The war named after a sprig of oranges sent to a queen.

The story

In May 1801 Spain, pushed by Napoleon's France, invaded Portugal. The army was led by Manuel Godoy, the prime minister and, people said, the queen's lover. He could not take the fortress of Elvas, but he took Olivença and a few border towns. Outside Elvas, says the tradition, Godoy picked a branch of oranges and sent it to Queen María Luisa as a token of victory. His enemies turned it into a joke, and the war became the War of the Oranges.

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Context

The war lasted about eighteen days, from 20 May to the Treaty of Badajoz on 6 June 1801. Elvas, under General Francisco de Noronha, held out. Spain gave back most of the towns it had taken but kept Olivença, and Portugal had to close its ports to British ships. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna recognised Portugal's right to Olivença, and Spain ratified the final act in 1817, yet the town was never returned. Today Olivença, 23 km from Elvas, has about 12,000 inhabitants and is administered by Spain. Whether it should return to Portugal is still argued. The orange episode is tradition, not a documented fact. Portuguese sources speak of a branch of orange blossom, Spanish and English ones of oranges, and it is the opponents of Godoy who are said to have turned it into a joke.