Part 21. The English & The Portuguese. The oldest alliance.
Roman Era – Olisipo actively traded with Britannia, especially Cornwall.
1147 - Afonso I conqures Santarem & Lisbon from Moors with 2nd Crusader knights from England. First Bishop of Lisbon is Gilbert of Hastings.
1294 – Anglo-Portuguese Commercial Treaty between Edward I & Dinis I.
1373 - Anglo-Portuguese Treaty signed by Edward III and Ferdinand & Eleanor, a “treaty of perpetual friendships, unions and alliances between 2 seafaring nations”.
1385 - House of Aviz established by Joao I, by defeating John of Castile at Battle of Aljubarrota with General Nuno Alvares Pereira and help of English archers (under the flag of St George) vs John of Castile and French allies. St George adopted as national saint.
1386 - Treaty of Windsor between Richard II of England and Joao I of Portugal – a pact of mutual support.
1387 - Joao marries Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, brother of Henry IV, in Porto.
1400 - Joao I, cousin of Henry IV of England, becomes a Knight of the Garter.
1640 - England supported House of Braganza in displacing House of Habsburg and ending Spanish Rule following the Restoration War.
1662 - Catherine, daughter of Joao VI, marries Charles II of England & Scotland, ceding Tangier and 7 Islands of Bombay and trading privileges in Brazil and East Indies, for British military and naval support. She introduced tea, sugar cane, lacquer, cotton and porcelain to the English court. She returned to Portugal 1692 after Charles' death.
1668 - England mediated the Treaty of Lisbon enforcing the independence of Portugal and the recognition of Pedro II as King. The English alliance was decisive in the consolidation of the independence of Portugal, and in Pedro's leadership. In return Portugal agreed to transfer to the English the majority of the places recovered from the Dutch, and to share in half the global commerce of cinnamon.
1678 - Liverpool wine merchant sent 2 new representatives to Viana do Castelo, north of Oporto, to learn the wine trade. The 2 gentlemen visited the Abbot of Lamego, who treated them to a "very agreeable, sweetish and extremely smooth" wine," fortified with a distilled spirit. The two Englishmen were so pleased with the product that they purchased the Abbot's entire lot and shipped it to England, introdiucing port wine.
1703 - Methuen Treaty, a military (naval) and commercial treaty between England and Portugal that was signed as part of the War of the Spanish Succession.
1738 - Marques de Pombal appointed as the Portuguese ambassador to Great Britain.
1740 - Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, circulated among influential people to "investigate the causes, techniques, and mechanisms of British commercial and naval power.”
1762 - The Seven Years' War, when Spain invaded Portugal, Britain intervened as Portugal's ally. Although faced with vastly superior numbers, the Portuguese and British forces together with Portuguese guerrillas defeated the Spanish and French forces, which suffered huge losses despite three invasion attempts overall.
1807 - Peninsula War and invasion of Napoleon's armies – British squadron arrived Lisbon with a 7,000 men to escort the royal family to Brazil.
1808 - Arrival of 15,000 British troops under Wellesley, victories at Rolica and Vimeiro.
1809 - Wellesley returns to Portugal, victories at Grijo and 2nd Battle of Porto.
1810 - Wellesley fortifies Lisbon with Lines of Torre Vedras.
1811 - Wellesley goes on offensive with Anglo-Portuguese Army, beseiging Almeida.
1812 - Wellesley and Anglo-Portuguese Army invade Spain, damaging defeat of French at Salamanca in July, Madrid captured in August.
1814 - Capture of Paris, defeat and exile of Napoleon, British troops depart for American War, Portuguese troops return from France.
1878 - Anglo-Portuguese Treaty, an economic agreement regarding their trade and a railway between their colonies in India.
1890 - British Ultimatum, Portugal cedes Zimbabwe and Zambia to Great Britain.
1910 – Dissolution of monarchy in October revolution, Miguel II is exiled to UK, lives in Twickenham.
1943 – Portuguese Government leased to Britain what became a major Allied air and naval base in the Portuguese islands, the Azores, under the 1373 Anglo-Portuguese Treaty.
Read other parts of this series HERE.
