Foreign relations between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Portugal date back to the beginning of Portuguese independence. From this time on, the English monarchy was intimately connected to Portugal through military aid. Relations between these two Crowns only produced concrete results, however, through treaties and accords signed in the 14th century. During this same century, these two Crowns also moved closer commercially, a relationship that had begun with the commercial accord of 1294, which was extended in 1353 through the first commercial treaty between Portugal and England, and in 1373 through the friendship and defense alliance. Seen as the only alternative to the pressure of the Castilian Crown on Portugal, this approximation to the English Crown led to the first diplomatic relationship that Portugal had outside of the Iberian Peninsula. The treaty of Windsor and the marriage of King João I to Filipa of Lancaster would lay the foundation for Portuguese foreign policy until the Iberian Crowns united.
During the reign of King João I, bilateral relations between the two Kingdoms were basically military, first through the support of Portuguese independence, and later through aid to overseas ventures. The dawn of Portuguese overseas expansion and the resulting venture into the Atlantic, along with the domestic turbulence (War of the Roses) and foreign unrest (100 Years War) in England, led to a gradual diplomatic rift between the two kingdoms during the 15th century. During this period, a mission led by João de Elvas was dispatched in 1482 and would lead to the ratification of the treaty of Windsor, which stipulated that Guinea was thereafter under the control of the Portuguese monarchy, given that English interest in this region had suddenly paled.
Until the Iberian union of 1581, relations between Portugal and England rested on English involvement in Portuguese overseas territories. Despite the focus on domestic affairs that characterized the reigns of Henry VII (1485-1509) and VIII (1509-47), it was during this period that English subjects became increasingly interested in the Atlantic, a presence that was felt throughout the 16th century in the Gulf of Guinea and the North Atlantic. The commercial objectives of England were transatlantic and collided with Portuguese interests; this would result in constant diplomatic contact, grievances and negotiations, culminating in the treaty of 1576. This first phase of the alliance between the two Kingdoms varied between moments of reciprocal aid and moments of latent tension that almost led to the cutting of bilateral relations. Diplomatic policies depended on the defense of the tacit interest of both Crowns in Europe and the Atlantic, and would collapse when foreign situations changed or when priorities and hierarchies were redefined.
In terms of foreign policy, the Iberian union meant that Portuguese interests were absorbed by the aggressive policies of Spain in Europe, and that Portugal became involved in disputes with various European Kingdoms in the old Continent and Overseas that were opposed to Spanish foreign policy. As a result, antagonism between England and Portugal increased greatly and would lead to the end of relations during the sixty years that the kingdom of Portugal was under Spanish rule (1580-1640). Despite the phases of peace between England and Spain that occurred in 1604 and 1630, this conflict would lead to an increase in British commercial and pirate activity in the regions that were under Portuguese jurisdiction, especially in the Asian continent. In fact, through the activity of the East India Company, a private commercial company, the British moved into Asian markets in Insulíndia, Coromandel, Guzerate and the Persian Gulf. Since Portugal had few interests in the first region, few conflicts took place, but great antagonism would occur in the remaining regions, as the British constantly took possession of Portuguese vessels and merchandise. They also built factories in Coromandel (Masulipatão and Petapoli - 1611, Armagon - 1626, and Madrasta - 1639). This, along with Dutch involvement, would force the Portuguese to retreat. In Guzerate, the British focused their activity in Surrate, where they build a factory in 1618 that greatly strengthened their presence in the region, and in the north of India and the Red Sea. It is understandable, therefore, that the Portuguese should have tried to expulse them in 1612 and 1615, but to no avail. They were also unsuccessful in 1620 in Jask, Persia, where the British aided a Persian armada to expulse the Portuguese from Ormuz in 1622. After 1619, the British also formed an alliance with the Dutch to attack the vessels of the Route of India, blockaded Goa and Mozambique (1621-23) and attacked Bombay (1626).
The Convention of Goa of 1635 and the movement to restore Portuguese autonomy in 1640 would bring the two Crowns together again in Europe and Overseas. While the former signaled the reduction of hostilities in Asia, the latter led to stronger ties between Portugal and the United Kingdom (and other European powers) in line with Portuguese restoration diplomacy. However, despite the peace and commerce treaty of 1642, this approximation would be affected by the internal affairs of England, which opposed the king to the members of parliament during the 1640s. After the defeat of the British monarchy, two palatine princes and part of the English royal armada installed themselves at the mouth of the Tagus River, in order to attack parliamentary vessels. This would greatly strain relations between the two allies of old and would lead to direct combat. Subsequently, the attempts of the Portuguese Crown to move closer to the British Republic led to the treaty of 1654, which made England the mainstay of Portuguese foreign policy.
In 1660, the Portuguese ambassador in London agreed to a treaty with the British Counsel of State, a transition government until the monarchy was restored. Although it would not be ratified by the new British king, Charles II, this accord was part of an attempt at more concrete aid between the two Crowns and would lead to the treaty of 1661. This treaty would be decisive for Portugal to maintain its independence (with British military aid and mediation in the Iberian peace accord of 1668), and would guarantee British support against the United Provinces in Asia. After the peace of 1668, internal economic problems and non-involvement in European military confrontations made the Portuguese Crown adopt a closed-door policy until the Spanish War of Succession. As a result, Portugal took no part in the British revolution of 1688, and only two years later recognized the protestant monarch, William of Orange, who had ascended to the throne.
Nonetheless, the struggle for succession in Spain would inevitably bring the Portuguese Crown into the conflicts of Europe. In mid-1701, Portugal sided with France and the Spanish monarchy in supporting Philip of Anjou, against the United Provinces and the United Kingdom. However, the pressure of the British, the defeats of the French and the refusal of the French to support Portugal, would lead the Portuguese Crown to join Holland, Britain and Austria in an offensive and defensive league. After these negotiations, the British envoy in Lisbon, John Methuen, also negotiated a commercial treaty that accorded Portugal advantages in introducing its wines into the British market, while the Portuguese market was opened to British woolen goods. The struggle for succession in Spain lasted some years and led to various invasions of Portuguese territory. Confrontations ended in 1715 with the peace of Utrecht, which stipulated French acceptance of Portuguese dominion over both banks of the Amazon River, as well as the Spanish restitution of the colony of Sacramento to Portugal.
When King João V assumed the throne, the Portuguese Crown adopted a strategy of non-involvement in European conflicts, including the United Kingdom. This fact, however, did not impede England from mediating the Portuguese-Spanish conflict of 1734-37. As this neutral policy was abandoned by King José, Portugal was involved in the Seven Year War between France and the United Kingdom. When Portugal was once again invaded, the British supported the Portuguese Crown with money, weapons and military forces. The treaty of Fontainebleau, which was signed on November 3, 1762, ended this conflict, with the British negotiating in the name of Portugal, which was not a signatory of the treaty. Subsequently, Portugal returned to a neutral stance with Queen Maria I, given the good results obtained by King João V during the first half of the century. The Kingdom of Portugal was, therefore, not involved in the war of independence of the United States of America, but was forced to take a position when the French Revolution broke out in 1789.
Bibliography:
AMES, Glenn, J., Renascent Empire? : the house of Braganza and the quest for stability in portuguese monsoon Asia, c. 1640-1683, Amesterdão, University Press, 2000. BRAZÃO, Eduardo, A Diplomacia Portuguesa nos Séculos XVII e XVIII, 2 vols., Lisboa, Resistência, 1979-1980. MACEDO, Jorge Borges de, História Diplomática Portuguesa: constantes e linhas de força, Lisboa, Revista Nação e Defesa, 1987. MARTINEZ, Pedro Soares, História diplomática de Portugal, Lisboa, Verbo, 1986. PRESTAGE, Edgar, As Relações Diplomáticas de Portugal com a França, Inglaterra e Holanda de 1640 a 1668, Coimbra, Impr. da Universidade, 1928. SUBRAHMANYAM, Sanjay, O Império Asiático Português, 1500.1700: uma história política e económica, Lisboa, Difel, 1995.
Translated by: Rosa Simas.
Publication Date
2009
Categories
Related entries
Image credit
Alexandra Pelúcia
Image Legend
View of Tower Bridge, London