Veerse Compagnie

The fleet of the Veerse Compagnie was made up of two ships; 'Leeuw' (Lion) and 'Leeuwin' (Lioness) and was headed by Cornelis Houtman.

Its fleet left from Veere on 28 March 1598 and returned to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in 1600.

A voorcompagnie (pre-company) is the naming given to the trading companies from the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands that traded on Asia between 1594 and 1602, before they all merged to form the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

Because of the deadly competition, the government forced the smaller trading companies to unite and form the (United) East India Company, that on its turn received exclusive rights for the trade with Asia for the following 21 years.

[1] In 1597 Cornelis de Houtman succeeded in the so-called Eerste Schipvaart (first expedition) to sail to Indonesia via Cape of Good Hope.