Jan Huyghen van Linschoten
Huygen van Linschoten January (* 1563 in Haarlem, † February 8, 1611 in Enkhuizen ) was a Dutch merchant, author and explorer.
Life
Linschoten was born in Haarlem, learned from his brothers in Portugal and Spain the merchant profession. In 1581 he went as secretary to the Archbishop of Goa, Free Vicente da Fonseca, according to Portuguese India, where he spent six years. He was also involved in the trade of Asian products and promoted him. Through his position in January Huygen had access to secret documents, including charts of the Portuguese, who had this kept secret for over a century. He started to copy secret in breach of the trust placed in him these documents.
1587 with the death of his patron, the Archbishop of Goa, during his journey to Lisbon to report to the Portuguese king ended the adventure in India for Jan Huygens. He took the sailors towards Lisbon in January 1589 and passed in May 1589 the Portuguese naval base with a depot on the island of St. Helena.
The journey was interrupted by a shipwreck, caused by English pirates, so that Jan spent in the Azores two years. He landed in Lisbon in 1592 and then returned to his hometown Enkhuizen.
With the support of specialized ship topics, geography and travel Amsterdam publisher Cornelis Claesz, wrote in 1595 jan, then book Reys - gheschrift vande navigatien the Portugaloysers in Orients ( trip report on the Portuguese navigation in the East ). The work includes a variety of sailing routes, not only for the routes between Portugal and India, but also between India, China and Japan.
January Huyghen also wrote two more books, 1597 Beschryvinghe van de gantsche custe van Guinea, Manicongo, Angola border over tegen de Cabo de S. Augustijn in Brazil, de eyghenschappen of gheheelen Oceanic Zee (description of the entire coast of Guinea, Manicongo, Angola and the Cape of St. Augustus in Brazil) and Itinerary: voyage ofte schipvaert van Linschoten January Huyghen van Oost ofte naer Portugaels India, 1579-1592 ( trip report about the journey of the seafarer January Huyghen van Linschoten Portuguese India after 1596).
An English edition of the Itinerary was published in 1598 in London, also a German edition was published in the same year.
On his return to Holland Linschoten wrote two books (published 1595-96 ), on the route to the East Indies as well as the local products and produce. These books stimulated the first Dutch under Cornelis de Houtman Ostexpedition that led to the founding of the Dutch East India Company and the end of the monopoly of the Portuguese ushered in the spice trade.
1594 accompanied Linschoten Willem Barents to the Arctic and Barents 1595 went again to Novaya Zemlya. The basis of these expeditions was to find a new route to China, among others, on the land of the north. These trips should, however, discover the North Passage to India; a description appeared in 1601.