The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and the English Merchants in Portugal 1654–1810

Book excerpt: The alliance made between Cromwell and John IV in 1654, cemented by the Articles of Marriage between Charles II and Catherine of Braganza in 1661 lasted for 156 years. Together, they provided a guarantee of Portugal’s independence and formed a framework for an expansion of trade between England, Portugal and its overseas possessions. The Inquisition had ruined the ’New Christians’ (Sephardic Jews) who had been Portugal’s principal middlemen, enabling the English merchants to play a dominant role in that expansion once they had overcome their French and Dutch rivals. They held that position until Pombal succeeded by 1770 in breaking the hold which foreigners had established over Portuguese commerce. This book is the result of many years of research into Portuguese and British archival sources. It interweaves politics, economics, religion and commerce to portray what life was like for English merchants in Portugal in the period.