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Willem
Leyel
Due to internal wars in Europe,
contacts
between Tranquebar and Denmark
were infrequent. After Roelant Crappé left, another Dutch merchant,
Behrent
Pessart became the Governor from 1637-1643. It is said of him, that he
was
“intelligent, but most unreliable”. [Kay Larsen, De Dansk-ostindiske
kolonierne]. His accounts were not well-kept, and he performed
high-handed
deals only to lose them, and the Colony was in great debt. Two ships
left Denmark
in 1639 Solen (The Sun) and Christianshavn. The ship Solen reached
Tranquebar
in 1640, but Christianshavn was held up at the Canary
Islands for several years, and reached Tranquebar
only in 1643.
Aboard this ship was the next Governor of Tranquebar, Willem Leyel. Due
to a
prolonged war with Sweden,
there was no connection between Tranquebar and Denmark
for 29 years! After a
dramatic siege in which Pessart failed to surrender the leadership to
Leyel,
Pessart fled the colony and was eventually killed on a beach in the Philippines
by the natives.
Two
of the chaplains employed in Tranquebar, Niels Andersen Udbyneder
and Christen Pedersen Storm were drunk most of the time.
After several complaints,
Leyel decided to
remove Niels Andersen from the fort, and lodge him aboard the ship
“Christianshavn”. At about the same time, Christen Pedersen Storm was
caught in
the act of instigating mutiny aboard the ship “Fortuna”. He was
imprisoned, and
brought aboard “Christianshavn”, where a court was set to hear the
case, during
January, 1645. The interrogation protocol can still be found in the
Archives in
Copenhagen.
After several witnesses testified against him, he confessed to
instigation of
mutiny, and his signature of confession can still be seen in the
protocols. He
was condemned to be sewn in a sack with stones and thrown in to the
sea. His
three slaves were to be released to freedom. The judgment was signed by
Willem
Leyel, Jørgen Hansen, Poul Nielsen, Rasmus Pedersen and Amund Olufsen.
The
order was executed the same day. The protocol continues: “On January
30, the
judgment against Christen Pedersen Storm was carried out approximately
40 kms
north of Dansborg and 10 kms from the shore”. Details
of Willem Leyels life in India can be found in
Asta
Bredsdorff's "The trials and travels of Willem
Leyel". |
