Methuen Treaty
Encyclopedia
The Methuen Treaty was an offensive military and commercial treaty between Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 and England signed in 1703 as part of the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...

.

The Treaty stipulated that no tax could be charged for Portuguese wines (but see below) exported to England or English textiles exported to Portugal, regardless of the geopolitical situation of each of the two nations (this was to make sure that England would still accept Portuguese wine in periods when not at war with France).
Some authors claim that the deal was negative for Portugal, since it meant that the country would not develop its industrial infrastructures (and therefore lost the industrial race) and other types of agricultural products. This is however, debatable, since this period saw the appearance of other industries in Portugal, like the manufacturing of porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

. Some of the factories that appeared in this period have lasted until today.

Thanks to this treaty, Portugal retained a strong political position on a stage that revealed itself to be fundamental in preserving the territorial integrity of its most important colony, Brazil (as argued by the Brazilian economist Celso Furtado in his work "Brazilian Economic Foundation").

Background

At the start of the War of Spanish Succession Portugal had allied with France. As part of this treaty the French had guaranteed the Portuguese naval protection. In 1702, the British navy sailed close to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

 on the way to and from Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

 proving to the Portuguese that the French could not keep their promise. They soon began negotiations with the Grand Alliance about switching sides.

The Methuen treaty was negotiated by John Methuen (c.1650-1706) who served as a member of Parliament, Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

 of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Privy Councilor, envoy
Envoy (title)
In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....

 and then ambassador extraordinary to Portugal where he negotiated the "Methuen" Treaty of 1703; the Treaty cemented allegiances in the War of Spanish Succession.

The early years of the War of Spanish Succession, in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

, had been rather fruitless. The Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 party in England was concerned about the cost of the war and felt that naval warfare was a much cheaper option with greater potential for success. Portugal offered the advantage of a deep-water ports near the Mediterranean which could be used to counter the French Naval base at Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

.

Treaty

There were three major elements to the Methuen Treaty. The first was the establishment of the war aims of the Grand Alliance. Secondly the agreement meant that Spain would become a new theatre of war. Finally, it regulated the establishment of trade relations, especially between Britain and Portugal.

Until 1703 the Grand Alliance had never established any formal war aims. The Methuen Treaty changed this as it confirmed that the alliance would try to secure the entire Spanish Empire for the Austrian claimant to the throne, the Archduke Charles, later Charles VI
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...

 of Austria.

The Treaty also established the numbers of troops the various countries would provide to fight the campaign in Spain. The Portuguese also insisted that Archduke Charles would come to Portugal to lead the forces in order to ensure full allied commitment to the war in Spain.

In addition, the Treaty helped to establish trading relations between England and Portugal. The terms of the Treaty allowed English woolen cloth to be admitted into Portugal free of duty. In return, Portuguese wines imported into England would be subject to a third less duty than wines imported from France. This was particularly important in helping the development of the port
Port wine
Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...

industry. As England was at war with France, it became increasingly difficult to acquire wine and so port started to become a popular replacement.

The Treaty was subsequently known, colloquially, as the "Port Wine Treaty".

Further reading

  • Francis, A.D. John Methuen and the Anglo-Portuguese Treaties of 1703. The Historical Journal Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 103 – 124.
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