Audiotur Peace of Breda

In the summer of 1667, the Peace of Breda brought an end to the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The war between England and the Dutch Republic, which was mainly fought at sea, lasted from 1665 to 1667. The two countries were fighting a trade war for the dominance of the colonies in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Political unrest and the mounting costs of the war in England, plus the fact that France and Denmark had allied themselves to the Republic, forced the English to start negotiations.

Breda, a fortified city, was an acceptable place for talks for all of the parties. Particularly so for the English king, Charles II, who knew the city from when he was exiled on the continent. He had spent some time at the Castle of Breda, which belonged to his sister’s in-laws: the Orange-Nassau family.

Sweden, one of England’s allies, chaired the peace talks. At first, the English did not make much effort to reach an agreement. In fact, it was only after the Dutch fleet (led by Cornelis de Witt and Michiel de Ruyter) destroyed several English war ships at Chatham on 22 June and towed the English flagship back to the Netherlands that the matter started to progress. After that, things moved quickly and a treaty was drawn up within a month.

 It was agreed that the parties could keep the territories they had conquered before May 1667. This meant that the Dutch trading station New Amsterdam (which became New York) remained in the possession of the English. The Dutch Republic kept the trading posts along the Suriname coast, the island of Tobago and Run, the nutmeg island, in the Moluccas. Both parties held on to their forts on the west coast of Africa, from where they shipped slaves to the plantations in the Americas.