Cornelis Matelief de Jonge
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Cornelis Matelief (de Jonge) (ca. 1569, Rotterdam - October 17, 1632, Rotterdam), also spelled Matelieff, was a Dutch admiral who was active in establishing Dutch power in Southeast Asia during the beginning of the 17th century.
Matelief was put in command of a fleet of eleven ships of the Dutch East India Company with the destination of Malacca. It was the third such fleet from the Dutch East Indies Company to visit Malacca. The ships were Oranje, Nassau, Middelburg, Witte Leeuw, Zwarte Leeuw, Mauritus, Grote Zon, Amsterdam, Kleine Zon, Erasmus and Geuniveerde Provincien. The fleet set sail from Holland on May 12, 1605 and reached Malacca in April 1606. The fleet was officially on a trading mission, but its true intent was to try to destroy Portuguese power in the area.
In May 1606 Matelief de Jonge formed a formal pact with the ruler of Johor, Sultan Alauddin, to expel the Portuguese. In exchange, the Dutch would get Malacca for themselves and would be able to conduct trade with Johor. The Dutch and the Malay also agreed to tolerate each other's religion.
[edit] First battle of Malacca (August 1606)
Matelief laid siege to the Portuguese-held Malacca for several months, but was repulsed on land by Portuguese troops under André Furtado de Mendoça and their allies, a contingent of Japanese samurai from Red seal ships. A very large Portuguese fleet under Don Martin d'Alphonso de Castro, the Viceroy of Goa, arrived on the scene with almost twenty Portuguese ships on August 14, 1606.
The two fleets fought from August 17th. Nassau was boarded by Santa Cruz and the Nossa Senhora Conceição. Matelief, onboard Oranje, went to the rescue but collided with another Dutch ship, Middelburg. These two ships were then attacked by the Sao Salvador and Don Duarte de Guerra's galleon. Oranje broke free, but the two Portuguese ships and the Middelburg all caught fire and sank in the action. The Santa Cruz and Conceição eventually managed to set the Nassau on fire, leading to an explosion that sank her.
Matelief decided to leave the action, with 150 dead on the Dutch side, and around 500 on the Portuguese side. On August 19, 1606, he obtained permission from the Johor Sultan to anchor his fleet for repairs in the Johor River.
[edit] Second battle of Malacca (Sept. 1606)
Matelief came back to the scene of the first battle about a month later. De Castro had sailed away, leaving only ten Portuguese ships before Malacca. Matelief attacked the ships and managed to sink or burn every single one of them, with little loss, on September 21, 1606.
[edit] Aftermath
The Dutch would ultimately gain control of Malacca more than thirty years later, again joining forces with the Sultanate of Johor, and a new ally Aceh, in 1641.
