Double-page copper engraved plate from "Fredrick Hendrick Van Nassauw Prince Van Orangien Zyn Leven En Bedryf." (page 31). Labeled "Fol. 23" along bottom edge. Image Depicts the Dutch fleet under Piet Heyn capturing the fort at the entrance to the Baia de Todos os Santos.When Spanish Crown and the Kingdom of Portugal formed a dynastic union (1580-1640), uniting the entire Iberian peninsula, as well as their colonies, the Dutch saw their opportunity to take advangage of Portuguese weakness by attacking their colonies, occupying large sections of Brazil including the whole Brazilian northeast, and in 1630 capturing Recife and Olinda in the captaincy of Pernambuco, the largest and richest sugar-producing area in the world.
Subject: Latin America, Military History