Real Laurence

Laurens Real was born in 1583 in the family of the Amsterdam merchant Laurens Jacobs Real ( Dutch Laurens Jacobsz Reael ), the owner of the tavern " In the Golden Real " ( Dutch. In den gouden Reael ) and an amateur poet, known as the author of the collection of poems " Songs of Gyoes " ( Netherlands. Geuzenliederen ). At school, Laurence Jr. studied brilliantly, especially in mathematics and foreign languages. He studied law at Leiden University ; in Leiden lived in the house of the Protestant theologian Jacob Arminius , who since 1590 was married to his older sister Leysbet ( Dutch. Lijsbet Reael ). In 1608 he received a doctorate.

In May 1611, on four ships, he set off for the Dutch possessions on the Malay Archipelago . In 1616 he was appointed Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, succeeding Gerard Reinst . A year later, on October 31, 1617, Real resigned after a conflict with the management of the company (the so-called " Seventeen Gentlemen " - Dutch. Heeren XVII ), due to the fact that Real defended the indigenous inhabitants of the Moluccas , where at that time the residence of the General Governor, from oppression by the Dutch, and also did not take a tough stance against the British who often visited Mollusk, the main rivals of the Netherlands. However, until the arrival of the new Governor-General, Jan Peterson Kuhn , in Molluki in 1619, Real continued to perform his duties; He fought with the Spaniards in the Gulf of Manila, with the British in Bantam and in Molluki, as well as with the Sultanate of Mataram .

In January 1620, Real returned to the Netherlands. In the metropolis, he was not allowed to public office, as he maintained relations with the followers of Arminius - the Arminians . He was friends with the poets Peter Cornelisson Hooft and Jost van den Vondel . In 1623, Vondel dedicated to him his poem Ode to the Mariner ( Dutch. Lof der Zeevaart ).

After the death of the Netherlands halter Moris of Orange, Real returned to public service; On June 9, 1625, he became a member of the Amsterdam Patent of the Dutch East India Company and remained in this position until his death. From 1625 to 1627 he was vice admiral of Holland and West Friesland. In two battles, November 12, 1626 and July 10, 1627 , defeated the Spanish and English fleets off the Barbarian coast of Africa . In 1626 he represented the Netherlands at the coronation of the English king Charles I in England, for which the new king knighted him. On August 18, 1627 he was appointed lieutenant admiral of Holland and West Friesland.

At the end of 1627 he was sent with a diplomatic mission to Denmark , which at that time was at war with the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand II . On the way back in early 1628, his ship was shipwrecked on the coast of Jutland . Near the shipwreck was a camp of Austrians; Real was captured by them and taken to Vienna , where he was held captive until February 1629 . Soon after returning from captivity, in the summer of 1629, he married. In 1630 he was elected a member of the Amsterdam City Council, and in 1632 - an alderman .

In 1637, Real was considered the most likely candidate for the post of fleet admiral, but he did not manage to take this post, as he died in October of the same year in Amsterdam from the bubonic plague. Before this plague took away the two sons of Real. Buried in Westerkerk .

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• VOCsite: personalia, Laurens Reael