Antonius Hambroek

Who was Antonius Hambroek?

Antonius Hambroek was a Dutch missionary to Formosa from 1648 to 1661 during the Dutch colonial era. He was martyred by Koxinga as the Chinese-Japanese warlord wrested Taiwan from the Dutch. Koxinga had captured Hambroek along with his wife and three of his children, and sent him as a messenger to Frederik Coyett, the Governor of Formosa, to demand the surrender of the Dutch garrison at Fort Zeelandia and the abandonment of their colony. Koxinga promised the missionary death should he return with a displeasing answer; Coyett refused to surrender and Hambroek was executed on his return to Koxinga's camp.

After the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, Koxinga took Hambroek's teenage daughter as a concubine. Other Dutch women were sold to Chinese soldiers to become their wives.