O The blockade of Barra de Goa by Jacob Cooper, from 9 November 1636 to 2 May 1637

Abstract

This article is about the first blockade of Goa in 1637 and the Dutch and Portuguese reports produced of it. This naval action was motivated by economic reasons. The Governor-General was convinced that the war in Europe between the Republic of the United Provinces and the Iberian Union wouldn’t last forever, and the Dutch East India Company, after the conclusion of a peace treaty with Portugal, couldn’t continue with the military actions against the Portuguese in Asia. This article examines the naval confrontations triggered by this blockade through three chronicles of the period (Batavian captain Jacob Cooper, the Portuguese Couto Sampaio and an anonymous Portuguese author). Despite the similarity of themes those chronicles offer strong opinions in the ideological interpretation. These documents are available in the National Archives in The Hague, Netherlands, and the Cleveland Public Library, Ohio, USA.