- Joris van Spilbergen
Joris van Spilbergen (1568 - 1620) was a Dutch naval officer of the 17th century.
His first major expedition was in 1596, when he sailed to
Africa .He then left for Asia on May 5, 1601, commanding the fleet of the company of the Moucheron (a trading company before the esablishement of the VOC). His ships were the "Ram", "Schaap", and "Lam". Spilbergen met the king of Kandy (
Sri Lanka )Vimala Dharma Suriya in 1602, and discussed the possibility of trade incinnamon .In 1607, Spilbergen, onboard "Aeolus", was with
Jacob van Heemskerk at theBattle of Gibraltar .In 1614, he sailed beyond the
Straits of Magellan and raided the Spanish settlements of the coast ofCalifornia . He had some fights withSebastian Vizcaino andNicolas de Cardona . He circumnavigated the earth, and returned to Holland in 1617.He died a poor man in
Bergen-op-Zoom in 1620.
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