<p>In 17th-century Batavia, Cornelia von Nijenroode, the daughter of a geisha and a Dutch merchant in Japan, was known as "Otemba" (meaning "untamable"), which made her a heroine to modern Japanese feminists. A wealthy widow and enterprising businesswoman who had married an unsuccessful Dutch lawyer for social reasons found that just after their wedding, husband and wife were at each other's throats. Cornelia insisted on maintaining independent power of disposal over her assets, but legally her husband had control over her possessions and refused to grante her permission to engage in commerce. He soon began using blackmail, smuggling, and secret accounts to channel her wealth back to the Dutch Republic. Cornelia fought back and tried to get a divorce. The struggle-complete with legal subterfuge, mutual recriminations, and even public brawls - would drag on for fifteen years and culminate in only a partial victory for Cornelia. Leonard Blusse, weaves together a wealth of vivid details about women in colonial societies in East and Southeast Asia. The book provides fascinating insights into the rigorous jurisprudence of the day, and sketches the policies of the ubiquitous East India Company.</p>

Bitter Bonds: A Colonial Divorce Drama of the Seventeenth Century

Literature & Fiction

Blussé, Léonard

Dramas & Plays

Markus Wiener Publishers

<p>In seventeenth-century Batavia, Cornelia van Nijenroode, the daughter of a geisha and a Dutch merchant in Japan, was known as "otemba" (meaning "untamable"), which made her a heroine to modern Japanese feminists. A wealthy widow and enterprising businesswoman who had married an unsuccessful Dutch lawyer for social reasons, she discovered that just after her wedding, she and her husband were at each other's throats. Cornelia insisted on maintaining independent power of disposal over her assets, but legally her husband had control over her possessions and refused to grant her permission to engage in commerce. He soon began using blackmail, smuggling, and secret accounts to channel her wealth back to the Dutch Republic. Cornelia fought back and tried to get a divorce. The struggle - complete with legal subterfuge, mutual recriminations, and even public brawls - would drag on for fifteen years and culminate in only a partial victory for Cornelia.</p>

Markus Wiener Publication

The objects and works of art in this volume tell a story that spans the globe, bridging cultures both familiar and alien. This book is about Dutch merchants, ambassadors, rulers, soldiers, scientists, and artists, and about their Asian partners and counterparts, about slaves and potentates in India, China, Japan, Ceylon, Thailand, and Java. At first, the Dutch operated all over Asia and the encounter was rich in diversity; after 1800, the Dutch realm was the East Indies archipelago until the Netherlands was forced to cede sovereignty in 1949. A testimony to the continuity throughout this period is a series of portraits of governors-general now at the Rijksmuseum. For over 300 years they symbolized Dutch rule at Batavia (Jakarta).

The Dutch Encounter With Asia, 1600-1950

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

W-Books

Bitters bruid: Een koloniaal huwelijksdrama in de Gouden Eeuw (Dutch Edition)

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Balans

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