Celebrating the Anglo-Portuguese alliance

Yesterday The King and the President of Portugal met in London to celebrate the 650th anniversary of the Anglo-Portuguese alliance concluded in June 1373. This in turn was based on one agreed the previous year and was to be reaffirmed in 1386. It is the longest enduring treaty of amity and alliance in the world.

The history of the alliance is outlined by Wikipedia at Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

The 1372 alliance between the two realms is described at Treaty of Tagilde

The 1373 Treaty of London, signed in St Paul’s, between King Edward III and King Ferdinand I is discussed at Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373

Wikipedia has a relatively brief life of the Portuguese King at Ferdinand I of Portugal

The Treaty of Windsor from 1386 between King Richard II and King Joao I is discussed in a much more cursory fashion at  Treaty of Windsor (1386). King Joao was to go on to marry King Richard’s cousin Philippa of Lancaster and their sons and daughter were at the heart of the extraordinary achievements of Portugal in the following century. The close ties between the houses of Lancaster and Aviz in the first half of the fifteenth century were more than just diplomatic but also of cultural and institutional significance.

For those interested in reading more about the origins and development of the alliance the book to read is P.E. Russell’s magisterial English Intervention in Spain and Portugal in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II. Now I accept that might not sound very exciting, but I assure you that it is an immensely readable and very thoroughly researched account. I still recall the thrill of reading it as an undergraduate over fifty years ago. Thirty or so years later in Oxford I had the immense privilege of attending a seminar given by Sir Peter ( as he had then become ) about his last work, his equally great biography of Henry the Navigator, one of the sons of King Joao and Queen Philippa.

The events yesterday included a meeting and military review at Buckingham Palace between King and President - with the latter making King Charles a Knight Grand Collar of the Order of the Tower and the Sword. The Order was first founded in 1459 by King Afonso V and revived in 1808 by the future King Joao VI. Wikipedia has an illustrated history of the Order at Military Order of the Tower and Sword

This was followed by a service of thanksgiving in The Queen’s Chapel. Initially I wondered why until I realised how appropriate a choice it was. As can be seen in the following two videos above the east window of the chapel are the arms of Queen Catherine of Braganza, the only Portuguese Queen Consort of this country. Like her fellow Catholic Stuart Queens Consort this was the chapel provided for their devotions.

The videos can be seen at King Charles Marks 650th Anniversary of Anglo-Portuguese Alliance from the Royal Family Channel and, from the Portuguese Presidential website, at Cerimónia comemorativa dos 650 anos dos Tratados de Tagilde e de Londres

The Mail Online has an article with video content about the day which can be seen at King Charles welcomes Portugal's President at Buckingham Palace

Several years ago through a mutual friend I met the president of the commemoration Dr Maria Joao Rodrigues de Araújo, who is quoted in the Daily Mail article, when she was studying in Oxford. From the videos it looks very much as if she is to be congratulated on a very fitting and successful day.