Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer (died 1599)

Cornelis de Houtman

Dutch explorer (1565–1599)

Cornelis de Houtman was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the Portuguese monopoly on the spice trade was vulnerable. A flurry of Dutch…