Editing Samuel Blommaert (section)

==New Sweden==
In 1635, he started a brass factory in [[Nacka]], outside Stockholm, to boost the export of copper which could be used for making guns and coins. Blommaert tried to attract workers and experts from [[Aachen]] and [[Stolberg (Rheinland)|Stolberg]].<ref>J. Römelingh (1986) Een rondgang langs de Zweedse archieven, p. 247, 158, 247, 267</ref> In 1636, Blommaert was reappointed as "bewindhebber" of the WIC after its first [[bankruptcy]], but also became the [[consul (representative)|consul]] for Sweden in Amsterdam.<ref>Klein, P.W. (1963) De Trippen in de 17e eeuw, p. 374.</ref> In 1636 the directors of the WIC could not gather because of an outbreak of plague.<ref>Kernkamp, G.W. (1908) Brieven van Samuel Blommaert aan den Zweedschen Rijkskanselier Axel Oxenstierna 1635–1641, p. 174</ref> In 1637 Blommaert secretly invested money in the first Swedish expedition with ''[[Fogel Grip]]'' and ''[[Kalmar Nyckel]]'' to [[New Sweden]]. By doing so, he hoped to avoid paying the Dano-Norwegian [[Sound Dues|Sound Tolls]] on all foreign merchantmen crossing [[Øresund|the Sound]]. He engaged the former diamond cutter [[Peter Minuit]] to command the expedition, without the knowledge or permission of the WIC.{{Efn|Minuit was dismissed by the WIC in 1632.}} Blommaert suggested to Oxenstierna to take part in the WIC, <!--which had a monopoly on salt trade--> and organize from Gothenburg and trade on Spanish and Portuguese ports.{{Efn|In 1649 [[Louis De Geer (1587–1652)|Louis de Geer]] founded the [[Swedish Africa Company]] which led outraged citizens in Amsterdam to riot and in 1650 [[Christina, Queen of Sweden]] hired [[Hendrik Carloff]] to improve trade on [[Swedish Gold Coast|Gold Coast]].<ref>[https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2975217/view Wirta, K.H.(2018) Dark horses of business : overseas entrepreneurship in seventeenth-century Nordic trade in the Indian and Atlantic oceans, p. 134-135]</ref>}} Blommaert was interested in seizing Spanish ships, which sailed from the East or West-Indies to [[Cadiz]] or Seville, to make his expeditions and colonization more profitable.<ref>Kernkamp, G.W. (1908) Brieven van Samuel Blommaert aan den Zweedschen Rijkskanselier Axel Oxenstierna 1635–1641, p. 93, 136-137, 143, 149, 155.</ref>

In November 1637 two ships belonging to the [[Swedish South Company]] with crew and settlers left Gothenburg.<ref>Kernkamp, G.W. (1908) Brieven van Samuel Blommaert aan den Zweedschen Rijkskanselier Axel Oxenstierna 1635–1641, p. 175.</ref> Because of a storm the ships could get around Scotland; after a month at sea one arrived at [[Texel]] the other at [[Medemblik]].<ref>Kernkamp, G.W. (1908) Brieven van Samuel Blommaert aan den Zweedschen Rijkskanselier Axel Oxenstierna 1635–1641, p. 50, 56, 145, 146, 182.</ref> The damage was provisionally repaired; sails and victuals (butter, bread, and beer) needed to be bought. Having arrived on [[Swedes' Landing]] on 29 March Minuit acted as he had done before, he did not conquer the land by force but bought it legally from the [[Lenape]] or [[Minqua]] Indians. What happened next is not very clear. (It seems he was hardly involved in building [[Fort Christina]]). Minuit left the colony mid-June, 1638 and sailed to the Caribbean island of [[Saint Kitts|St. Christopher]] where he arrived in early July to barter salt, a ship's cargo of wine and [[Akvavit|liquor]] for tobacco.<ref>Kernkamp, G.W. (1908) Brieven van Samuel Blommaert aan den Zweedschen Rijkskanselier Axel Oxenstierna 1635–1641, p. 158</ref><ref>Ashmead, Henry Graham  ''History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania''   (Chapter II, Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co. 1884)</ref><ref>Weslager, C. A. ''A Man and his Ship: Peter Minuit and the Kalmar Nyckel'' (Wilmington, Delaware: Kalmar Nickel Foundation. 1989</ref> (Meanwhile [[Cornelis Jol]] attempted to capture the [[Spanish treasure fleet]] near Cuba with four ships but didn't succeed to the disappointment of Blommaert.) On 5 August 1638 Minuit drowned during a [[list of Atlantic hurricanes in the 17th century#1625–1649|hurricane]] at [[Saint Kitts|St. Christopher]] (today's St. Kitts).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://17thcenturyhollanders.pbworks.com/w/page/120833514/Peter%20Minuit | title=17th Century Hollanders / Peter Minuit }}</ref> About 20 ships drifted out of the harbour. One ship sank near the [[Azores]], the ''Kalmar'' arrived without a mast. A second voyage, which departed on February{{nbsp}}7, 1640, and arrived at Fort Christina on April{{nbsp}}17, brought additional settlers for New Sweden. As the two expeditions turned out to be unprofitable for Blommaert, he withdrew in 1641.

In 1639 Blommaert and Isaac Coymans sold tobacco and sugar; they were accused of cheating as there were a couple of stones in one of the cases and problems with the tobacco.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archief.amsterdam/archief/5075/1280 | title=Inventarissen }}</ref> In 1640 [[Portuguese Restoration War]] improved the situation for the Dutch. Blommaert was involved in mining in [[Dutch Brazil]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archief.amsterdam/archief/5075/956B | title=Inventarissen }}</ref> In 1641 the Zwaanendael Colony was sold to Sweden; all the participants agreed on an equal share.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archief.amsterdam/archief/5075/1284 | title=Inventarissen }}</ref> A ship with 211 slaves arrived in Brazil.<ref>Kernkamp, G.W. (1908) Brieven van Samuel Blommaert aan den Zweedschen Rijkskanselier Axel Oxenstierna 1635–1641, p. 195</ref> In 1642 with collaborated with [[Jan Valkenburgh]] in Angola.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archief.amsterdam/archief/5075/1318 | title=Inventarissen }}</ref> In 1647 he and his wife were portrayed.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/images/143503 | title=Anoniem Noordelijke Nederlanden (Historische regio) 1647 gedateerd }}</ref> He told professor [[Nicolaes Tulp]], stories on [[bestiality]] he heard on Borneo.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nOqtlvwu9-8C&pg=PA41|title=Dearest Pet: On Bestiality|first=Midas|last=Dekkers|date=July 31, 2000|publisher=Verso|isbn=9781859843109|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1651 Blommaert got ill and was buried in [[Westerkerk]]. In 1655 his daughter Constantia (1626-) married the admiral [[Isaac Sweers]], Catharina married [[Abraham Elzevir]] and Anna moved to Malakka with her husband, director of the VOC.<ref>''Genealogie van Isaak Sweers'', (H. de Voogd v.d. Straaten  In: De Nederlandsche Leeuw, No. 9 (1893), pp. 65–7) (in Dutch)</ref>