Jacob (Jacques) Mahu (1564 – 23 September 1598) was a Dutch merchant and explorer. In 1598, he led an expedition with five vessels organised by Pieter van der Hagen and Johan van der Veeken intended to find a trade route to the

Spice Islands In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for ...

and to incite the local population to rise against the Spanish. The expedition left from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

on 27 June 1598, but suffered misfortune from the start. The ships with their (initial) captains were: ''Hoop'' (''Hope''), captained by Jacques Mahu, leader of the expedition; ''Liefde'' (''Love''), captained by

Simon de Cordes Simon de Cordes (born around 1559 – died 11 November 1599) was a Dutch merchant and explorer who after the death of Admiral Jacques Mahu, became leader of an expedition with the goal to achieve the Indies,DE REIS VAN MAHU EN DE CORDES DOOR ...

, second-in-command; ''Geloof'' (''Faith''), captained by Gerrit van Beuningen; ''Trouwe'' (''Faithful''), captained by Jurriaan van Boekhout; and finally ''Blijde Boodschap'' (''Good Tiding'' or ''The Gospel''), captained by Sebald de Weert. The ''Blijde Boodschap'' was better known as ''Vliegend Hert'' (''Flying deer'') prior to this particular voyage. ''Liefde'' had been previous known as ''

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

'' and still had a figurehead of him. After leaving European waters the ships spent sailed to the

Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

off the coast of Africa, staying there from 2 to 29 September. While there, many of the crew of the ''Hoop'' caught fever, some of whom died, including Admiral Jacques Mahu, who died on 23 September 23 1598, leaving the expedition without its leader. The leadership of the expedition was taken over by

. ''Blijde Boodschap'' was captured by the Spanish in South America, ''Hoop'' was lost near Hawaii and ''Trouwe'' was captured by the Portuguese on

Tidore Tidore (, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island of Tidore (with three sm ...

. The ''Geloof'' became the first Dutch ship to cross the Pacific and returned to Holland via the Strait of Magellan in July 1600 with only 36 of her original 109 crew. ''Liefde'' was wrecked on the coast of Japan with 24 survivors, one of whom, William Adams, remained as a trader and personal advisor to ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

References

16th-century Dutch explorers Dutch merchants 1598 deaths 1564 births {{explorer-stub