François Caron

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This article is about the colonial merchant. For the Canadian politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, see François Caron (Legislative Assembly).
A map of Japan in François Caron's "A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam".
A map of Japan in François Caron's "A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam".

François Caron (1600-1673), was a French Huguenot refugee to the Netherlands who served the Dutch East India Company (the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC, literally "United East India Company") for 30 years, rising from cabin boy to Director-General at Batavia, only one grade below Governor-General.[1] He was later to become Director-General of the French East Indies Company (1667-1673).[2]

He is sometimes considered the first Frenchman to set foot in Japan:[3] he was actually born in Brussels to a familly of French Huguenot refugees;[4] but he only became a naturalized citizen of France when he was persuaded by Colbert to become head of the French East Indies Company, which was intended to compete with the Dutch and the English in Asia.[5]

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[edit] Japan

Caron began as a cook's mate[6] on-board the Dutch ship Schiedam bound for Japan, where he arrived in 1619. His language skills had developed; and in 1627, he traveled to Edo as the interpreter for the VOC mission to the shogunal capital.[6] He is not quite the first known instance of Franco-Japanese relations, since he was preceded by the visit of Hasekura Tsunenaga to France in 1615.

The Dutch VOC trading factory in Hirado. 17th century engraving.
The Dutch VOC trading factory in Hirado. 17th century engraving.

Caron stayed in Japan for over twenty years, eventually becoming the VOC's opperhoofd (chief factor or merchant) in Japan. During this period, he married a Japanese woman (Eguchi Jūzaemon) and had six children.[6] His entire family followed him to Nagasaki when the Japanese forced the Dutch to abandon their outpost at Hirado; The family moved with him to Batavia when he left Japan in 1641.[7]

In 1626, Caron was working in Hirado as full assistant.

On April 9, 1633, Caron was promoted as a senior merchant, making him the second ranking Company official in Japan. On February 12, 1639, he succeeded Nicolaes Couckebacker as President and head of the Company's trade in Japan.

The Company's headquarters were moved from Hirado to Dejima in Nagasaki in 1641.

[edit] Return to the Netherlands

"A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam" by François Caron, German Edition, 1663.
"A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam" by François Caron, German Edition, 1663.
Illustration of the Siege of Osaka, from Caron's book: "The Burning of Osaka Castle"
Illustration of the Siege of Osaka, from Caron's book: "The Burning of Osaka Castle"

In 1641, Caron's Japan contract with the company expired, and he went to Batavia awaiting a transfer to Europe. At that time, he was nominated member of the Council of the East Indies, the governing body of the VOC in Asia, next to the Governor-General.

On December 13, 1641, Caron sailed back to Europe as commander of the merchant fleet.

[edit] New assignements in Asia

Although he was rewarded handsomely for his services with a capital of 1500 gilders, he again left for Asia in 1643 aboard the Olifant. In September 1643, he headed an army of 1700 men against the Portuguese in Ceylon.

In 1644, Caron was then named governor of Formosa (Taiwan); and he was the chief VOC official on the island until 1646.[8] During this period, Caron his achievements included resturcturing production of of rice, sulfur, sugar and indigo, and moderating the trade with Chinese pirates.

He had to return to Batavia in 1646. In 1647, he was appointed Director-General, second in command after the Governor-General.

In 1651, Caron had to return to the Netherland, due to allegations of private trade, but he successfully defended his case, and was able to resign with honor from the Company.

[edit] Appointment with the French East Indies Company

The arenas of French rivalry with England and Holland expanded to Asia in 1664 when the French Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert persuaded Louis XIV to grant a patent to a newly-contrived French East Indies Company. Somehow Colbert managed to entice Caron into accepting a leadership role in this nascent enterprise. He became the company's Director General in 1667.[2]

This was perceived as treason by the Dutch, and Caron was banned eternally from the Provinces.

[edit] Madagascar

In 1664, François Caron, sailed to Madagascar. The Company failed to found a colony on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Île-de-France (today's Réunion and Mauritius). In the late 17th century, the French established trading posts along the east coast.

[edit] India

Caron succeeded in founding French ouposts at Surat (1668) and at Masulipatam (1669) in India;[9] and Louis XIV acknowledged those successes by awarding him the Order of St. Michael.[2] He was "Commissaire" at Pondicherry between 1668 and 1672. The French East India Company formally set up a trading centre at Pondicherry in 1673. This outpost eventually became the chief French settlement in India.

In 1672, he helped lead French forces in Ceylon, where the strategic bay at Tincomalee was captured and St. Thomé (also known as Meilâpûr) on the Coromandel coast was also taken;[9] however, the consequences of his military success was short-lived. The French were driven out these modest conquests while Caron was en route to Europe in 1673.[2]

He died as his ship sank off Lisbon on April 5, 1673, as he was returning to Europe.

[edit] Honors

[edit] Caron's widely read books

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Asia Society. (1874). Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, p. 29.
  2. ^ a b c d Frazer, Robert Watson. (1896). British India, p. 42.
  3. ^ References [1]:
    - "Si on peut dire de lui qu'il était français, il est probablement le seul français qui ait visité le Japon sous l'ancien régime." Diderot ; le XVIIIe siecle en europe et au Japon, Colloque franco-japonais ... - Page 222 by Hisayasu Nakagawa - 1988
    - "En 1635 ce fut le tour de François Caron, sur lequel nous voudrions nous arrêter un moment, ... comme le premier Français venu au Japon et à Edo." Histoire de Tokyo - Page 67 by Noël Nouët - Tokyo (Japan) - 1961 - 261 pages
    - "A titre de premier représentant de notre langue au Japon, cet homme méritait ici une petite place" (Bulletin de la Maison franco-japonaise by Maison franco-japonaise (Tokyo, Japan) - Japan - 1927 Page 127)
  4. ^ "Colbert avait alors sous la main François Caron, qui, né en Hollande de parens français, avait été embarqué pour le Japon dès l'âge le plus tendre". Societe de la Revue des Mondes, François Buloz, Page 140 [2]
    "Francois Caron was born in 1600 of Huguenot parents, who were then settled in Brussels, but who shortly after his birth moved to the United Provinces." A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1986)[3]
  5. ^ Yavari, Neguin et al. (2004). Views From The Edge: Essays In Honor Of Richard W. Bulliet, p. 15.
  6. ^ a b c Otterspeer, Willem. (2003). Leiden Oriental Connections, 1850-1940, p. 355.
  7. ^ Leup, Gary P. (2003). Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900). pp. 8, 106.
  8. ^ Campbell, William. (1903). Formosa Under the Dutch: Described from Contemporary Records, p. 75.
  9. ^ a b Pope, George Uglow. (1880). A Text-book of Indian History, p. 266.
  10. ^ a b c Jozef Rogala. (2001). A Collector's Guide to Books on Japan in English: A Select List of Over 2500 Titles with Subject Index, pp. 30-31.
  11. ^ Otterspeer, p. 356.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

Preceded by
-		 VOC Opperhoofd of
Dejima
1639–1641		 Succeeded by
Maximiliaen Le Maire
Preceded by
-		 Commissioner of Pondichéry
1668–1672		 Succeeded by
François Baron