Photo: Esther de Jong
Download Was he a national hero – or a butcher?
Jan Pieterszoon Coen is one of Holland’s most famous historical figures.
He headed the Dutch East India Company in the early 17th century, when it controlled the so-called spice islands – in Indonesia today.
When the Banda Islands refused to sell their spices at a cheap price, Coen massacred them – and got his nickname ‘the Butcher of Banda’.
It’s 400 years since he first left Holland – and now his home town Hoorn has an exhibition about him.
But his legacy is on trial.
At the exhibition, visitors can join a playful lawsuit, to judge whether Coen is worthy of the town’s honour or not.
Esther de Jong travelled to the town and stood eye to eye with ‘The Butcher’.