The Treaty of Dover, also known as the Secret Treaty of
Dover, was a treaty between England and France signed at Dover on 1 June 1670.
It required France to assist England in the king's aim that it would rejoin the
Roman Catholic Church and England to assist France in its war of conquest
against the Dutch Republic. The Third Anglo-Dutch War was a direct consequence
of this treaty.
Negotiation and provisions
Henrietta, Charles II's youngest sister, assisted in the
negotiations that led to the Secret Treaty of Dover (26 May 1670).
Exactly who first proposed the alliance between the two
kingdoms is unknown, as is the date when the possibility was first discussed.
However, it is known that the two nations had discussed forming a closer
relationship since 1663. The only participants in the talks to
begin with were Louis XIV of France, Charles II of England, and Charles's
sister Henrietta, duchesse d'Orléans.Louis was first cousin
to Charles (through their grandfather Henry IV of France). Henrietta was also
Louis's sister-in-law through her marriage to his only brother Phillippe, duc
d'Orléans.
No real progress was made in the negotiations until 1669
after Charles allegedly held a meeting with some of his advisors.[citation
needed] During this meeting Charles announced that he wished to officially
convert to Catholicism and at the same time reunite his lands with the Roman
Catholic Church.[citation needed] Whether this meeting actually took place is a
source of intense speculation.[by whom?] Although much of the groundwork had
been laid by Henrietta, the finer points and actual provisions of the treaty
were hammered out by Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington and Sir Thomas
Clifford.
Charles was to abandon England's Triple Alliance with Sweden
and the Dutch Republic in favour of assisting Louis in conquering the Dutch
Republic. Provided that the conquest was successfully completed, England was
promised several very profitable ports along one of the major rivers that run
through the Dutch Republic. In particular, the main components of the treaty
were the following:
The King of
England will make a public profession of the Catholic faith, and will receive
the sum of two millions of crowns, to aid him in this project, from the Most
Christian King, in the course of the next six months. The date of this
declaration is left absolutely to his own pleasure. The King of France will
faithfully observe the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, as regards Spain, and the
King of England will maintain the Treaty of the Triple Alliance in a similar
manner. If new rights to the Spanish monarchy revert to the King of France, the
King of England will aid him in maintaining these rights. The two Kings will
declare war against the United Provinces. The King of France will attack them
by land, and will receive the help of 6000 men from England. The King of
England will send 50 men-of-war to sea, and the King of France 30; the combined
fleets will be under the Duke of York's command. His Britannic Majesty will be
content to receive Walcheren, the mouth of the Scheldt, and the isle of
Cadzand, as his share of the conquered provinces. Separate articles will
provide for the interests of the Prince of Orange. The Treaty of Commerce,
which has already begun, shall be concluded as promptly as possible.
The secret treaty did not in fact become public until 1771
after the historian Sir John Dalrymple published its contents in his Memoirs of
Great Britain and Ireland.
Compiled by Andrion Bartholomieu
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