Secret Treaty of Dover

The Treaty of Dover, also known as the Secret Treaty of Dover, was a treaty between England and France signed at Dover on 1 June^[1] 1670. It required that Charles II of England would convert to the Roman Catholic Church at some future date and that he would assist Louis XIV with 60 warships and 4,000 soldiers to help in France's war of conquest against the Dutch Republic. In exchange, Charles would secretly receive a yearly pension of £230,000, as well as an extra sum of money when Charles informed the English people of his conversion, and France would send 6,000 French troops if there was ever a rebellion against Charles in England. The secret treaty was signed by the earl of Arlington, Baron Arundell, Baron Clifford, and Sir Richard Bellings for England and the marquis of Croissy for France. The two kings exchanged letters of ratification and kept secret the existence of the treaty.^[2] A public treaty of Dover was also negotiated, but it was a screen designed for propaganda purposes and to hide the religious dimension of the secret treaty.^[3] The Third Anglo-Dutch War was a direct consequence of this treaty.^[4] The actual treaty was published by historians a century later.