Sailing Letters
In early modern Europe, it was not uncommon for warring nations to hand out privateer letters to their navies. Under the laws of war these letters legitimized the recipient to attack, sink or take prize (merchant) vessels of the enemy. To prove that a hijacked vessel indeed belonged to the enemy documents of trade and letters found on board were kept and archived. In these archives, we can find fory-seven letters that merchant Michiel Heusch wrote to his son Michiel Heusch Junior between 1664 and 1645. These letters were intercepted by British vessels and thus never reached young Michiel. However, were these letters not intercepted, we would now not be able to reconstruct an image of this merchant family, their business and their network.
Michiel Heusch Senior
Michiel Heusch was a wealthy Dutch merchant from Hamburg. He was born in Hamburg in 1601 and died there as well between 1679 and 1684. The Heusch family originated from Flanders. Michiel’s father, Peter Heusch, left Catholic Antwerp for religious reasons and moved to Hamburg in 1585. During the seventeenth century most of the Hamburg trade was dominated by Dutch-Flemisch merchants, who married within the community. Michiel was no exception to this and in 1633 he married the originally Flemish Elisabeth Bosschaert. Even though they lived in Hamburg, Dutch was the language that was spoken in the community, as we can see in the letters Heusch wrote. Five years after the marriage, Michiel and Elisabeth got a son. Young Michiel Heusch, named after his father, grew up in Hamburg, destined to take over his father’s enterprise one day. It is in that context that his father send him on an ‘grand tour’ in spring 1664. This trip served two purposes. First of all, it was an excellent opportunity for the twenty-six year old Michiel Heusch jr. to become acquainted with the trading business and his father’s contacts. Secondly, it gave Michiel Heusch sr. the possibility of gathering information on trade through his son, whilst he himself could remain in Hamburg, where he would be elected chairman of the chamber of commerce in 1665.
Grand Tour
In the Spring of 1664, young Michiel Heusch left Hamburg to undertake a journey to Italy. At the age of twenty-six, it was about time for him to get the hang of the family business; trade in the Mediteranean. Preparations for this 'internship' had been made by his father, who paid his expenses and wrote letters of recommandation to his trading contacts in various cities in Italy. From the adresses found on the letters written to him by his father, we can reconstruct the route of his Grand Tour. Young Michiel travelled by land. On 30 May he stayed in Fraknkfurt with a friend of his father named Neufville He then went to Neurenberg to stay with Hans Behmers. After a stay with mr. Strijcker in Augsburg he travelled on to Venice, where he arrived on 1 July. Later he would travel to Naples, Rome, Livorno and Genua to take care of his fathers' business.
Informant on location Motherly Worries
Sending a family member to a foreign trade hub to provide one with reliable market information was not uncommon for seventeenth century merchants. To this, Heusch was no exception. Besides providing his son with an education, Heusch had a very practical goal in sending him abroad. He now had a trustworthy contact in his area of trade, who could provide him with reliable market information. In his letters, Heusch constantly urges his son to send back information on prices, goods and shippings.
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When all points of business have been made, Heusch sends the regards of Michiel's mother, Elisabeth. As any mother would be, she is often worried about her son. She complains that he does not frequently write back and always hopes to hear from him soon. She tells him to be careful, especially late at night and not to drink to much alcohol:
"siet u doch wel vor (....) met hittige gedranck oft bij auont tijde dat aen geen ongeluck gerackt dat moeder mij nu datelijck ock compt recomanderen te schrijuen" (Mother recommands me to write that you should be careful with strong liquor at night so that no accidents happen to you) |
A letter of 20 July 1664
Heusch senior starts his letter with describing the current state of (family) affairs in Hamburg. His wife and mother to Heusch junior, Elisabeth had been sick but seems to get better now (met moeder weer gebetert js). Also their niece van Overbeeck has given birth to a daughter for the first time, but has fallen ill after the labor (onse nicht van ouerbeeck…. starcke corts gecregen). He continues to describe trade affairs; a partner named Jurgen Ulkens is still in the trade business but might not be for long, a contact named Coeman (den ouden Coeman) still owes Heusch two-hundred pounds, which Coeman’s son (de jonge) has to pay in the coming months. Heusch has sent two shipments of anise and almonds to Marseille (Mersellien), so business is good. It becomes clear that Heusch senior wants his son to actively engage in (trade) relations with his business contacts. He sends his regards to mr. Pilgram (s(eigneur) pilgrim), who was with Heusch junior for four days and wants his son to continue his journey to Rome in the near future and stay there with a friend called Druijvesteijn (s(eigneur)druijvesteijn). For the moment however, Heusch junior is to remain in Venice and take an occasional trip to Padua, for his father has send letters of recommendation to his contacts there (recomandatiebrieuen). Heusch senior seems to correspond vividly with multiple contacts, also to check in on his son. He writes for example that he corresponded with a partner called Piatti s(eigneur Piatti), who told him that Heusch junior was in Venice but he had not spoken to him yet. This is not to the liking of the old Heusch, for he wants his son to actively visit the market on the Ponte Rialto (ick achte wel dat dagelijcx op realte gaet) and send back information on the price of silk as soon as possible (de prijsen van sijde sal met naesten schrijuen come). However he also compliments his son for having spoken to a contact called Diodat de Nonciate, as a result of which his amber had been sent to Naples. In time, Heusch senior states, his son will get the hang of the business (mettertijt sult daer wel meer jn kennis comen). The next assignment he has for his son is analyzing the sale of amber and seeing whether the credit of the ship “den Engel Raffael”, which is in Venice, can be sold (naer den amber sal mede v(er)nemen, so den v(er)coop vant credit vant schip den Engel raffael). If Heusch junior encounters any difficulties in this, then he should speak to Jochim Martens (salder met Jochim martens over spreken). Also young Heusch should write a letter to a contact named Hummel in Bilbao, for a shipment of sugar (suijcker) and Russia leather (juchten) has arrived there.
After having updated his son on the latest trade news, Heusch senior returns to describing the current state of affairs in Hamburg. He mentions that one hundred and nine people have died in Hamburg in the past week because a sickness has broken out and prays to God that this will not affect himself and his wife, who is just recovering from disease. It seems that the family help Hans Moller has died after being sick for two days. Also the mother of their cousin Hans Rouers has passed away at the age of seventy-nine. For now however, they are all in good health and wealth and send their regards (wij sijn noch alle wel varende en(de) west van ons tsamen seer gegruet en godt allmachtich beuolen).
After having updated his son on the latest trade news, Heusch senior returns to describing the current state of affairs in Hamburg. He mentions that one hundred and nine people have died in Hamburg in the past week because a sickness has broken out and prays to God that this will not affect himself and his wife, who is just recovering from disease. It seems that the family help Hans Moller has died after being sick for two days. Also the mother of their cousin Hans Rouers has passed away at the age of seventy-nine. For now however, they are all in good health and wealth and send their regards (wij sijn noch alle wel varende en(de) west van ons tsamen seer gegruet en godt allmachtich beuolen).
The Ponte Rialto in Venice, where young Michiel had to enquire to the price of silk
Reconstructing a Network
The letters Heusch sends to his son are full of references to trading partners and social contacts. From these references we can, to a certain degree, reconstruct the network of Michiel Heusch Senior. After having analyzed just ten of the forty-seven letters we find ourselves with no less then 211 names of people within the network. Roughly the half of all these people resided in Hamburg and are either familymembers or social contacts of the Flemish community in Hamburg. The other half, some 100 people, are trading contacts that (at the moment of writing) were residing abroad. Most of them reside on the Italian Peninsula in places such as Venice, Ancona, Bologna, Livorno, Rome, Genua, Padua and Florence. However, Heusch had trading contacts in Bilbao, Malaga, Marseille, Paris, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Leipzich, Nurenberg, Augsburg and Copenhagen as well. Between all these places, Heusch traded goods, mostly buying in the Mediterranean and selling in Northen Europe. Outside of these areas, Heusch did not have many contacts, so it would seem from the analyzed letters. There were no contacts in Turkey, Africa, Asia or the America's. The holds that his network was not so widely spread geographically, but rather packed tightly, focussed on trade between Southern and Northen Europe only.
Nationalities
The people that made up the Heusch network mostly cam from a Dutch/Flemish heritage. Theycan be considered the core of the network. Besides these Northeners, a couple of Italian names such as Piatti, Gilardi and Samuelli feature in the letters. From some 14 of these names we can state with considerable certainty that they were Italian. However, seeing as how Flemish merchants in Italy often 'Italianized' their name, their nationalities are often difficult to determine. For example, Heusch' trading partner Jochem Martens, who resided in Venice, is often referred to as Joachim or Giacomo Martini. The 'Italianizing' of Dutch names can be seen as a part in the proces of the integration of Northen traders in the Mediterranean.
Powerful friends
The fact that Heusch was elected the first chairman of the Chamber of Commerce in Hamburg already points at an elevated social position. He belonged to the elite of Hamburg and was in close contact with Mayor Luttiens. There is no doubt that Heusch had great adminstrative influence in Hamburg, but how well was he connected on this level in the Mediterannean?
A name that often features in the letters is that of Jan Druijvesteijn, the Dutch consul in Rome. Young Michiel was to remain in close contact with him at all times for Druijvesteijn was a very influential person and could greatly aid the Heusch' business. Through his admistrative network, Druijvesteijn was constantly updated on the prices of commodities and more importantly, the rate of taxes in the various cities. It would also seem that Druijvesteijn would finance some of Heusch trading operations as Heusch himself often had no direct way to pay for commodities, After a succesful trade, Druijvesteijn would see his investment plus interest returned to him. "druijvesteijn haddet een credit brief van p(on)d 1000 op Roma
genomen" (Druijvesteijn had cashed a credit-letter of 1000 pound in Rome).
Besides Dutch adminstrators and diplomats, Heusch had a couple of powerful Italian friends as well. With letters he send to his son, Heusch sometimes enclosed second letters for high ranking admistratives such as Don Lius de Freitas in Naples and Diodat, the nuncio of Venice.
A name that often features in the letters is that of Jan Druijvesteijn, the Dutch consul in Rome. Young Michiel was to remain in close contact with him at all times for Druijvesteijn was a very influential person and could greatly aid the Heusch' business. Through his admistrative network, Druijvesteijn was constantly updated on the prices of commodities and more importantly, the rate of taxes in the various cities. It would also seem that Druijvesteijn would finance some of Heusch trading operations as Heusch himself often had no direct way to pay for commodities, After a succesful trade, Druijvesteijn would see his investment plus interest returned to him. "druijvesteijn haddet een credit brief van p(on)d 1000 op Roma
genomen" (Druijvesteijn had cashed a credit-letter of 1000 pound in Rome).
Besides Dutch adminstrators and diplomats, Heusch had a couple of powerful Italian friends as well. With letters he send to his son, Heusch sometimes enclosed second letters for high ranking admistratives such as Don Lius de Freitas in Naples and Diodat, the nuncio of Venice.
Religion and trade
Friendly contact with the nuncio, a Catholic diplomat of the Holy Sea, was very important for Heusch' trade. Being a Calvinist himself, a good (trade) relations with catholics were not something that came natural and should be won and actively maintained. Therefore the nuncio is often paid a share of the profit that Heusch made in trading in Venice. As long as business was profitable for both catholics and protestants, there was no reason for religious disputes. This friendly contact with the Catholic adversary is remarkable considering the fact that Heusch was a very strict Calvinist. In his letters, he often complains about the loss of respect for the Bible's commandments. He is disgraced to see, for example, that in the mourning period in Hamburg, people are no longer wearing the long, black cloaks.
(maer men dragt anders geen rou meer met lange mantels, tis schande het gebodt niet langer duert)
It seems that in his trading business, however, Heusch was not so strictly religious, laying aside differences and engage in a profitable trade with the Catholic adversary.
(maer men dragt anders geen rou meer met lange mantels, tis schande het gebodt niet langer duert)
It seems that in his trading business, however, Heusch was not so strictly religious, laying aside differences and engage in a profitable trade with the Catholic adversary.
For more information on Dutch traders in the Meditereannean see:
Braudel, Ferdinand. The Mediteranean and the Mediteranean world in the age of Phillip II. London: HarperCollins, 1992.
Cools, Hans Marika Kebluske and Badeloch Noldus eds. Your Humble Servant: Agents in Early Modern Europe. Hilversum: Verloren, 2006.
Fusaro, Maria. “Cooperating mercantile networks in the early modern Mediterranean” in: The Economic History Review Vol. 65 No.2 (May 2012): 701-718
Fusaro, Maria, Colin Heywood and Mohamed Salah Omri. Trade and Cultural Exchange in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Braudel’s maritime legacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Gelder, Maartje van. Trading Places: Netherlandish Merchants in Early Modern Venice. Leiden: Bril, 2009.
Marriott, Brandon. Transnational Networks and Cross-Religious Exchange in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean and Atlantic Worlds: Sabbatai Sevi and the Lost Tribes of Israel. New York; Routledge, 2016.
The letters of Michiel Heusch are found on:
www.gekaaptebrieven.nl
www.brievenalsbuit.nl
Braudel, Ferdinand. The Mediteranean and the Mediteranean world in the age of Phillip II. London: HarperCollins, 1992.
Cools, Hans Marika Kebluske and Badeloch Noldus eds. Your Humble Servant: Agents in Early Modern Europe. Hilversum: Verloren, 2006.
Fusaro, Maria. “Cooperating mercantile networks in the early modern Mediterranean” in: The Economic History Review Vol. 65 No.2 (May 2012): 701-718
Fusaro, Maria, Colin Heywood and Mohamed Salah Omri. Trade and Cultural Exchange in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Braudel’s maritime legacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Gelder, Maartje van. Trading Places: Netherlandish Merchants in Early Modern Venice. Leiden: Bril, 2009.
Marriott, Brandon. Transnational Networks and Cross-Religious Exchange in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean and Atlantic Worlds: Sabbatai Sevi and the Lost Tribes of Israel. New York; Routledge, 2016.
The letters of Michiel Heusch are found on:
www.gekaaptebrieven.nl
www.brievenalsbuit.nl