Barent Eriksz (also known as Barent Erickzen and Bernard Ericks) was a Dutch trader from

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperou ...

, who is considered the initiator of Dutch trade with the Gold Coast in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

.Delepeleire 2004: Chapter 1
/ref> Eriksz departed from Medemblik in 1590, and wanted to sail to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

via

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and North Africa, but around the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can al ...

he was held up for three months due to unfavourable winds, which eventually made him visit the island of

Príncipe Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Census;

to repair his ship. Here he was arrested by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

, who kept him imprisoned on

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Ál ...

. It is here that he heard of the trading opportunities in

Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, west of Cape Coast. Elmina was ...

on the Gold Coast. It is unknown how Eriksz escaped from captivity, but around 1593 he was back in the Netherlands, only to make another trading trip to the Gold Coast in the same year, coming back successfully in March 1594. Eriksz remained active in the trade on the Gold Coast, and made 11 trips in total to the area.

References

*Pieter de Marees ''Beschryvinge ende Historische verhael van het Gout Koninckrijck van Guinea.'' *Yves Delepeleire (2004) ''Nederlands Elmina: een socio-economische analyse van de Tweede Westindische Compagnie in West-Afrika in 1715.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksz, Barent 16th-century births 16th-century Dutch explorers 17th-century deaths Dutch Gold Coast people Explorers of Africa People from Medemblik