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Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373

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Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373
Copy of the treaty held at The National Archives, UK[1]
Signed16 June 1373 (1373-06-16)
Signatories

The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 was signed on 16 June 1373[2] between King Edward III of England and King Ferdinand I and Queen Leonor of Portugal. It established a treaty of "perpetual friendships, unions [and] alliances" between the two seafaring states.[3][4][5] It is the oldest enduring treaty in effect to this day. It was signed just a few years after the Auld Alliance.[6][7]

It was reinforced throughout history, including in 1386, 1643, 1654, 1660, 1661, 1703, 1815, and by a secret declaration in 1899. It was recognised in the Treaties of Arbitration in the 20th century between Britain and Portugal in 1904 and 1914.[8]

The treaty was temporarily void during the Iberian Union from 1580 to 1640, when the monarchies of Spain and Portugal were in a dynastic union.[citation needed] However, with Portugal's restoration of independence, the alliance returned and came to a new height during the Napoleonic Wars when the British sent their best general, the Duke of Wellington, to sap Napoleon's armies in the Peninsular War.[citation needed]

It was activated again during the Second World War, whereupon the Portuguese remained neutral, in agreement with Britain,[8] which did not want to bring the war into the Iberian Peninsula. This lasted until 1943, when, after three months' negotiations, it was fully reactivated by the National Government of Winston Churchill and Portugal.[8] Britain was accorded aerodrome and nautical facilities in the Portuguese Azores to help combat the U-boat threat. The British also cited the treaty during the 1982 Falklands War.[citation needed]

The 650th anniversary of the treaty was officially commemorated by the governments of both nations on 16 June 2023, and in acknowledgement that this represents "the world's longest diplomatic alliance".[9]

Text

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The original text of the treaty is in the Latin language.[10] A famous passage in the treaty assures that:[11][12]

[t]here shall be between the respective kings and their successors, their realms, lands, dominions, provinces, vassals, and subjects whomsoever, faithfully obeying, true, faithful, constant, mutual, and perpetual friendships [Amicitae], unions [Adunationes], alliances [Alligantiae], and leagues of sincere affection [purae Dilectionis foedera]; and that, as true and faithful princes, they shall henceforth reciprocally be friends to friends and enemies to enemies, and shall assist, maintain, and uphold each other mutually, by sea and by land, against all men that may live or die of whatever degree, station, rank, or condition they may be, and against their lands, realms, and dominions.

Second World War

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In 1943, the Portuguese Government leased to Britain what became a major Allied air and naval base in the Portuguese islands, the Azores. Prime Minister Winston Churchill recounted reporting on the lease to the House of Commons:

"I have an announcement", I said, "to make to the House arising out of the treaty signed between this country and Portugal in the year 1373 between His Majesty King Edward III and King Ferdinand and Queen Eleanor of Portugal."[8] I spoke in a level voice, and made a pause to allow the House to take in the date, 1373. As this soaked in there was something like a gasp. I do not suppose any such continuity of relations between two Powers has ever been, or will ever be, set forth in the ordinary day-to-day work of British diplomacy.[13]

See also

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Sources

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  • "Closing the Ring", Churchill, Sir Winston Spencer, 1951.

References

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  1. ^ Trowbridge, Ben (9 May 2016). "History's Unparalleled Alliance: the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of Windsor, 9th May 1386". history.blog.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  2. ^ The New Guinness Book of Records 1996, published October 1995 by Guinness Publishing, page 183
  3. ^ "The Beginnings of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance". Portugal-UK 650. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  4. ^ Benham, Jenny. "Making an Alliance Last in an Age of Conflicts: Obligations and Deterrence in the Medieval Anglo-Portuguese Treaties". Academia.edu. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  5. ^ Benham, Jenny. "The Treaty of Tagilde". British Historical Society of Portugal. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  6. ^ "In a paper Dr Siobhan Talbott has argued the Franco-Scottish Auld Alliance of 1295 survived centuries of enmity and war between Britain and France – even after the Act of Union was signed in 1707". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  7. ^ "Beyond "The Antiseptic Realm of Theoretical Economic Models": New Perspectives on Franco-Scottish Commerce and the Auld Alliance in the Long Seventeenth Century". www.academia.edu. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d "Agreement with Portugal". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 12 October 1943. col. 716.
  9. ^ Gov.uk UK and Portugal celebrate the world’s longest diplomatic alliance
  10. ^ Rymer, Thomas (1740). Foedera. Vol. 3 (third ed.). London: Holmes. pp. 8–9.
  11. ^ "England's Treaties of Guarantee" in The Law Magazine and Review. London: Stevens and Haynes. 1881. p. 226.
  12. ^ Baldwin, David (2009). Royal prayer: A Surprising History. London: Continuum. p. 40. ISBN 9780826423030.
  13. ^ Winston Churchill, Second World War, pp 146-7
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