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Cargando... The Memoirs and Memorials of Jacques de Coutre: Security, Trade and Society in 16th- and 17th-century Southeast Asiapor Peter Borschberg
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Jacques de Coutre was a Flemish gem trader who spent nearly a decade in Southeast Asia at the turn of the 17th century. He left history a substantial autobiography written in Spanish and preserved in the National Library of Spain in Madrid. Written in the form of a picaresque tale, with an acute eye for the cultures he encountered, the memoirs tell the story of his adventures in the trading centres of the day: Melaka, Ayutthaya, Patani, Pahang, Johor, Brunei and Manila. Narrowly escaping death several times, De Coutre was inevitably drawn into dangerous intrigues between the representatives of European power, myriad fortune hunters and schemers, and the rulers and courtiers in the palaces of Pahang, Patani, Siam and Johor. In addition to his autobiography, De Coutre wrote a series of memorials to the united crown of Spain and Portugal that contain recommendations designed to remedy the decline in the fortunes of the Iberian powers in Southeast Asia, particularly against the backdrop of early Dutch political and commercial penetration into the region. Annotated and translated into English for the first time, these materials provide a valuable first-hand account of the issues confronting the early colonial powers in Southeast Asia, and deep into the societies De Coutre encountered in the territory that today makes up Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. The book is lavishly illustrated with 62 maps and drawings of the period, including many examples not previously published. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)959History and Geography Asia Southeast AsiaClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (4)
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I wish this work had been available a few years ago when I was doing some research on Indian trade textiles as it would have filled in some gaps in where some of those remarkable textiles were sent. It's the perfect accompaniment to John Guy's Woven Cargoes: Indian Textiles in the East or his later book co-authored with several other textile experts, Interwoven Trade: The Worldwide Textile Trade. Unfortunately, Jacques de Coutre was no textile expert, and leaves us no descriptions of these textiles aside from a single reference to "red cloth", other than their places of origin: Cambay, Coromandel Coast, etc. (which fortunately DOES tell us a lot of what type of textiles these were--palampores, calicoes, kalimkari, etc.-- and must have looked like). The Index contains half a page of entries that reads: "take to Aceh; take to Arabia; from Cambay; to Cambodia; to Champa; to Mombasa, to Mozambique, from Sindh...."
The maps were also deliciously rewarding, as was the extensive list of Place Names and Geographic Terms. For those who believe Singapore was first discovered by Raffles in 1819, this book should be an eye-opener as it recounts many voyages in the region and nearby waters with very sound details confirming knowledge of great portions of Southeast Asia and its waters.
And the very earnest memorials, 17C versions of those corporate memos written by junior employees trying to respectfully but earnestly help their desk-bound superiors 'understand' an opportunity. When the Flemish Jacques writes to the King of Spain, "the Dutch have taken all these estuaries [and natural harbours]. It is very worrying." my heart goes out to him. As Lucy Kellaway would have told him, "Save your ink."
Not a fun read, but an amusing and interesting volume, which shall go alongside my other works on early Southeast Asia and Francesco Carletti's My Voyage Around the World: The Chronicles of a 16th Century Florentine Merchant. Best read alongside such a book as Richard Hall's Empires of the Monsoon: A History of the Indian Ocean and its Invaders or the wonderfully readable book by Giles Milton, Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History.
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