Baltazar de Cordes (15??-16??), the brother of Simon de Cordez , was a Dutch corsair who fought against the Spanish during the early 17th Century.
Born in the Netherlands sometime around the mid 1500s Baltazar de Cordes began sailing for the Netherlands against Spain during the
Eighty Years War. Baltazar possibly arrived in the Pacific during the 1599 Magellano Company expedition attempting to circumnavigate South America. Apparently succeded a Captain Buckholt who died around August 23, 1599 shortly after crossing Straits of Magellan. In early 1600 (occurring before or after the capture of Chiloe is unknown.) Cordes occupied the Spanish colony of Castro, Chile. In April 1600, with combined Dutch and native forces, Cordez organized the successful capture of the island of Chiloe off the coast of Patagonia (Chile). However Cordez's forces suffered heavy losses upon the recapture of the city by the Spanish executing all but 23 Dutch and over 300 natives (thought to be Mapuches). Cordes ship The Fidelity managed to sail to the Portugese colony of Tidore, an East Indies trading post, with the surviving sailors where they were imprisoned in January 1601.
Further reading
- Kris E. Lane, Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas - 1500-1750, London, 1998
External links
Last updated: 10-23-2005 10:27:05
