PeterUK
March 7th, 2009, 10:07
I enjoy reading the accounts of Westerners who travelled or lived in Siam in bygone eras. I am interested in their living conditions, their travelling arrangements, how they got on with the people they met, what they made of the local customs тАУ not to mention their sexual adventures and, in particular, gay sexual adventures. Unfortunately, accounts of the latter are scanty to say the least. Not until the 1920s does a book appear (Ebbe KornerupтАЩs Friendly Siam) which broaches the subject and even then in a very nudges-and-winks kind of way.
Of course, there was a Western presence in Siam long before that. The Portuguese had a trading post in the capital, Ayutthaya, as early as the 16th century and the Dutch arrived at the start of the 17th century. It is clear from reports that many of these early resident Westerners kept Siamese concubines, several if they could afford it. In this they were merely imitating the behaviour of the Siamese themselves. Since homosexuality was not illegal (though it did attract a certain amount of ridicule among the Siamese), it is likely that some Westerners discreetly kept boys. They donтАЩt tell us about it, however, because of the prejudice in their own communities. The tragic case of Joost Schouten shows just how dire the consequences of exposure could be.
Schouten, from Rotterdam, was one of the most able and energetic servants of the Dutch East India Company during the 17th century. He first came to prominence when presenting a ceremonial gift from the Prince of Orange to the King of Siam in 1628. He subsequently spent some time on a trading mission to Japan, but returned to Siam in 1633 as Director of the re-established Dutch factory in Ayutthaya. Well-liked and respected by his colleagues, he was also highly esteemed by the volatile Siamese King, Prasat Thong, who granted trading concessions as a result, which greatly improved the fortunes of the Dutch factory. In 1636 Schouten penned one of the earliest Western accounts of Siam (describing its geography, judicial system, religion and so on), an admirably clear and well-organised document. He left Siam for the last time in the same year, returning to Holland for a while and then arriving in Batavia (now Jakarta), the regional headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, as a member of the council in 1640. From there he conducted two missions as an envoy with his customary zeal and efficiency.
By early 1644 Schouten could look back with satisfaction on a career of great achievement. He might have nursed hopes of becoming Governor-General in the East or even of joining the Board of Directors back in Holland. Instead, his world was about to come crashing down around him.
In July 1644 he was tried and convicted of sodomy, a crime which in those days was punishable with death. The abhorrence felt by the grim Calvinists who tried him was such that mention was made in the sentence passed on him of тАШhow abominable this filthy and vile sodomitish sin is in the eyes of God and man, so that for this reason the Lord God has destroyed Lands and Cities with fire from Heaven, as an example and warning to the whole worldтАЩ. The sentence listed, тАШin disgusting detailтАЩ according to one of the few scholars to have seen a copy of it in 1935, SchoutenтАЩs crimes. Neither his glittering reputation nor the earnest entreaties of his many influential relatives and friends could save him. The only mercy shown him was that he was to be strangled at the stake prior to being burned; his ashes were then to be scattered and his considerable property confiscated. Schouten had made no attempt to defend himself in court and, after the Governor-General had confirmed his sentence on the same day it was issued, he made a full confession of his guilt, admitting that he had started the practice in Siam. Shortly thereafter the sentence was carried out.
An entry in the diary of another Dutchman, Gijsbert Heeck, a medical doctor travelling in Siam in 1651, provides a little more information about the cause of SchoutenтАЩs undoing. Claiming to have witnessed the execution seven years earlier, Heeck admits that Schouten was тАШa man of unusual knowledge and extraordinary intellectтАЩ. Having thus exhausted his fund of goodwill, he goes on to say that тАШin his heart he was a hypocritical villain and seducer of many, secretly using his prominence and great authority to force them away from the path of decency into the way of his shameful foulness, seeking thereby to satisfy his devilish lecheryтАЩ. He says that others were implicated in SchoutenтАЩs deeds and were executed at the same time or later тАУ тАШa fitting recompense and retribution for their gruesome life on earthтАЩ. They can expect even worse in the hereafter, he says, before concluding with sudden and almost comically jarring humility, тАШBut it is not for us to judgeтАЩ.
Nowadays Scouten is remembered, if at all, for his excellent little description of Siam. Scholars have largely ignored him. The modern reader is left with many unanswered questions, particularly with regard to his trial and untimely death. An interesting research opportunity awaits someone. In the meantime, we can probably all agree that, as gay people, we are lucky to be alive now and not back in those much harsher times.
Of course, there was a Western presence in Siam long before that. The Portuguese had a trading post in the capital, Ayutthaya, as early as the 16th century and the Dutch arrived at the start of the 17th century. It is clear from reports that many of these early resident Westerners kept Siamese concubines, several if they could afford it. In this they were merely imitating the behaviour of the Siamese themselves. Since homosexuality was not illegal (though it did attract a certain amount of ridicule among the Siamese), it is likely that some Westerners discreetly kept boys. They donтАЩt tell us about it, however, because of the prejudice in their own communities. The tragic case of Joost Schouten shows just how dire the consequences of exposure could be.
Schouten, from Rotterdam, was one of the most able and energetic servants of the Dutch East India Company during the 17th century. He first came to prominence when presenting a ceremonial gift from the Prince of Orange to the King of Siam in 1628. He subsequently spent some time on a trading mission to Japan, but returned to Siam in 1633 as Director of the re-established Dutch factory in Ayutthaya. Well-liked and respected by his colleagues, he was also highly esteemed by the volatile Siamese King, Prasat Thong, who granted trading concessions as a result, which greatly improved the fortunes of the Dutch factory. In 1636 Schouten penned one of the earliest Western accounts of Siam (describing its geography, judicial system, religion and so on), an admirably clear and well-organised document. He left Siam for the last time in the same year, returning to Holland for a while and then arriving in Batavia (now Jakarta), the regional headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, as a member of the council in 1640. From there he conducted two missions as an envoy with his customary zeal and efficiency.
By early 1644 Schouten could look back with satisfaction on a career of great achievement. He might have nursed hopes of becoming Governor-General in the East or even of joining the Board of Directors back in Holland. Instead, his world was about to come crashing down around him.
In July 1644 he was tried and convicted of sodomy, a crime which in those days was punishable with death. The abhorrence felt by the grim Calvinists who tried him was such that mention was made in the sentence passed on him of тАШhow abominable this filthy and vile sodomitish sin is in the eyes of God and man, so that for this reason the Lord God has destroyed Lands and Cities with fire from Heaven, as an example and warning to the whole worldтАЩ. The sentence listed, тАШin disgusting detailтАЩ according to one of the few scholars to have seen a copy of it in 1935, SchoutenтАЩs crimes. Neither his glittering reputation nor the earnest entreaties of his many influential relatives and friends could save him. The only mercy shown him was that he was to be strangled at the stake prior to being burned; his ashes were then to be scattered and his considerable property confiscated. Schouten had made no attempt to defend himself in court and, after the Governor-General had confirmed his sentence on the same day it was issued, he made a full confession of his guilt, admitting that he had started the practice in Siam. Shortly thereafter the sentence was carried out.
An entry in the diary of another Dutchman, Gijsbert Heeck, a medical doctor travelling in Siam in 1651, provides a little more information about the cause of SchoutenтАЩs undoing. Claiming to have witnessed the execution seven years earlier, Heeck admits that Schouten was тАШa man of unusual knowledge and extraordinary intellectтАЩ. Having thus exhausted his fund of goodwill, he goes on to say that тАШin his heart he was a hypocritical villain and seducer of many, secretly using his prominence and great authority to force them away from the path of decency into the way of his shameful foulness, seeking thereby to satisfy his devilish lecheryтАЩ. He says that others were implicated in SchoutenтАЩs deeds and were executed at the same time or later тАУ тАШa fitting recompense and retribution for their gruesome life on earthтАЩ. They can expect even worse in the hereafter, he says, before concluding with sudden and almost comically jarring humility, тАШBut it is not for us to judgeтАЩ.
Nowadays Scouten is remembered, if at all, for his excellent little description of Siam. Scholars have largely ignored him. The modern reader is left with many unanswered questions, particularly with regard to his trial and untimely death. An interesting research opportunity awaits someone. In the meantime, we can probably all agree that, as gay people, we are lucky to be alive now and not back in those much harsher times.