By: CHRIS GRAEME
FOR ONLY the third time in living memory a set of priceless and historic Portuguese documents are on display in Lisbon.
One of them, the Treaty of Windsor, has special significance for Anglo-Portuguese relations and is the oldest unbroken treaty in the world.
Another is the famous Tordesillas Accord of 1494, which is of significant to both Spain and Portugal.
Most famous
There is also a letter from Hapsburg Emperor Charles V dated February 4 1523, a license granted by King Dom Joao II to the Arab Alcaide of Praça de Safim dated 1488, a letter from Alfonso de Albuquerque to King Dom Manuel I about the marvels of India, and various denunciations and deliberations from the Portuguese arm of the Spanish Inquisition between 1587 and 1618.
Of course the most famous is the Treaty of Windsor signed in 1387, which has been evoked various times over the centuries.
The treaty was made between King Dom João I of Portugal’s House of Avis and the unfortunate Plantagenet King Richard II
 John of Gaunt entertaining João I |
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of Shakespearian fame.
The treaty, like so many accords between kingdoms in those days, was finalised through the dynastic marriage of a daughter of Prince John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, Philippa of Lancaster (Felipa de Lencastre), and the Portuguese king.
The original treaty had been signed in 1373 when the English fought alongside the Portuguese Royal House of Avis at the battle of Aljubarrota against Spain.
The two nations reaffirmed the Treaty of Windsor in May 1386, which formed the cornerstone of a bilateral foreign policy that would last more than 600 years and is still in force today.
Bilateral trade
Following on from the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one, bilateral trade flourished between England and Portugal with cod fish and cloth traded for cork, wine, salt and oil.
The royal couple went on to found a dynasty which included Prince Henry the Navigator, their youngest son, who was instrumental in Portugal’s Golden Age of Discovery.
Interestingly enough the treaty was invoked as recently as World War II, despite Portugal’s sympathetic connection to the Axis powers, when a major allied air and naval base was established in the Azores.
Duopoly
The Treaty of Tordesillhas signed on June 7, 1494, divided the newly discovered lands by the Spanish and Portuguese outside Europe into an exclusive ‘duopoly’ between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a north-south meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands.
This was about half way between the already discovered Portuguese islands off the west coast of Africa and the newly discovered islands (Caribbean) by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage and claimed for Spain, named in the treaty as Cipangu and Antilia (Cuba and Hispaniola).
Under the terms of the treaty the lands to the east were to belong to Portugal and the lands to the west Spain.
The treaty was ratified by Spain (At the time Castile and Aragon) on July 2, 1494 and by Portugal on September 5, 1494, and today is considered one of the most important documents on the Iberian peninsular and is recognised by UNESCO.
What: Treaties and Accords
Where: Torre do Tombo (Cidade Universitaria, Lisbon)
When: Monday, July 16-August 15
Times: 9.30am-5.30pm/9.30am-12.30pm Saturdays
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