History’s Unparalleled Alliance: the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of Windsor, 9th May 1386

[Valin]

History’s Unparalleled Alliance: the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of Windsor, 9th May 1386

Winston Churchill in a speech in the House of Commons in October 1943 famously described the unique and ancient friendship between England and Portugal as an alliance “without parallel in world history”.[1]

It is 630 years since a treaty of alliance between King Richard II of England and King John I of Portugal was ratified at Windsor on the 9^th May 1386 (The National Archives: E 30/310). Though it is not the earliest of the Anglo-Portuguese treaties that survive, the Treaty of Windsor is significant because it effectively cemented and strengthened ties between the two kingdoms and helped convert a fledgling alliance into a more permanent legacy of history.

The terms of the treaty included provisions for guaranteeing the mutual security of both nations and strengthening of commercial ties such as the right of both countries to trade on the terms enjoyed by the subjects of that country. There were even clauses encouraging freedom of movement and settlement between the two countries, as subjects of either country had the right to dwell in the domains of the other.

The seals attached to the document are those of the Portuguese ambassadors: Ferdinand Afonso de Albuquerque, Master of the Portuguese military order of St James and Chancellor of Portugal Lawrence John Fogaca entrusted as plenipotentiaries in the treaty negotiations.

So how did this alliance - the longest continuing alliance in global history - transpire?

Origins

 

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