Adriaen Maertensz Block (c.1582, Gouda – 7 March 1661, Lisse) was successively captain, commander, and governor of Ambon between 1614 and 1617, administrator of the Council of the Indies for the Kamer of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam (VOC) in Batavia. In 1627 two of his ships wrecked on the island of

Wight A wight is a being or thing. This general meaning is shared by cognate terms in Germanic languages, however the usage of the term varies greatly over time and between regions. In Old English, it could refer to anything in existence, with more s ...

in a storm. He probably intended to go there to buy secretly and trade privately. He was suspended and declared unsuitable for other similar offices and retired in a country house at Lisse (which he had let built in 1641), now known as Kasteel Keukenhof. In his inventory were many books listed on navigation and history:

Jan Huygen van Linschoten Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1563 – 8 February 1611) was a Dutch spy, merchant, traveller and writer. He travelled extensively along the East Indies regions under Portuguese influence and served as the archbishop's secretary in Goa between ...

Hugo de Groot Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

, Justus Lipsius, Lieuwe van Aitzema,

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

. Hulkenberg, A.M. (1975) Keukenhof. Uitgave van de Historische Vereniging Holland, p. 49-51.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Adriaen Maertensz 1580s births 1661 deaths People from Gouda, South Holland Sailors on ships of the Dutch East India Company