The Dutch in Brazil: Johan Maurits and the Struggle for Recife

In the 17th century, the Dutch West India Company seized the sugar-rich coast of Brazil, building a colony around Recife—renamed Mauritsstad—under the enlightened rule of Count Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen. This episode explores the rise and fall of Dutch Brazil, from the artistic and scientific patronage of Maurits to the Portuguese-led rebellion that culminated in the battles of Guararapes and the eventual Dutch surrender in 1654. We trace the shifting colonial boundaries through the Treaty of The Hague (1661) and examine how this brief but ambitious episode shaped the division of the Americas—and left a lasting legacy in art, architecture, and the brutal realities of the slave-driven sugar economy. #Brazil #DutchBrazil #JohanMaurits #Recife #Guararapes #JoãoFernandesVieira #WestIndiaCompany #Colonialism #PortugueseEmpire #DutchEmpire #Slavery #SugarPlantations #AlbertEckhout #FransPost #TreatyOfTheHague #17thCentury #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo