GetWiki

{{Short description|1670 treaty between England and Spain}}

factoids

William Godolphin (diplomat) {{Flagicon>SpainGaspar de Bracamonte {{Flagicon>SpainPeñaranda de Bracamonte>Peñaranda| original_signatories =Kingdom of England}} William Godolphin {{Flagicon1506}} Gaspar de Bracamonte {{Flagicon1506}} Count of PeñarandaKingdom of England}} {{Flagcountry1506}}Kingdom of England}} Charles II of England {{Flagicon1506}} Mariana of Austria for Charles II of Spain| depositor =| depositories =| citations =| language = Latin| languages =| wikisource =| wikisource1 =| footnotes =}}The Treaty of Madrid, also known as the Godolphin Treaty, was a treaty between England and Spain that was agreed to in July 1670 "for the settlement of all disputes in America".WEB, Treaty between Great Britain and Spain for the settlement of all disputes in America,weblink The National Archives, gov.uk, The treaty officially ended the war begun in 1654 in the Caribbean in which England had conquered Jamaica.Pestana p. 185The 1670 Treaty of Madrid was highly favourable to England, as its Adverse Possession in the Caribbean Sea and the rest of the Americas was confirmed and made legal by Spain. Before 1670, Spain had exclusively regarded the Americas as Spanish territory with the exception of Brazil, which was Portuguese according to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas that had confirmed Christopher Columbus' claim of the New World for Spain since 12 October 1494.Padron pp.xiv-xxiBOOK, Fisher, Margaret Anne, Savelle, Max, The origins of American diplomacy: the international history of Angloamerica, 1492-1763 American diplomatic history series Authors, 1967, Macmillan, 66–70,weblink

Background

The Anglo-Spanish War had begun in late 1654, as England joined France in its conflict with Spain. In Europe, the conflict ended with the Treaty of the Pyrenees (between France and Spain) and King Charles II of England's restoration in 1660, but a treaty between England and Spain was never signed. The conflict in the Caribbean began with the English failed attempt on Hispaniola, followed by a successful invasion of Jamaica.Sankey pp. 663-64 The region thus remained in a state of war, and privateer raids were launched on the Spanish Main led by buccaneers notably Christopher Myngs and Henry Morgan under the behest of Jamaican Governor Thomas Modyford As far as Modyford was concerned, Jamaica would never be secure until Spain had acknowledged England's possession of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and in a treaty.Davenport & Paulin p. 187 In 1667 the Treaty of Madrid was signed between England and Spain. Although favourable to the former in terms of trade, there was no mention of the American colonies or the Caribbean as rightful possessions.Fisher/Savelle p.65 (1967) Attacks, therefore, continued, notably Morgan's brutal attack and sackings of Portobello and Maracaibo over the next two years.Talty pp. 163–165ODNB, Zahedieh, Nuala, Morgan, Sir Henry (c.1635–1688),weblink 10.1093/ref:odnb/19224, 2004, In 1669, Mariana, the Queen Regent of Spain, in response ordered attacks on English shipping in the Caribbean. Charles II ordered Modyford to issue official letters of marque against the Spanish. Modyford commissioned Morgan once more to raid the Spanish Main. Spain was politically, economically and militarily weak after years of war and political infighting. Charles saw an opportunity that he could not miss and felt the time was right to negotiate a treaty with Spain since England held a great advantage. The only ways Spain that could be at an advantage was to recapture Jamaica or France and Holland to join in a potential war, which Charles was seeking to avoid.Negotiations began in the autumn of 1669 between the Spanish representative Gaspar de Bracamonte, Count of Peñaranda, with William Godolphin, Envoy Extraordinary from England.The original language of the treaty was in Latin, and the complete English title was "A treaty for the composing of differences, restraining of depredations, and establishing of peace in America, between the crowns of Great Britain and Spain, concluded at Madrid the 8/18 day of July, in the year of our Lord 1670".BOOK, George Chalmers (antiquarian), Chalmers, George, A Collection of Treaties Between Great Britain and Other Powers, vol. II, 1790, John Stockdale, London, 34,weblink

Terms

Spain began to legally recognize in Article VII of the 1670 Treaty of Madrid, any territories in the Americas known as the Western Hemisphere that England's subjects had illegally settled by Adverse Possession. Before the 1670 treaty, Spain legally considered the Western Hemisphere exclusively as Spanish territory with the exception of Brazil which according to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas was Portuguese. That treaty acknowledged Christopher Columbus' claiming the Western Hemisphere for Spain on October 12, 1492. The Madrid treaty modified Tordesillas in favour of an English legal presence in the Americas.BOOK, Carlos Calvo (historian), Calvo, Cárlos, Colección histórica completa de los tratados: 1493-1694, vol. I, 1862, A. Durand, Paris, 169,weblink }}Under the terms of the treaty, all letters of reprisal were revoked by Spain, and reciprocal aid to ships in distress along with permission to repair in each others ports were required.England agreed to suppress piracy in the Caribbean, and in return, Spain agreed to permit English ships freedom of movement. Both agreed to refrain from trading in the other's Caribbean territory and to limit trading to their own possessions.WEB, Williams, Eric, Spanish-English Rivalry in the Caribbean, 1498–1670, Documents of West Indian History, vol. I: 1492–1655,weblink Eric Williams, National Humanities Center, PNM Publishing, Port of Spain, 1963, The treaty was then ratified on 28 September.(File:Jamaica 1676 (John Speed).jpg|thumb|500px|center|Map of Jamaica from the 1670's)

Consequences

In Spain and its colonies, the treaty was hated and viewed by many as a humiliating surrender. Spain's military, economic and political weakness meant that it was unable to pose any will, which England had taken easy advantage of.Ehrengardt p. 61 Spanish merchants in particular were unwilling to accept the treaty, and the Spanish crown had to give special tax Cédulas as compensation.Stein pp. 63-64The treaty was highly favourable to England, on the other hand, and the fact that Spain recognised England's colonies in the Americas was a major concession.Davenport & Paulin pp. 99 & 188-89 In previous treaties, Spain had always insisted that the New World west of Brazil belonged to it alone.Mirza p. 99Grady p. 66England effectively challenged Spain in the western Caribbean, and subsequently used Jamaica as a base to support settlements all along the Central American Caribbean coast from the Yucatán to (present day) Nicaragua.JOURNAL, Bolland, Nigel, Merrill, Tim, A Country Study: Belize, January 1992,weblink Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, The new logwood stations there were accepted by Spain but were not recognised and this increased as many ex privateers turned to logwooding.{{cn|date=March 2023}} As such, the treaty did not establish any boundaries: Spain and England only adopted, in article 7, the principle of actual possession. In Northern America, "this compact legalized England's ownership as far south as Charleston, and Spain's as far north as Santa Elena Sound, in 32°, 30' north latitude".BOOK, Arredondo, Antonio de, Herbert Eugene Bolton, Herbert E. Bolton, Arredondo's Historical Proof of Spain's Title to Georgia: A Contribution to the History of One of the Spanish Borderlands, 1925, University of California Press, v–xiii, here p. vii,weblink$b68346;view=1up;seq=15, As a result, it was met with consternation by the Spanish in Florida, who, despite protests, had to accept the newly encroached English colony of Charleston.Although piracy was suppressed, English ships were now able to roam the Caribbean without hindrance.Sankey pp. 663-64 England had sought that in negotiations with Spain in 1655, but the Spanish had refused. Spain's acquiescence reversed its previous position that defined any English person in the West Indies as an intruder or a pirate.Pestana p. 2News of the treaty, however, did not reach the Caribbean in time for Henry Morgan, who on 28 January 1671 launched a devastating raid on Panama City. The Spanish were furious, and the English saw that Morgan and Modyford had violated the treaty. To restore relations, both Modyford and Morgan were recalled and arrested. They went unpunished, however, and were released.Walton p. 131 Morgan was even knighted by Charles and made Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica.Spain and England remained at peace until 1702 with the War of the Spanish Succession.

References

{{Reflist|2}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Allen, H. R, Buccaneer: Admiral Sir Henry Morgan, 1976, Arthur Baker, 978-0-213-16569-7,
• BOOK, Davenport, Frances Gardiner, Paullin, Charles Oscar, European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies: Issue 254, 2004, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd, 9781584774228,weblink
• BOOK, Ehrengardt, Thibault, The History of Jamaica from 1494 to 1838,weblink 2015, Dread Editions, 9791094341018,
• BOOK, Grady, Timothy Paul, Anglo-Spanish Rivalry in Colonial South-East America, 1650–1725 Empires in Perspective, 2015, Routledge, 9781317323853,
• BOOK, McAlister, Lyle N, Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1492-1700, Volume 3, 1984, University of Minnesota Press, 9780816612161, registration,weblink
• BOOK, Mirza, Rocky M, The Rise and Fall of the American Empire: A Re-Interpretation of History, Economics and Philosophy: 1492-2006, 2007, Trafford Publishing, 9781425113834,
• BOOK, Padrón, Francisco Morales, Spanish Jamaica, 2003, Ian Randle Publishers, 9780974215501,weblink
• BOOK, Pestana, Carla Gardina, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell's Bid for Empire, 2017, Harvard University Press, 9780674737310,weblink
• BOOK, Stein, Stanley J, Stein, Barbara H, Silver, Trade, and War: Spain and America in the Making of Early Modern Europe, 2000, JHU Press, 9780801861352,weblink
• BOOK, Sankey, Margaret, Francis, John Michael, Iberia and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History : a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia, Volume 1, 2006, ABC-CLIO, 9781851094219,
• BOOK, Talty, Stephan, Empire of Blue Water: Henry Morgan and the Pirates Who Ruled the Caribbean Waves, 2007, Simon & Schuster, London, 978-1-4165-0293-7,
• BOOK, Walton, Timothy R, The Spanish Treasure Fleets, 2002, Pineapple Press Inc, 9781561642618,

External links

• English translation of the treaty
• Spanish translation of the treaty