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Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy

This article addresses the proactive agency of the Siamese kings in cementing commercial and diplomatic ties with the Dutch in the first two decades of the seventeenth century. The focus will be on two interrelated developments: one, the first diplomatic mission to the Dutch Republic in 1608-1610 an...

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Main Author: Borschberg, Peter
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2020
Subjects:
JA Political science (General)
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/36995/
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spelling my.um.eprints.369952024-11-27T03:32:27Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/36995/ Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy Borschberg, Peter JA Political science (General) This article addresses the proactive agency of the Siamese kings in cementing commercial and diplomatic ties with the Dutch in the first two decades of the seventeenth century. The focus will be on two interrelated developments: one, the first diplomatic mission to the Dutch Republic in 1608-1610 and, two, a scheme hatched by Siamese officials to assist the Dutch in obtaining access to the Chinese market. This was deemed necessary after the Dutch, supported by some overseas Chinese businessmen from Southeast Asia, failed to gain trading access in 1604. On the Dutch side, two men stand in the limelight: Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge, a director of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and supreme commander of its second fleet to Asia, and Hugo Grotius, who at the time was a rising star in the Dutch government and would later be celebrated as one of the pathfinders of modern international law. Both their published and unpublished manuscripts will be examined to ascertain how Matelief and the VOC directors reacted to these Siamese initiatives and how, in turn, the admiral sought to mobilize and co-opt the Siamese into his own commercial and military agenda, with the help of Grotius. Cambridge University Press 2020-01 Article PeerReviewed Borschberg, Peter (2020) Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy. Modern Asian Studies, 54 (1). pp. 123-156. ISSN 0026-749X, DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X17000609 <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X17000609>. 10.1017/S0026749X17000609
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic JA Political science (General)
spellingShingle JA Political science (General)
Borschberg, Peter
Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy
description This article addresses the proactive agency of the Siamese kings in cementing commercial and diplomatic ties with the Dutch in the first two decades of the seventeenth century. The focus will be on two interrelated developments: one, the first diplomatic mission to the Dutch Republic in 1608-1610 and, two, a scheme hatched by Siamese officials to assist the Dutch in obtaining access to the Chinese market. This was deemed necessary after the Dutch, supported by some overseas Chinese businessmen from Southeast Asia, failed to gain trading access in 1604. On the Dutch side, two men stand in the limelight: Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge, a director of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and supreme commander of its second fleet to Asia, and Hugo Grotius, who at the time was a rising star in the Dutch government and would later be celebrated as one of the pathfinders of modern international law. Both their published and unpublished manuscripts will be examined to ascertain how Matelief and the VOC directors reacted to these Siamese initiatives and how, in turn, the admiral sought to mobilize and co-opt the Siamese into his own commercial and military agenda, with the help of Grotius.
format Article
author Borschberg, Peter
author_facet Borschberg, Peter
author_sort Borschberg, Peter
title Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy
title_short Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy
title_full Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy
title_fullStr Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy
title_full_unstemmed Cornelis Matelief, Hugo Grotius, and the King of Siam (1605-1616): Agency, initiative, and diplomacy
title_sort cornelis matelief, hugo grotius, and the king of siam (1605-1616): agency, initiative, and diplomacy
publisher Cambridge University Press
publishDate 2020
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/36995/
_version_ 1817841934276755456
score 13.222552

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