The Methuens and Portugal 1691–1708

An account of Anglo-Portuguese diplomatic and commercial relations between 1691 and 1708.

A. D. Francis (Author)

9780521083843, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 14 October 2008

428 pages
21 x 15.1 x 0.7 cm, 0.54 kg

An account of Anglo-Portuguese diplomatic and commercial relations between 1691 and 1708. Any study of this aspect of the War of the Spanish Succession hinges on the diplomatic despatches of the Methuen family. John Methuen was appointed English Minister in Lisbon in 1691 and later became Ambassador. He was succeeded by his son Paul in 1706. Through their combined trade acumen and understanding of Portugal they became influential figures in European politics. Their ability greatly strengthened English resistance to the threat of French dominance in Europe. Their best-known achievement is the Methuen commercial treaty of 1703 which cemented the Triple and Quadruple offensive alliance of the same year. Commercial weakness was a fundamental cause of the eventual French defeat.

1. John Methuen and his antecedents
2. Portugal at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
3. John Methuen's first mission to Lisbon, 1691–6
4. Paul Methuen, minister at Lisbon, 1697–1702
5. John Methuen detaches Portugal from her French alliance, May–August 1702
6. Portugal hesitates to commit herself further
7. Portugal joins the Grand Alliance, January–May 1703
8. John Methuen's commercial treaty of December 1703 and its background, 1670–1715
9. Preparations for a Peninsular War, June 1703–May 1704
10. The failure of the campaigns in Portugal in 1704
11. Operations in 1705 and the part played by the Navy
12. The Capture of Madrid in 1706 and the death of Methuen
13. Assessment of the Methuens and of the Methuen treaties
14. Paul Methuen, ambassador at Lisbon and Portugal's recession from the war, December 1706–July 1708
15. Epilogue.

Subject Areas: History [HB]