Cornelis Jol



Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol (Scheveningen, The Netherlands 1597 - São Tomé, October 31 1641), nicknamed Houtebeen ("pegleg") was an admiral in the Dutch West India Company during the Eighty Year's War between Spain and the fledgling Dutch Republic.

Jol was really more of a pirate (or rather privateer) who raided Spanish and Portuguese fleets, gathering large amounts of loot. He got his nickname Houtebeen (Pie de Palo in Portuguese and Pata de Palo in Spanish) because he lost a leg during battle and got a wooden leg. The Spanish also nicknamed him El Pirata.

Cornelis Jol came from a simple family in the fishing village of Scheveningen, now part of The Hague. He joined the Dutch West India Company in 1626 and quickly climbed the ranks to become admiral. He was renowned for his courage, his skill as a navigator and his humane treatment of prisoners of war.

Jol crossed the Atlantic Ocean nine times to attack the Spanish and Portuguese along the coast of Brazil and in the Caribbean.

In 1635 he was captured near Dunkirk by Dunkirker Raiders but released. He defeated the Spanish at a battle near Cabañas, Cuba in 1638, capturing all five enemy vessels. He also commanded a squadron of seven ships at the Battle of the Downs, a decisive defeat of the Spanish, in 1639.

In 1640, Jol set out from Brazil for the coast of Africa, where he conquered the city of Luanda (in Angola) and the island of São Tomé from the Portuguese.

While on São Tomé, he was struck by malaria in 1641 and died.

His son was also called Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol (or Hola), and also served in the Dutch navy. He was captain of the Leiden under admiral Maarten Tromp during the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654).

A street in Scheveningen is named for Jol. One of his descendants named a company after him (Corneliszoon.com).