Pieter van der Does (

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, 1562 -

São Tomé Island São Tomé Island, at , is the largest island of São Tomé and Príncipe and is home in May 2018 to about 193,380 or 96% of the nation's population. The island is divided into six districts of São Tomé and Príncipe, districts. It is located ...

, 24 October 1599) was a Dutch naval commander. He was the son of Jacob van der Does (c.1500-1577),

schepen A schepen (Dutch, ; . ') or échevin (French, , ) or Schöffe (German, ) is a municipal officer in Belgium and formerly the Netherlands, where it has been replaced by the (a municipal executive). In modern Belgium, the ''schepen'' or ''échevin'' ...

during its

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

Life

Pieter Van Der Does was born in

. In 1586 he became superintendent of the Dutch fleet which witnessed the defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

two years later. In 1588, he was wounded at the siege of Geertruidenberg. In 1587, he was also bailiff and dijkgraaf of the Rijnland

water board A water board is a regional or national organisation that has very different functions from one country to another. The functions range from flood control and water resources management at the regional or local level (the Netherlands, Germany), ...

, and in 1588 chief

schout In Dutch language, Dutch-speaking areas, a ''schout'' was a local official appointed to carry out administrative, law enforcement and prosecutorial tasks. The office was abolished with the introduction of administrative reforms during the Napoleon ...

of Leiden. On 23 December 1588, he received the post of vice-admiral of West Holland, and sometime later he was also master-general of the artillery. In 1594, he was wounded during the siege of Groningen. For his services the

States of Holland and West Friesland The States of Holland and West Frisia () were the representation of the two Estates of the realm, Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the Dutch Republic, United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a count, ...

granted him the

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

doms of Vriesekoop and Rijnsaterwoude and the title of

jonkheer (female equivalent: ; in the masculine only; ''jonkvrouw'' is used in the feminine, even in French; ) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used ...

. In 1597 he was vice-admiral in the

Admiralty of the Maze The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Dutch admiralties in the Dutch Republic. History The Admiralty of Rotterdam was founded in 1574 during the Dutch Revolt, when (after the Capture of Brielle) ...

and in 1599 a vice-admiral in the

Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests. The territory for which Amsterdam ...

. In May 1599, he led a Dutch and

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

fleet which set out to blockade the Iberian coast as part of the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

. En route, they attacked the Spanish possession of

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

, but this was heavily defended, and the attack was unsuccessful. It then moved to attack Spanish possessions in West Africa around Sao Tomé, where Van Der Does died, either of wounds received at Las Palmas or of Malaria.

Bibliography

*Ebben, M.A., ''De aanval van Pieter van der Does op Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1599) en de Nederlandse expansie rond 1600'', 1999 *Lem, A. van der, Ebben, M.A., Fagel, R.P. & Sicking, L.H.J. (Ed.), ''De Opstand in de Nederlanden, 1555–1609'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Does, Pieter van der Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic 1562 births 1599 deaths People from Leiden 16th-century Dutch people 16th-century Dutch military personnel