The EIC's Forgotten Ship: The Batavia and the Company's Darkest Voyage

In 1629, the Dutch East India Company ship Batavia wrecked on a remote coral atoll off Australia, setting off a chain of mutiny, massacre, and survival that reveals the brutal underside of corporate colonialism. Lucas tells Luna the story of undermerchant Jeronimus Cornelisz, who seized control after the wreck, orchestrating the murder of over 100 men, women, and children while the ship's commander sailed for rescue. The episode explores the hierarchy of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC), the psychology of a corporate employee turned psychopath, and the chilling legal aftermath where Cornelisz's right hand was cut off before hanging. It's a forgotten chapter that shows how the East India companies—both Dutch and English—operated not as nations but as corporations with terrifying power over life and death. #Batavia #VOC #JeronimusCornelisz #Shipwreck #Mutiny #Massacre #DutchEastIndiaCompany #AbrolhosIslands #FranciscoPelsaert #HoutmanAbrolhos #1629 #MaritimeHistory #CorporateColonialism #Australia #IndianOcean #History #FexingoHistory #TrueCrime Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo