Unmoved.

[**The following is in regards to Jan Coen, an officer of the Dutch East India company in Indonesia, and his often draconian measures as a leader.**] >Only the previous month, [Coen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen.jpg) had vividly demonstrated his willingness to punish all those who transgressed his fearsome standards, no matter what their station, by flogging a girl named Sara Specx in front of the town hall. Sara was the half-Japanese daughter of the VOC fleet commander Jacques Specx, and her crime had been making love in the governor’s apartments. Because she was only 12 years old, and her lover, who was the nephew of the town clerk of Amsterdam, no more than 15, even the *fiscaal* and the Councilors of the Indies had begged Coen to show compassion; but though there was evidence to show that the intercourse had been consensual and the lovers wished to marry, the governor-general had remained unmoved. He had the boy beheaded and was narrowly prevented from having Sara drowned. __________________________ **Source:** Dash, Mike. “Longboat.” *Batavia's Graveyard*. Three Rivers Press, 2003. 205. Print. __________________________ **Further Reading:** [Jan Pieterszoon Coen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen) ___________________________ **If you enjoy this type of content, please consider donating to my [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/HistoryLockeBox)!**