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The Spanish–Portuguese treaty of 1750 or Treaty of Madrid was a document signed in the Spanish capital by
Ferdinand VI of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Savoy , birth_date = 23 September 1713 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Madrid, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Villav ...
and
John V of Portugal Dom John V ( pt, João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo; 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), known as the Magnanimous (''o Magnânimo'') and the Portuguese Sun King (''o Rei-Sol Português''), was King of Portugal from 9 December 17 ...
on 13 January 1750. The agreement aimed to end armed conflict over a border dispute between the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Portuguese empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
s in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
in the vicinity of the
Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...
, an area known as the
Banda Oriental Banda Oriental, or more fully Banda Oriental del Uruguay (Eastern Bank), was the name of the South American territories east of the Uruguay River and north of Río de la Plata that comprise the modern nation of Uruguay; the modern state of Rio Gra ...
(now comprising parts of
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
and the state of
Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most-populous state and the ninth largest by area. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is border ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
). The treaty established borders between the Spanish and Portuguese empires, ceding much of what is today's Brazil to the Portuguese.


Background

:''See also Spanish–Portuguese War (1735–37)'' Earlier treaties such as the
Treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas, ; pt, Tratado de Tordesilhas . signed in Tordesillas, Spain on 7 June 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Em ...
and the Treaty of Zaragoza authored by both countries, and as mediated by
Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
, stipulated that the Portuguese empire in South America could extend no farther west than 370 leagues west of
Cape Verde Islands , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...
(called the
Tordesillas meridian The Treaty of Tordesillas, ; pt, Tratado de Tordesilhas . signed in Tordesillas, Spain on 7 June 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Em ...
, approx. the 46th meridian). Had these treaties remained unchanged, the Spanish would have held both what is today the city of
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...
and all land to the west and south. Thus, Brazil would be only a fraction of its present-day size. Gold was discovered in Mato Grosso in 1695. Starting in the 17th century, Portuguese explorers, traders, and missionaries from the state of Maranhao in the north, and gold-seekers and slave-hunters, the famous ''bandeirantes'' of São Paulo, in the south, had penetrated far to the west and southwest of the old treaty-line also looking for slaves. New
captaincies A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule a ...
(administrative divisions) created by the Portuguese beyond Brazil's previously-established boundaries: Minas Gerais, Goias, Mato Grosso, Santa Catarina.


National motivations


Portugal

The Portuguese wanted to strike a balance between the boundary claims of Spain and Portugal by allotting the greater part of the Amazon basin to the latter and that of the Rio de la Plata to the former. They also sought to secure the undisputed sovereignty of the gold and diamond districts of Goias and Mato Grosso for the Portuguese Crown as well as secure Brazil's frontier by the retention of the Rio Grande do Sul and the acquisition of the Spanish Jesuit missions ("Seven Peoples") on the left bank of the river Uruguay. They hoped that the meeting would allow them to secure the western frontier of Brazil and river communication with Maranhao-Para by ensuring that navigation on the rivers Tocantins, Tapajos and Madeira remain in Portuguese hands


Spain

Spain instead was desirous to stop the westward advance of the Portuguese, who had already encroached on much of what was theoretically Spanish territory even though it consisted mostly of virgin jungle. They also sought to transfer to Spain the Portuguese colony of
Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, which had functioned as a backdoor for the illegal Anglo-Portuguese trade with the Viceroyalty of Peru and which rendered the Spanish city of
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
dangerously exposed to foreign invasion. Furthermore, they hoped to undermine the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, and thus eventually to facilitate a Spanish-Portuguese alliance against English aggression and ambition in South America.


Cartographic issues

*1722 map of French cartographer Guillaume de Lisle *1749 map of Alexandre de Gusmão: Mappa das Cortes, or Mapa de las Cortes


International context

The
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
and
Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
were under Spanish sovereignty.


Structure of the Treaty

The original was in both Portuguese and Spanish. The treaty consists of a lengthy preamble, and 26 articles.


Terms of the Treaty

The Treaty of Madrid was based on the principles of '' Uti possidetis, ita possideatis'' from
Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
(who owns by fact owns by right) and "natural boundaries", stating respectively in the preamble: "each party must stay with what it now holds" and "the boundaries of the two Domains... are the sources and courses of the most notable rivers and mountains", and thereby authorizing the Portuguese to retain the lands they had occupied at the expense of the Empire of Spain. The treaty also stipulated that Spain would receive the Sacramento Colony and Portugal the Misiones Orientales. These were seven independent
Jesuit missions The phrase Jesuit missions usually refers to a Jesuit missionary enterprise in a particular area, involving a large number of Jesuit priests and brothers, and lasting over a long period of time. List of some Jesuit missions * Circular Mission ...
of the upper
Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...
. The Treaty of Tordesillas was specifically abrogated. The treaty sensibly sought to follow geographic features in fixing the boundary: it moved westward from a point on the Atlantic coast south of Rio Grande do Sul, then northward irregularly following parts of the Uruguay, Iguaçu, Paraná, Paraguay, Guapore, Madeira, and Javari Rivers, and north of the Amazon, ran from the middle Negro to the watershed between the Amazon and Orinoco basins and along the Guiana watershed to the Atlantic. Soon after signing it, two commissions for demarcation were created. The Northern, chaired by the State Governor of Grão-Pará and Maranhão, in the South headed on the Portuguese side by the Governor of Rio de Janeiro.


Aftermath

The Treaty of Madrid was significant because it substantially defined the modern boundaries of
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. However, the resistance of the Jesuits to surrendering their missions and the refusal of the Guaraní to be forcibly relocated led to the nullification of the treaty by the subsequent Treaty of El Pardo, signed by both countries in 1761. The opposition by the Guaraní led to the Guaraní War of 1756. The terms of the Treaty of Madrid, with a few exceptions, were re-established in the First Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777, and that treaty was again negated in 1801.


See also

*
Treaty of Madrid (5 October 1750) The Treaty of Madrid, also known as the Treaty of Aquisgran, was a commercial treaty between Britain and Spain, formally signed on 5 October 1750 in Madrid. Commercial tensions over the ''Asiento'', a monopoly contract allowing foreign mercha ...
* Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery * Spanish missions in South America


References


External links


Geographic Map of the Captaincy of Mato Grosso
is a map that features details about the Treaty of Madrid, from c. 1800. {{Spanish Empire Colonial Brazil 1750 treaties Madrid 1750 Madrid 1750 Portugal–Spain relations Portuguese colonization of the Americas Spanish colonization of the Americas Geopolitical rivalry Treaties involving territorial changes 1750 in Brazil 1750 in South America 1750 in Spain 1750 in Portugal 1750 in the Spanish Empire