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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
'''Nathaniel Courthope''' (born 1585;– died c. October 20, 1620) (sometimes written '''Courthopp''') was an [[England|English]] [[East India Company]] officer<ref name="OxfordDnB" /> involved in the wars with the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] over the [[spice trade]].

==Life==
He was of the wealthy cloth-maker Courthope family of Goddard's Green in Cranbrook, Kent, the son of Alexander Courthope and brother of the Peter Courthope who bought [[Danny House]] in [[Hurstpierpoint]], Sussex, and who was painted by [[Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen|Cornelius Johnson]]. He was left £200 in his father's will.

On 13 November 1609, Courthope was hired by the [[British East India Company|East India Company]] to go to the [[Maluku Islands|Spice Islands]]. He left England with great fanfare and by 1616 was a [[Factor (agent)#Colonial factor|factor]] at [[Sukadana]] in [[Borneo]].{{sfn|Milton|1999}}

In 1614 he was accused of purloining company resources and other offences by one dying man named, Edward Langley.<ref>"East Indies: July 1614." ''Calendar of State Papers Colonial, East Indies, China and Japan'', Volume 2, 1513-1616. Ed. W Noel Sainsbury. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1864. 301-313. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/east-indies-china-japan/vol2/pp301-313. British History Online] Retrieved 11 July 2019.{{Dead link|date=July 2019}}</ref>

On 25 December 1616, he landed his ships, ''Swan'' and ''Defence'', on the island known as [[Run (island)|Run]], the smallest (about {{convert|2|x|2.5|mi}}) of the [[Banda Islands]], in a quest to break the Dutch hold on the [[nutmeg]] supply. He persuaded the islanders to enter an alliance with the British for nutmeg. After losing his two ships to mutiny and sinking by the Dutch, he fortified the island by erecting forts to overlook approaches from the east.<ref name="RedlandsFortnightly" /> With 39 men and the natives, with scarce food and water (springs of which the island is devoid of) supply, he proceeded to hold off a siege of the Dutch - who outnumbered them considerably - for over 1,540 days.

Despite numerous letters from the Company's directors allowing Courthope to leave his post, and even awarding him repeatedly for his efforts, he never gave in. Even after the fleet of Sir [[Thomas Dale]] sent from England to Run had been defeated by the Dutch governor of the archipelago, [[Jan Pieterszoon Coen]], the decision never changed.

He was shot by the Dutch, who awaited him at night having received their spy's message, while rowing towards a nearby island in a small boat with several of his men in order to support resistance of the natives and to prepare them for a rebellion. Noticing the trap, he leapt into the sea and swam for it, dying en route.<ref name="Szulinski" />

The English departed without a struggle shortly after Courthope's death and their local allies - who considered themselves to be under His Majesty's reign - were being oppressed.<ref name="timelines" />

Thanks to Courthope's defence of the island however, Britain was able to barter its legal title to the island of Run with the Dutch, for another island by the name of Manhattan.<ref name="A History of the World" />

== Further reading ==
[[Giles Milton]]'s book ''Nathaniel's Nutmeg: Or The True and Incredible Adventure of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History'', gives an account of the struggle for possession of the Banda Islands.{{sfn|Milton|1999}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist
| refs =

<ref name="OxfordDnB">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101006462/
| title = Nathaniel Courthope : Oxford Biography Index entry
| work = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| date =
| access-date = 2010-08-12
}}
</ref>
<ref name="RedlandsFortnightly">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.redlandsfortnightly.org/papers/Moersch01.htm
| title = Fortnightly Club of Redlands, California
| publisher = RedlandsFortnightly.org
| date = 2001-11-01
| access-date = 2010-08-12
}}
</ref>
<ref name="Szulinski">
{{cite web
| last = Szulinski
| first = Cathi
| title = The First Russian Students in England
| work = Krotov.info
| date = 2009-04-30
| url = http://www.krotov.info/engl/library/szulinsk.html
| access-date = 2010-08-12
}}
</ref>
<ref name="timelines">
{{cite web
|last = Ratnikas
|first = Algirdas J.
|url = http://timelines.ws/countries/INDONESIA.HTML
|title = Timeline Indonesia
|publisher = Timelines.ws
|access-date = 2010-08-12
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100710081853/http://timelines.ws/countries/INDONESIA.HTML
|archive-date = 2010-07-10
}}
</ref>
<ref name="A History of the World">
{{cite web
|last = Marr
|first = Andrew
|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xnr43
|title = A History of the World
|publisher = BBC
|access-date = 2021-01-30
}}
</ref>
}}

== References ==
* {{cite book
| last = Milton
| first = Giles
| author-link = Giles Milton
| title = Nathaniel's Nutmeg
| year = 1999
| publisher = [[Penguin Books]]
| edition = reissue, illustrated
| oclc = 44871451
| url = https://archive.org/details/nathanielsnutmeg00gile
| url-access = registration
| quote =
| isbn=9780140292602
}}

==External links==
{{cite DNB|wstitle=Courthopp, Nathaniel}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courthope, Nathaniel}}
[[Category:1585 births]]
[[Category:1620 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Cranbrook, Kent]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:Expatriates of the Kingdom of England in the East Indies]]

Nathaniel Courthope - Revision history

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