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Portuguese-Dutch Naval Conflict
After Portugal threw off Spanish Habsburg rule in 1640, naval clashes with the Dutch Republic intensified across the Indian Ocean, Brazil, and the Af…
Timeline
- 1641–1643Lisbon · PortugalAfter the Braganza dynasty restored the Portuguese kingdom in 1640, the new realm regarded the Dutch—who had seized Portuguese colonies—as its chief enemy, formally declaring war around 1641 in an attempt to recover lost positions.
- 1644–1648Recife · BrazilNortheastern Brazil, held by the Dutch West India Company, saw prolonged seesaw warfare with a Portuguese-Brazilian coalition; in the 1640s the two sides fought repeatedly off Recife, São Tomé and elsewhere, contesting control of the sugar colonies.
- 1646–1650Goa · IndiaPortuguese positions such as Goa and Malacca repeatedly clashed with Dutch East India Company fleets in the Indian Ocean; the Portuguese tried to break the Dutch blockade of the spice routes, but naval superiority had clearly shifted to the northern republic.
Sources
- The Dutch in Brazil, 1624–1654 — Charles R. Boxer (1957)
- The Dutch Seaborne Empire, 1600–1800 — Charles R. Boxer (1965)