The Strange Case of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert

[hubag bohol]

In 1647, when Manhattan was a Dutch colony called New Amsterdam, a married barber-surgeon, commissary of stores, and respected explorer named Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert was caught in flagrante with another manâ€"a black slave. Sodomy was a capital offense according the strict Calvinist faith practiced by the Dutch at the time. Pursued by the authorities, Van den Bogaert broke out of custody in Fort Orange and fled with his lover to an Iroquois village, but was tracked down. In the ensuing struggle to capture him, a shoot-out occurred and a longhouse was set on fire. He was literally dragged away by the posse and returned to Fort Orange. He got out a second time, but drowned in the second escape attempt, possibly making him the first victim of homophobia in North America. -- http://listverse.com/

[hubag bohol]

[hubag bohol]

In the winter of 1647-48, an Iroquois village in the wilds along the Mohawk River, west of what is now Albany, N.Y., was the setting for one of the most remarkable events of the period. In a clearing amidst the snowy forest, a ragtag posse of Dutch colonists dragged the fugitive Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert from a burning longhouse. The Indians could have only watched in despair as van den Bogaert battled with his captors while their precious supplies went up in flames, the smoke reeking of burnt meat, singed wampum shells, and scorched peltries.

Van den Bogaert’s tale continued beyond the burning barn, and by the time it was over, the New Netherland court at Manhattan Island referred to his demise as “sad and miserable.” How van den Bogaert, who’d risen early in life to become a respected surgeon, commissary of stores for Fort Orange, groundbreaking explorer of the Iroquois hinterlands, and married father of four, came to such an ignominious downfall involved, to one degree or another, sodomy, slavery, jail breaks, exorcism ceremonies, cannibalism, barroom brawls, a Jesuit martyr, privateering, a long-anonymous chronicle of the wilderness frontier, and one pet bear not for sale at any price. All in all, the surgeon’s life remains a strange and illuminating early colonial case study.

More at: http://www.themorningnews.org/article/the-strange-case-of-harmen-meyndertsz-van-den-bogaert

[hofelina]

wonderful thread Hubs, thanks!;)