The peace treaty between Portugal and Morocco, from 1774, will be on display from Friday at the Torre do Tombo, in the exhibition “Treaty of Peace, Navigation and Trade” which marks the 250th anniversary of Portuguese-Moroccan diplomatic relations.
“Signed during the reigns of King José in Portugal and Emperor Saed Mohammad bin Abdallah in Morocco, this treaty formalizes the beginning of official diplomatic and commercial relations between the two countries,” Patrícia Ferreira, from the Torre do Tombo National Archive (ANTT), told Lusa.
The peace treaty includes navigation and trade agreements.
This exhibition includes a wide range of letters and treaties, several in Arabic, which illustrate the relationship between the two countries since the 15th century.
“In historical terms, this ‘Treaty of Peace, Navigation and Trade’ helped to stabilize relations between Portugal and Morocco, revitalize trade, promote a period of peace and economic growth and strengthen Portugal’s position in North Africa,” said Patrícia Ferreira, who emphasized: “It was an important milestone in Portuguese-Moroccan relations, which established a formal framework for peace and cooperation, benefiting both countries.”
The original documents on display are the Portuguese translation of the Treaty, while the text of the Treaty is in Arabic and presented in digital format, as its state of preservation does not allow it to be physically displayed, she explained.
According to Patrícia Ferreira, “this translation dates from after 1798 and includes two ratifications, the first in 1790 by the Emperors of Morocco Abdallah Mohammad Aliazid and the second, in 1798, by Maulei Soleiman Bin Mohammad”.
The exhibition, on show until August 30, also includes a facsimile of Fernão Vaz Dourado’s Atlas, dated 1571, to which “some iconographic documents are added, such as the Universal Atlas by João Teixeira Albernaz, from 1643, the Nautical Chart by the same author, from 1640, and also the Relação e declaração da planta da Fortaleza de Mazagão, given by Henrique Correia da Silva, from the 17th century”.
She highlighted a document that summarizes the Treaty, “which includes other treaties with the Kingdom of Morocco and has a curious handwritten list attached to it, listing some of the agreements and letters between the various Portuguese monarchs and the kings of Morocco, from 1504 to 1704, illustrating the diplomatic relations between the two countries”.
The oldest document in the exhibition, which is presented in a digital version, dates from 1509, and is the “Capitulation on the treatment of goods with the Moors”, a commercial agreement that illustrates the relationship between the two countries.
