Infanta Beatriz of Portugal.
Although things seemed fine at the court of St George in Lisbon, Portugal, the royal family was facing an internal crisis by the start of the Colonial War against Spain. King Philip had a strained relationship with his mother, the de facto ruler of Portugal, as he despised her lover, the Duke of Aveiro, and was offended by her retaining her powers of regent even after his majority.
When King Philip’s daughter was born on 08 July 1594, she was named Maria after her mother and the Virgin Mary, even though many at court expected Queen Margaret to be a namesake to her first Infanta granddaughter. The name Margarida was not common in the Portuguese royal family, however, and King Philip used that excuse to explain his behavior, though his mother was upset either way.
This family strife was increased by King Filipe using his minimum authority and power by appointing his younger sister, Princess Beatrice, as a lady-in-waiting to his wife. This effectively took thirteen-year-old Beatriz out of her mother’s custody and saddened the Dowager Queen, who was considered a loving mother even by modern standards. When questioned about it by his mother, Filipe replied that he had done it because he feared for his sister’s innocence if she continued to be cared for by those appointed by Margaret. Philip believed his mother lacked good judgment for her companions, something made obvious by her ‘intimate’ friendship with the Duke of Aveiro.
Infante Henry of Portugal.
Margaret did not take the insult lightly. Offended, she attempted to exert her motherly and royal authority and tried to force her son to apologize, something Filipe refused to do. “The Duke of Aveiro is a good and loyal companion to me. I shall not hear you speak such lies against him.” Margaret of France is reported to have said, upon which her son, Henry, responded, “It’s precisely that, lady Mother, what angers the King. How good he is to you.”
The failure to find a suitable marriage for Princess Beatrice also caused anger between Margaret and Philip. In early 1594, Beatrice was rejected as a bride for Edward Seymour, second-in-line to the English throne, a match that had been suggested by her mother. Philip, offended in his sister’s name, blamed Margaret for the failure, as he thought Elizabeth I would have accepted the match if it had come from anyone else. In 1595, Beatrice married her sister’s widower, King Charles of Savoy.
When 1595 began, it was clear to all that the relationship between mother and sons was strained beyond repair. With the two fighting for political power, a crisis swept over Portugal. This caused their enemies in Spain and Burgundy to celebrate, as the Colonial War seemed to have been forgotten by the King and his mother.
King Johan of Burgundy founded two armed forces in 1595 to better face the Portuguese in the war. They were called Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, called Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, and Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie in Dutch. The companies were granted charters to invade the East Indies under Portuguese control, as the aftermath of the Triple Alliance caused many Portuguese merchants to avoid Dutch and Burgundian tradesmen. This severely weakened the economy of the newly-made country and inspired King Johan to join his brother against the House of Aviz.
With the war, John planned to ultimately re-establish the spice trade centered around Flanders and Antwerp. This, he hoped, would enrich his kingdom once more and weaken the Portuguese severely. Much like his brother, Philip III of Spain, John thought the Portuguese had betrayed his family and were to blame for the death of his younger brother, Infante Fernando in 1585.
Sigil of the Dutch East India Company.
At dawn on February 25, 1596, three ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) seized the Dom Filipe, a Portuguese galleon. It was such a rich prize that its sale proceeds doubled the capital of the VOC. The legality of keeping the prize was questionable under Dutch statute and the Portuguese demanded the return of their cargo. The scandal led to a public judicial hearing and a wider campaign to sway public (and international) opinion. As a result, Hugo Grotius in The Free Sea (Mare Liberum, published 1599) formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory, against the Portuguese mare clausum policy, and all nations were free to use it for seafaring trade. The 'free seas' provided a suitable ideological justification for the Dutch to break the Portuguese monopoly through its formidable naval power.
Soon after the capture of the Dom Filipe, the Dutch would make their first true offense in the war by hitting Portugal where it most hurt: the spice trade. Since the dawn of the exploration age, Portugal had used its naval power to conquer key points in the continents of Africa and Asia that could produce chokeholds on the high sea, ensuring its control. This made them one of the richest countries in the world, as it protected their military bases from naval attacks, and provided suitable places for their water and food supplies to be replenished during long trips.
Portugal's Indian Ocean empire relied on three bases placed in strategic locations: Goa, Malacca, and Macau. The first connected the State of India with Portugal proper, the second connected Goa to the Pacific Ocean trade stretching from the China seas to Australasia, and the third was a center point for trade with China and Japan. Two other cities were important but not crucial: Diu and Hormuz. Diu controlled the Gulf of Cambay and the Arabian Sea and Hormuz was the keystone of the Persian Gulf trade, both between Persia and Arabia and between Mesopotamia and the Arabian Sea. If both Diu and Hormuz fell, that would prevent the Middle East markets from being taxed by Portugal which would deny Lisbon the revenue from the southernmost course of the Silk Route. This was a lucrative trade but not as essential to the Indian Ocean network at large.
The Dutch East India Company, however, suffered from the same weakness as Portugal: lack of manpower. Thus, a Spanish-style colonization effort was never feasible and the only dominion of the seas would allow it to compete. The Portuguese had a century head-start in the region and their empire allowed them access to converted and loyal local populations, which shored-up inland, which naval power could not ensure at sea. Hence, the Dutch directed their efforts to the periphery of the Portuguese empire. Avoiding the Indian coasts, they set up their own headquarters in the southeast Indies, in the city of Jakarta, later known as Batavia. This put them safely distant from Goa but opportunistically close to Malacca and the Indian Ocean – Pacific Ocean-connecting sea lanes.
But the Dutch committed one terrible mistake: they forgot to consider other countries in the war. Scotland had established the colony of Nova Scotia colony on the eastern coast of the island that came to be known as Australia. With a large port, ships of different nationalities including Portuguese and Dutch could stop there to rest after paying a high fee in return for a neutrality zone free from attacks of other ships. This was essential after the Triple Alliance divided Catholic Europe, especially turned Spanish and Portuguese against each other. In 1597, inspired by their Scottish counterparts, the Dutch implemented the Dutch colony of New Holland on the western coast of Australia.
New Holland offered lower taxes to ships traveling between the Americas and Asia, as well as those returning to Europe. The offended King James VI, despite being married to John and Philip’s sister Catherine, turned to the Portuguese for help. An alliance was made and, in 1598, Scotland joined the Colonial War.
A Dutch map of New Holland, not including Nova Scotia.