11. Patroon

08/11/23 • 31 min

Island

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10. Minister

As Walloon Pierre Minuit stared into the dark eyes of those twenty-two displaced Angolans, huddled together along de Heere Wegh, alongside that fledgling "construction project" of sorts at the Island's southern tip, his refugee heart wrestled with the dutiful commitment that he had made to his employer. Because this Walloon, whose family had been in exile his entire life, had never enslaved anyone. And so, this life-long refugee and stalwart servant of God was going to need to dig deep -- into his own soul, in order to arrive at a reckoning -- one that would not only square him with the people before him -- but most ultimately with his God.

And the Company, believe it or not, would actually assist him with that, when they beat the Plymouth Pilgrims to the punch by sending the first ordained minister to Manhattan. But the particular one they chose to send is no Protestant pacifist. No. Jonas Michaelius is every bit the fighting Flemish fanatic that his father was before him. And with his arrival, this wild Island is about to get a little bit wilder.

Episode 10 - Minister. Climb aboard.

Next Episode

12. Governor

A young revolutionary once wrote that "...in the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility."

And with the insurgence of Marcus de Vogelaer's vehemently anti-patroon faction, his planted Provincial Secretary Jan Remunde wasted no time in teaming up with the increasingly embittered first Minister in order to effect that very big lie. And in short order, scored a decisive victory, by manipulating the dismissal of Walloon Pierre Minuit.

And in the fallout of this upheaval, the Island now being called "the Manhattans" would be introduced to a young man who would eventually be the namesake of today's "Governor's Island" -- a 26-year old former clerk (who just happened to also have an uncle by the name of Kiliaen van Rensselaer.)

Yes, this story is complicated.

And as this inexperienced incoming "Governor" tacked east toward the Strand at Pearl Street, it was not the sight of the three active windmills that actually caught his attention...but rather the posture of a buxom German woman provocatively perched atop that dock, with her hazel eyes locked directly into his...

And if nothing else, the one thing this paunchy Dutch boy knew for sure was that he was not in Amsterdam anymore.

Episode 12 - Governor.

Climb aboard.

#historyiscool :)