the skipper (Ariaen Jacobsz), I was lying in my bunk feeling ill and felt suddenly, with a rough terrible movement, the bumping of the ship’s rudder, and immediately after that I felt the ship held up in her course against the rocks, so that I fell out of my bunk.14
The Batavia shipwreck was the first off the western coast of Australia, and possibly the most significant. The majority of passengers were ferried to the nearest island, but without any prospects of fresh water, Pelsaert took a group of forty-eight, including most senior officers and Jacobsz, on a 2000-mile journey to Batavia in a longboat. After thirty-three days, the group arrived in Batavia, surprisingly suffering no losses. Jacobsz was arrested and Pelsaert was given a second ship, the Sardam, in order to rescue the remaining crew. A few days following Pelsaert’s departure from Australia, the Batavia broke apart, forty passengers sank with it, and Cornelisz made his way to the islands where the remaining survivors were located. Thirsty for power, and not knowing if Pelsaert was to return, Cornelisz began taking control. He, and his crew, murdered anyone who opposed his takeover; in the end the rebels executed one hundred and fifteen, including twelve women and seven children.15 Pelsaert returned after sixty-three days, where he found Cornelisz captured by Wiebbe Hays, a soldier who fought off Cornelisz and his men. Several conspirators were executed on the islands, including Cornelisz. The remaining rebels were captured and the Sardam returned to Batavia.16 Engravings of the Batavia Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Sardam Rescue. Western Australian Museum.
It is believed that two of the passengers from the Batavia arrived on Australia proper; they are thought to be Australia’s first European settlers. Once the shipwreck was found in the twentieth century, the civic museums of Western Australia put forward a great interest in investigating its remains. The permanent Batavia exhibit at the Western Australia Shipwrecks museum serves as an assertion to Australia’s cultural history.
The Ship as Art
Abraham Storck, The ‘Royal Prince’ and other Vessels at the Four Days Battle, 1670. Oil on Canvas. National Maritime Museum
Interestingly, most of the reliable information we have today on shipbuilding comes from artists.17 These ships were visual spectacles, and were documented by artists from production until retirement. A tradition of high quality maritime art, which visually captured proper perspective and accurate impressions of how the ships worked, became popularized in the seventeenth century. Dutch prints and paintings of ships, trade headquarters, forts, factories, and peoples were widely popularized; many can be found in an entire collection dedicated to Dutch maritime history at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The illustration of these vessels was not restricted to Dutch artists either, as seen by the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Japanese watercolors done in Nagasaki during the VOC inhabitation of Dejima. The Japanese prints were created as souvenir items for those visiting Nagasaki Bay.18 The ships that occupied the Dejima harbor were everything from small sailing ships to large East Indiamen, and for nearly two hundred years Japanese artists could go and document the vessels. Their compositions are not quite as realistic as the Dutch paintings, but special attention was often given to the figureheads and gun ports.19 The introduction of the cannon to Japan by the Dutch is
a crucial facet of Japanese history.20 The Japanese prints are also unique in that they are accompanied by text; technical details regarding ship size and design were listed next to distances to various international destinations, situating Nagasaki as a center of global commerce. Artistic renditions of Renaissance architecture were not restricted to the ship or novel at this point in time.21 Yet, the ship exists as a brilliant piece of architecture; East Indiamen were beautiful structures that were composed of the finest wood, were painted bright colors, and featured intricately carved statues. They were mobile buildings with astounding large-scale facades. The two most detailed parts of the ship were the stern and figureheads. Because the Batavia was based on the smaller fluyt-type ship, its stern was quite a bit smaller than some of the much larger, more elaborate naval vessels. The simplicity of the Batavia’s stern stands in tradition with fluyt decoration.22 Its three Xs and crown represent the seal of Amsterdam, homage to its homeport.
artwork, and their contributions to the decoration of ships is often forgotten. The sterns of Dutch ships often featured Northern Mannerist and Auricular designs. Large-scale ships, such as the warship Hollandia (1665) often featured several characters, which depicted a scene.24 The stunning facades could be seen throughout the Eastern and Western hemispheres; it is possible that for some of the native lands these ships were the first introduction of Western art. The ship as a vehicle carried much more than merchant goods, peoples, and ideas; it served as a vessel for the transmission of culture through its cargo and as a marvel of Western architecture.
Dutch sculptors, such as Rombout Verhulst (1624-1696), often worked on ship design during the Golden Age; Verhulst worked on state jachts.23 Unfortunately Dutch sculptors are primarily recognized for their existing
Dutch ship, Oranda sen zu 1802. 30.5 x 22.5 cm. Publisher: Bunkindô, Nagasaki
Conclusion
Photograph of The Batavia Replica sailing in 2000
Unfortunately for researchers today, the ephemerality of ships has made studying them difficult. Today few ways to experience the East Indiamen of the VOC exist, however luckily with the Batavia, two options are available. The surviving part of the wreckage exists in the Western Australia Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle, Australia. The Batavia gallery is a permanent exhibition in their collection, and there you can see large parts of the hull, which was excavated by archaeologists in the 1970s. Along with the ship’s stern, they house a skeleton of one of the murder victims, a replica of the portico façade that was to be used in Batavia, a reconstruction of the Captain’s Cabin, and other artifacts such as silver coins.25 Further, in Lelystad, Netherlands, a full-scale replica of the Batavia exists, and for ten Euro you can walk through its galleys and decks. Created by master shipwright Willem Vos in the 1980s after years of research, the ship was built using accurate materials, tools, and techniques. Unlike many full-scale replicas, the Batavia replica has full sailing capability, and represented the Dutch in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The replica provides an authentic insight in experiencing a seventeenth century East Indiaman.
The Batavia is one of hundreds of Dutch VOC ships, all having their own stories to tell. I chose this ship for several particular reasons, including its existence and accessibility today and the records available from Pelsaert’s Journal and the Western Australia Museum. In studying the Batavia, I have come to realize that these ships, created essentially as a trade skill, served to expand the Dutch economy as mobile architectures. Itinerant structures that carried not just goods and people, but stories and legacy. It is believed that two of the Batavia’s shipwreck survivors made it to the mainland and were Australia’s first European inhabitants. Their decorative elements transposed the Dutch Baroque and Auricular styles across the globe.26
nent ship of the VOC fleet, it serves as a relic for the global exchange of the Early Modern period.
The ship in the early modern period is a complex structure, and with little architectural evidence remaining, a tough one to analyze. Yet, with the Batavia one can see that the physical structure of the ship is inherent to the mission, the story, and the legacy it leaves behind; its function as a warehouse, community, and fortress is reliant on its built materials and integral design. But the Batavia is celebrated for its narrative; one claimed by both the Dutch and Australians. I think that each nation’s reclamation of the ship signifies its importance in the culture that it disseminated. While the Batavia was not the most promi
Photographs from the Batavia Exhibt at the Western Australia Shipwrecks Museum Fremantle, Australia
Notes: 1 As discussed by Kaufman in “The Historiography of the Geography of Art.” 35. 2 Government of Western Australia. Western Australian Museum website. http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/ research-areas/maritime-archaeology/batavia-cape-inscription/batavia. Accessed Nov. 20, 2014. 3 Unger. Dutch Ship Building. 47 4 Sutton. Lords of the East. 41 5 Jacobs. In Pursuit of Pepper and Tea. 24 6 Jacobs 24 and Hoving 23-25 7 The earliest known plan for an English East Indiaman is of the Warwick, which was constructed in 1750. 8 Unger. 15-17. 9 Unger. Dutch Ship Building. 42. Further, I am drawing heavily on Witsen’s work and Hoving’s interpretation for the understanding of Dutch shipbuilding, see Hoving. 10 De VOC Site. http://www.vocsite. nl/schepen/detail.html?id=10088. Accessed November 24, 2014. (Dutch) 11 Government of Western Australia. Western Australian Museum website. http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/ research-areas/maritime-archaeology/batavia-cape-inscription/batavia. Accessed Nov. 20, 2014. 12 Confessed by Jan Hendricxsz after his capture by Pelsaert following the Sardam’s rescue. Pelsaert’s journal. 13 Jacobs. 47
Pelsaert’s Journal. Ariese. “Databases of the People aboard the VOC ships Batavia and Zeewijk” Western Australian Museum. 16 All story references are from the Western Australian Museum and Pelsaert’s journal. 17 As stated by Unger. 41. 18 The Dutch in Nagasaki. 8. 19 Ibid 50-1 20 Japanese chieftain Tokugawa Ieyasu used Dutch cannons in order to defeat his rivals in his conquest to become Japan’s first shogun. See Schirokauer and Clark 65-91. 21 For example, Raphael’s The Marriage of the Virgin (1504) from Italy or the Dutch painter Jacob van Ruisdael’s The Windmill (1665). 22 Peters. Ship Decoration. 70 23 Ibid. 68. 24 Ibid. 69 25 Government of Western Australia. Western Australia Museum website. http://museum.wa.gov.au/museums/shipwrecks/batavia-gallery. Accessed Nov. 24, 2014. 26 Peters. Ship Decoration. 66-68. 14 15
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