in an open sea battle and therefore had switched to privateering – Guerre de course. 1695-1696 The Royal Africa Company suffered heavy losses, and lost its monopoly after the Trade with Africa Act 1697. By 1696, it was clear Charles II of Spain would die childless, and his potential heirs included Louis XIV and Emperor Leopold in Vienna. May 1697 the French raided Cartagena and plundered the city. Jean du Casse, who gave his support only reluctantly, as he preferred an attack on Portobelo, where most of the silver and Spanish dollars came from. All the countries needed to boost the economy at the end of the Nine Years War. In September 1697, France signed Treaties of Peace with Spain and England, and a Treaty of Peace and Commerce with the Dutch Republic (Peace of Ryswick). In the Caribbean, France received the Spanish islands of Tortuga and Saint-Domingue. 1699-1703 Manuel Belmonte cooperated with Luis and Simon Rodriques de Souza from the Portuguese West India Company. In 1700 a grandson of Louis XIV ascended the Spanish throne as King Philip V of Spain. In 1702 the War of the Spanish Succession began: the Grand Alliance (Kingdom of England, Dutch Republic and Holy Roman Empire) declared war on France and Spain. However, the Royal Navy's main effort was not off the Spanish Main, but off the Spanish coasts in Europe (Battle of Cádiz). Spanish naval losses in the Battle of Vigo Bay meant a total dependence on the French navy to keep up communications with the Americas. Spain was reliant on French ships, not only for slaves, even for its bullion fleet. Because of commercial competition paying the French and Spanish for the Asiento was a prominent issue during the Spanish War of Succession. The Methuen Treaty with the Dutch envoy Francesco Belmonte as one of the negotiators regulated the establishment of trade relations between England, Portugal and perhaps Brazil? The Portuguese who had trouble letting go of their Asiento rights ... were understood as a French privilege and indeed a marker of the superior status of the French abroad. French: 1701–1713 1701–1713: Governor Jean-Baptiste du Casse in name of the Compagnie de Guinée et de l'Assiente des Royaume de la France, founded in 1684. Company of Guinée concentrated on the slave trade for Guinée and Saint-Domingue; returning with sugar and all the other goods to Nantes. In 1701, the French King