. Peter consolidated Portugal's independence with the signing of the
Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, putting the
Portuguese Restoration War, that began in 1640, to an end. He formed an alliance with England and had its decisive support based on marriage clauses that united
Charles II of England with his sister
Catherine of Braganza in 1661. Portugal ceded
Tangier and
Bombay as a
dowry, and compromised to transfer to the English the majority of the places recovered from the Dutch, to share in half the commerce of
cinnamon, to install English families with the same privileges of the Portuguese families in
Goa,
Cochin, Diu,
Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro. In exchange, England would give Lisbon military support, protecting Portuguese shipments in the Mediterranean and the coasts of Lisbon and Porto. After his coup in 1667, Peter restored the nobility to their full power and government by councils of nobles reached a high point during his reign because he required their support in deposing Alfonso VI. However, by the end of his reign, Peter centralized the monarchy's power and dissolved the excessive strength of the nobility. His successors would rule as absolute monarchs, and the Cortes would not be assembled for more than a century. His long tenure was one of important accomplishments. In 1671 he conceded freedom of commerce to the English residing in Portugal and began the establishment of textile manufactures. Isabel Luísa was proclaimed heir presumptive to the throne at the
Portuguese Cortes of 1674, Peter promulgating a letter on the regencies and tutorships of Kings to better found the rights of his daughter. In 1674 his main concern was to improve the defenses of the realm, asking for contributions from the
Junta dos Três Estados to the keeping of border garrisons, its paraphernalia and indispensable works in castles and forts. The Cortes didn't attend to totality of his request, but the great apprehension was in the coastal defense. Veríssimo Serrão, in his book "History of Portugal", Volume V, page 213 says the following,
"The shipments from India and Brazil were the main object of greed so that the Crown was obliged to arm a fleet of 11 boats. (...) The squadron left the Tejo on 21 July 1675, under the command of Pedro Jacques de Magalhães. (...) But the results of such a costly undertaking were none." There was a legal impediment to the marriage of his daughter with her cousin, the Duke of Savoy. The so-called Law of the Cortes of Lamego prevented the marriage of an heiress with a foreign prince. This alleged document became fundamental law of the Realm in 1640. The Cortes, called on 1 November 1679, proceeded with the derogation. By then the ambassador of Savoy, the Marquis of Ornano, had come to Lisbon to celebrate the marriage by proxy. But it would all turn ineffective to the extent that the embassy of the Duke of Cadaval, sent to
Turin in May 1682, did not reach or did not finish the project, by pressures, perhaps, of
Louis XIV on the dynasty of Savoy. In 1683, Queen Maria Francisca died. In the court there was a strong French party, headed by the Duke of Cadaval, the then Count of Vila Maior and by the Viscount of Ponte de Lima, but others favored a closer alliance with Spain. By marrying again, Peter II chose the sister of the Queen of Spain, daughter of
Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine. The new queen,
Maria Sophia of Neuburg, never influenced political life, maintaining a low profile. The couple had eight children, including the younger John, who succeeded his father in 1706 as King
John V of Portugal.
European policy and 3-barred
lobster tailed pot helmet. These are of very high quality. Peter initially supported France and Spain in the
War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), but on 16 May 1703, Portugal and England signed the
Methuen Treaty. This trade accord granted mutual commercial privileges for Portuguese wine and English textile traders and would later give England significant influence in the Portuguese economy. This was followed in December 1703 by a military alliance between Portugal, Austria and England for an invasion of Spain. Portuguese and Allied forces, under the command of the
Marquis of Minas, captured Madrid in 1706, during the campaign which ended in the Allied defeat at
Almansa.
Brazil Peter obtained papal approval for the elevation of the Bahia bishopric to the status of
archbishopric, and the creation of the bishoprics of
Olinda and
Rio de Janeiro in 1676. In 1677 saw the creation of the bishopric of
Maranhão, directly subordinated to the archbishopric of
Lisbon. In 1686, via decree from the Missionary Regiment, the privileges of the
Jesuits in the interior of the Northern region were restricted. There was, however, resistance to the reordering process of the colonial administration, such as the
Beckman revolt of 1684 that sublevated the Maranhão colonists against the monopoly of the
General Company of Commerce of Grão-Pará and Maranhão and the rise of the
Tapuias in the 1680s in various regions of the Northeast. The discovery of
gold in the interior of
Caetés,
Minas Gerais, at the end of the 17th century, began an age of economic prosperity and administrative change. The year 1693 saw the creation of the
Captaincy of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The
Intendancy of Minas Gerais was formed in 1702. This period saw the destruction of the
Quilombo dos Palmares, Alagoas, in 1695. The King fixed the basis of his Brazilian policy in two main points: the importation of precious metals and stones and the expansion of the borders of the colony to the banks of the
Río de la Plata. He sent the
Viscount of Barbacena to Brazil with instructions to encourage mining exploration. The reputation of the Paulistas was such that, urged by Barbacena, Peter wrote to twelve frontiersmen Piratinganos, and provided them with the "incomparable honor" of a direct summoning them to place their employment at the royal service. Under his reign the
Casa da Moeda do Brasil was created on 8 March 1694. The King ceded his seigniorage rights, tribute owed to him, in favor of the better functioning of this institution, that minted the first Brazilian coins for usage within the colony. These coins of 2,000 and 4,000
réis in gold, and 640, 320, 160, 80, 40 and 20 réis in silver amplified and diversified the circulating midst in Brazil. By the end of Peter's reign, there were two big problems in Brazil: the dispute over the
Colónia do Sacramento that, even though since 1680 recognized as Portuguese territory, was occupied by the Spanish in 1705, and the first conflicts between Paulistas and Emboabas, competing outsiders, including metropolitan people (ie. people from European Portugal), who arrived in the region in search of gold. ==Death==