Treaty of Madrid (1670)

Treaty of Madrid
ContextA 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.
Signed8 July 1670 (1670-07-08)
LocationMadrid
Condition28 September 1670
NegotiatorsKingdom of England William Godolphin
Spain Gaspar de Bracamonte
Spain Count of Peñaranda
SignatoriesKingdom of England William Godolphin
Spain Gaspar de Bracamonte
Spain Count of Peñaranda
Parties England
 Spain
RatifiersKingdom of England Charles II of England
Spain Mariana of Austria for Charles II of Spain
LanguageLatin

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".[1] The treaty officially ended the war begun in 1654 in the Caribbean in which England had conquered Jamaica.[2]

The 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.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Treaty between Great Britain and Spain for the settlement of all disputes in America". The National Archives. gov.uk.
  2. ^ Pestana p. 185
  3. ^ Padron pp.xiv-xxi
  4. ^ Fisher, Margaret Anne; Savelle, Max (1967). The origins of American diplomacy: the international history of Angloamerica, 1492-1763 American diplomatic history series Authors. Macmillan. pp. 66–70.