ABSTRACT
Portuguese and Lusophile historians have been critical of the treaties, but Portugal would not have been able to remain an independent country without the 1654 alliance because strong naval assistance was vital for her economic survival. The English merchants in Portugal were made to feel the attitude of animosity in Portugal after Queen Luisa retired. From that time onwards the State Papers, Portugal contain constant complaints about the non-observance of the 1654 treaty. By the end of the seventeenth century the numbers of English merchants in Portugal had fallen and their trade had suffered. There was a revival of trade as a result of the December 1703 Methuen Treaty and the fillip provided by the increased quantities of gold arriving from Brazil but it did not alter the attitude of the people to foreign merchants. Indeed, the general idea was that the foreign merchants were robbing them of their gold.
