2-325-606 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Piet Pieterszoon Hein brings in the silver fleet, Netherlands, 1629 (c1870). Piet Hein (1577-1629) was a Dutch naval officer who became a popular hero because of his exploits in the Eighty Years War to secure the independence of the Netherlands from Spain. In 1628 he captured a Spanish treasure fleet in the Caribbean, returning home to a hero's welcome the following year. The spoils were sufficient to fund the Dutch army for eight months and to provide the Dutch East India Company's shareholders with a large cash dividend. A print from Nederlands Geschiedenis en Volksleven in Schetsen, by J Van Lenner and J Ter Gouw. (Leiden, AW Sijthoff, c1870).