Ibero-Dutch Imperial Entanglements in the Seventeenth Century
Rodrigo Dominguez
Department of Management
Abstract
In 1640, the Portuguese Duke João of Braganza and his supporters revolted against the Iberian Union as they no longer saw the benefits of the alliance. They restored the Portuguese monarchy and enhanced the secession from the Spanish Habsburgs by launching military operative actions to defend
Portuguese frontiers in Iberia as well as recuperating its Dutch-occupied colonies and forts overseas. Financing these military operations, however, came with three major concerns: restoring trade with foreign countries as soon as possible, stabilizing state finances, and ensuring a continuous revenue flow that could guarantee the Portuguese empire the capacity to wage wars, resulting in the foundations of a more effective way of defense. This chapter analyzes the conditions that informed the early stages of such measures, heavily influenced by war, and the solutions found by the Crown to restore the empire’s sustainability. Even though these policies made Portugal financially dependent, especially on Britain, they nonetheless paved the way for a fiscalmilitary state with a centralized, stronger, and more effective infrastructure.
