Treaty of Fontainebleau (October 1807)

The partition of Portugal, proposed by Napoleon under the 1807 Treaty of Fointainebleu.

The Treaty of Fontainebleau was a secret agreement signed on 27 October 1807 in Fontainebleau, France between King Charles IV of Spain and the French Emperor Napoleon. Under the treaty, the House of Braganza was to be driven from the Kingdom of Portugal with the country subsequently divided into three regions, the north and south to be ruled by Duke of Parma and Spanish minister Manuel Godoy respectively, while the provinces of Beira, Tras-os-Montes and Portuguese Estremadura would remain in abeyance until a later peace. Within seven months the government of Spain had collapsed and two Spanish kings abdicated. In August 1808 Napoleon imposed his brother Joseph as King of Spain.[1]

Negotiated and agreed between Don Eugenio Izquierdo [es], plenipotentiary of Charles IV, and Marshal Géraud Duroc as the representative of Napoleon,[2][3] the accord contained 14 articles along with supplementary provisions relating to troop allocations for the planned invasion of Portugal.

According to historian Charles Oman, it is probable that Napoleon never had any intention of carrying out the treaty's provisions. Aside from his desire to occupy Portugal, his real purpose may have been to surreptitiously introduce a large French force into Spain in order to facilitate its subsequent takeover.[4]

  1. ^ undefined, Álvaro Caso Bello; Paquette, Gabriel (2023), Soriano, Cristina; Echeverri, Marcela (eds.), "Views of the Latin American Independences from the Iberian Peninsula", The Cambridge Companion to Latin American Independence, Cambridge University Press, pp. 213–236, ISBN 978-1-108-49227-0
  2. ^ Napier 1867, p. 9.
  3. ^ J. W. Robertson (1815). The Life and Campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte: From His Birth Down to His Departure for St. Helena. Mackenzie and Dent. p. 415.
  4. ^ Oman 1902, p. 10.