Paper short abstract:

To answer the question ‘How did free agents oppose the monopolies granted to the Dutch East and West India Companies?’ this paper analyses court cases from the Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland in which free agents and their networks sued the companies over the use and abuse of monopoly policy.

Paper long abstract:

The Dutch East and West India Companies faced sustained and effective opposition from free agents. This began as early as ideas of chartered monopoly companies were first floated in the Dutch Republic in the late sixteenth century and lasted until the companies ceased to exist two centuries later. This paper will investigate the hypothesis that the contested processes by which the charters of the VOC and WIC were drafted and eventually granted had a significant impact on the kind of opposition faced by the two companies later on in their existence.

The focus of this paper will be one specific arena of conflict: the judicial system of the Republic. One of the ways in which free agents responded to the creation of colonial monopolies was by taking the companies to court, employing litigation as a means of opposition. These merchants and their networks sued the companies over issues relating to the use and abuse of the monopolies granted to the VOC and WIC by the States General in 1602 and 1621 respectively. They pursued their cases to the very highest court in the Republic, the appellate Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland, which was established in 1582. Analysing court cases from the records of the Hoge Raad, this paper will begin to answer the following question: How did free agents oppose the monopolies held by the VOC and WIC in court?

This research will contribute to understanding mechanisms of opposition against the Dutch companies and the role of free agency.