A voorcompagnie (pre-company) is the naming given to the trading companies from the

Republic of the Seven United Netherlands The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

that traded in Asia between 1594 and 1602, before they all merged to form the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

(VOC). The pre-companies were financed by merchants from the Northern Netherlands and rich immigrants from the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

. Because of the deadly competition, the government forced the smaller trading companies to unite and form the (United) East India Company, that on its turn received the exclusive rights for the trade with Asia for the following 21 years., ''De VOC en het Aziatische handelssysteem'' (1992)

History

In the seven years before the founding of the VOC, 12 pre-companies were formed: According to Jaap ter Haar, "they were sailing the coins out of each other's pockets and the shoes off each other's feet"., ''Geschiedenis van de Lage Landen / 2 Heersers der Nederlanden / druk 1: heersers der Nederlanden'' (2008:226). Uitgeverij Kok. . In total fifteen expeditions were sent between 1594 and 1601, excluding 3 troubled expeditions via

North Cape (Norway) North Cape ( no, Nordkapp; sme, Davvenjárga) is a cape on the northern coast of the island of Magerøya in Northern Norway. The cape is in Nordkapp Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The European route E69 highway has its ...

Citations

References

Sources: *Unger, W.S. (1948) ''De oudste reizen van de Zeeuwen naar Oost-Indië''. De Linschoten-Vereeniging LI. Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff. *Jonge, Jhr. Mr. J.K.J. de (1862
''De opkomst van het Nederlandsch gezag in Oost-Indië, (1595-1610) Eerste deel''
Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff *Wijnroks, E.H. (2003) ''Handel tussen Rusland en de Nederlanden, 1560-1640'' Hilversum * (2009) Geschiedenis van de VOC, p. 17-22. * (2002) Een onderneming van landsbelang. De oprichting van de Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie in 1602

History

Citations

References

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