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Cornelis and Frederik de Houtman
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Cornelis and Frederik de Houtman

Dutch explorers
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Quick Facts
Born:
c. 1540, Gouda, Neth.
Died:
Sept. 11, 1599, Aceh, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies
Born:
1571, Gouda, Neth.
Died:
Oct. 21, 1627, Alkmaar

Cornelis and Frederik de Houtman (respectively, born c. 1540, Gouda, Neth.—died Sept. 11, 1599, Aceh, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies; born 1571, Gouda, Neth.—died Oct. 21, 1627, Alkmaar) were brothers who navigated and led the first Dutch trading expedition to the East Indies, an area whose trade previously had been a Portuguese monopoly. Cornelis and Frederik were sent to Lisbon in 1592 as commercial representatives of nine Dutch merchants. The brothers were imprisoned by the Portuguese for attempting to steal secret charts of East Indian sailing routes. After their release in 1595 they returned to Amsterdam, where Cornelis was appointed commander ...(100 of 260 words)

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