Dark Horses of Trade: 17th-Century Overseas Commerce through Cross-Company Entrepreneurs

By the first half of the 17th century the Scandinavian kingdoms had joined other European powers in participating in overseas trade. While in the existing literature the Scandinavian companies have often been depicted as latecomers both in Asia and in the Atlantic, the individuals managing their trade almost always already had previous overseas experience prior to engaging in trade for the Scandinavians. In both oceanic worlds several key individuals of the Scandinavian companies, for example, had previously served in the Dutch East and West- India companies.

This paper will highlight the importance of the economic and social skills of these individuals, encompassing aspects ranging from experience of long distance trade to reputation, know-how and, above all, social networks. Focusing on the careers of two individuals, Willem Leyel in the Indian Ocean and Henrich Carloff in the Atlantic, it will showcase the mechanisms these individuals used to mobilize capital, networks and ultimately power by crossing between European companies.

As well as being involved in economic activities, Carloff and Leyel had social and political agendas, resulting in hybrid and complex behavioral patterns, which changed the dynamics of the larger structures of overseas commerce. In this paper, this phenomenon is observed through the concept of ‘overseas entrepreneurship’. For the companies these individuals were simultaneously an opportunity and a threat: on the one hand, ‘overseas entrepreneurship’ created an intersection of interests where the motives and aims of the companies and the individuals overlapped; on the other hand, the individuals changed the local trading circumstances by collaborating with competing companies and even crossing into their employment.