As Primeiras Viagens Inglesas a Macau (1635-1699)

Abstract

In order to fight against the Dutch blockade, the viceroy of India and the English president of the Surat factory sign the Goa Convention in 1635, which puts an end to the Anglo- Portuguese maritime conflicts and enables East India Company ships as well as ships belonging to independent merchants to travel to Macau, where the English try to establish themselves straight away. The present study analyses Elizabethan England’s interest for the Portuguese commercial routes, the (first) English expeditions to Macau until 1699, when the voyage of the Macclesfield marks the beginning of the East India Company’s China Trade, as well as the defence strategies of the Macau Portuguese, who try to maintain their privileged situation in the Middle Kingdom, and the reactions of the Cantonese authorities.