Cornelis Jol

Who was Cornelis Jol?

Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol, nicknamed Houtebeen, was a 17th-Century Dutch corsair and admiral in the Dutch West India Company during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the fledgling Dutch Republic. He was one of several early buccaneers to attack Campeche, looting the settlement in 1633, and was active against the Spanish in the Spanish Main and throughout the Caribbean during the 1630s and 40s.

Jol was really more of a pirate than an admiral, raiding Spanish and Portuguese fleets and gathering large amounts of loot. He was nicknamed Houtebeen, because he lost a leg during battle and became one of the earliest documented pirates to use a wooden peg leg. The Spanish also nicknamed him El Pirata.

His son, also called Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol, pursued a career at sea as well and served as an officer in the Dutch navy. He was captain of the Leiden under admiral Maarten Tromp during the First Anglo-Dutch War.

A street in Scheveningen is named for Jol. One of his descendants named a company after him. Erstwhile AFC Ajax trainer Martin Jol is also a direct descendant.