The Fascinating History of England and Portugal's 650 Year Alliance

[Music] England was in the midst of the Hundred Years War pursuing Edward III's claim to the French crown so why was an alliance with Portugal thought necessary especially an alliance that pledged military aid after all Portugal is a very long way from France to find out I've come to meet an historian who has studied these events Antonio Oliveira England didn't have a standing Navy at the time as you know it relied on Merchant vessels at cogs usually outfitted for Naval Warfare Portugal on the other hand had one of the very best navies in medieval Europe and that mattered to England because Portugal's neighbor Castile had Allied itself with France Spain had not yet emerged as a nation Castile was Portugal's largest neighbor and also a belligerent rival the Castilian Navy was also pretty powerful and was of considerable benefit to France the English derived a lot of their wealth from trade with portio which was being disrupted by Castilian raiding England's King Edward also needed safe passage for his armies across the English Channel to the fighting in France both England and Portugal had pressing strategic interests for an alliance against this franco-castilian threat the alliance was also motivated by the personal Ambitions of one man John of gaunt gaunt King Edward III of England's third son was a major Power Player and the chief broker of the alliance by marriage he was a claimant to the Castilian Crown a claim that Portugal supported to further uphold that claim an expeditionary Force numbering three thousand men was sent from England to Portugal in 1381. its twin aims were to defend the border and to press gaunt's quest to become the king of Castile tragically this mercenary Army were a poorly LED unruly and disreputable mob many were former criminals and only there for the plunder there were reports of looting and atrocities by the English against the Portuguese population it was an inauspicious start to the alliance however three years later on the 14th of August 1385 the English had the chance to redeem themselves by providing critical support to Portugal at the Battle of al-jubarotta they were up against a fearsome enemy castile's Ally France had joined The Fray and sent a massive Army in support of the invasion it included over 2 000 heavy Cavalry can you imagine that 2 000 powerful snorting horses over 2 000 powerful men glinting in plate armor it was a seemingly Unstoppable Force Portugal had a new king king zhuang portrayed in this painting meeting with John of gaunt juang had mustered an army of around 6 000 men to face the threat however he was severely outmatched by a franco-castellian army of a little over twenty thousand men he was outnumbered by more than three to one in supporter Portugal John of gaunt sent a contingent of English Knights together with around 600 longbowmen French Cavalry had good reason to fear the power of English longbowmen they had felt their sting nearly 40 years earlier at the Battle of Cressy and again a decade later at Poitier even so two thousand horses which is what the french had at algebarata should have had no trouble riding down a few hundred arches flattening them like trampled corn but they didn't and they couldn't and the reason is this The Archers had defended their positions with a Minefield of pits tell me about the pits the pits were important yeah they were very important the archaeological excavations at the battle site have revealed hundreds of pits almost like this a little bit deeper sometimes with a stake in the middle and these pits were laid out in front of what we now know to have been The Archers positions any horse coming through here even at this depth is going to break a leg throw the Rider and the psychological effect of this was that the entire franco-castellian Army was funneled towards this very narrow front only the man in front could fight and this not only negated their advantage in numbers because of the crowding from the back precisely if you force them into a funnel yeah that's pressing there's chaos and we know for example that um a lot of the Castilian dead were found without any wounds on their bodies they died from compression fighting began at 10 o'clock in the morning and went on until Nightfall throughout the day there were many twists and turns but in the end the tactics and the fighting grit of the smaller Force prevailed and King zhuang with English support won the Day in England algebra is one of the Lesser known battles of the Hundred Years War but how much did the outcome matter to England it was absolutely vital in ensuring the safety of England as an independent Kingdom had one of quesil won at algebra then the Portugal and Castilian Thrones would have been United in the same ruler who was Allied with valua France that would have meant that the French would have added their disposal the combined might of the Portuguese and Castilian navies which in turn would mean an unimaginable land invasion of England for for certain and we know that that invasion was being planned in fact in the very same day that the Treaty of Windsor was signed the Portuguese pledged to send the English War galleys to patrol the channel in anticipation of a possible invasion the value of the alliance had been proven and its pledges continued among them a declaration for True mutual and Perpetual friendships and leagues of sincere affection in the following year 1386 King Juan was married to John of gaunt's daughter Philippa of Lancaster they were married in Portal Cathedral [Music] the marriage is commemorated in a rather surprising setting this is brought to sound Bento train station it is famous for its Azure Leisure tiles depicting important moments in Portuguese history these tiles behind me here commemorate the celebrations after the ceremony here you can see King Juan and his new Queen Philippa both crowned riding side by side as equals through the streets of portal to cheering crowds it was the beginning of a new era and queen Philippa was popular in her new country she had the ear of the king she was influential and she was powerful and I love it that this English Noble woman who few in England have even heard of is seen here every day by thousands of commuters and tourists it's a strong image and an enduring Legacy following the marriage the alliance was bolstered by the Treaty of Windsor signed at Windsor Castle in England this secured even stronger guarantees of military aid moreover Queen Philippa promoted trade between England and Portugal increasing the commercial Ties That endure to this day foreign [Music] there would have been a fleet of small trading vessels and just imagine it there would also have been noisy toiling Legion of Dock Workers as they heaved and hauled and loaded and unloaded their cargos amidst the shouts and cries of merchants haggling for better prices 10 Alabaster card wool and Woolen cloth these were the Staples of the English and for the Portuguese it was oranges and leather and olive oil and wine despite the longevity of the alliance there have been bumps in the road for 60 years between 1580 and 1640. Portugal was under Spanish rule a period when Spain was in conflict with England there were 12 Portuguese ships in the Spanish Armada that attempted unsuccessfully an invasion of England in 1588. the following year Sir Francis Drake led a privately financed expedition to destroy the remnants of the Armada ships that had made it home those who signed up were promised a share of the treasure after raiding karuna where they sank 13 ships this mercenary force of privateers moved on to Lisbon Drake located the harbor so that no ships could get in or out of Lisbon and another English force one that had landed further north came Overland to attack the city eleven thousand men under English command attacked Lisbon it was argued that it would prompt a Portuguese Uprising against their Spanish overlords but that didn't materialize Lisbon's Garrison of seven thousand Portuguese and Spanish troops held out once again the Costello sanjores was a vital Bastion of Defense its long-range guns pounding the English Raiders over a mile away in 1640 Portugal's Independence and its monarchy were restored in 1660 the monarchy was also restored in Britain with the crowning of King Charles II and in the following year the Portuguese British Alliance received a considerable boost with the marriage of Charles to Portugal's Catherine of Braganza as part of her Dowry the Portuguese territory of Bombay present-day Mumbai was gifted to the king Charles in turn gifted it to the East India Company thus beginning a new chapter of British interest in India tea was not yet grown in India at the time tea came only from China everyone knows about us Brits in our obsession with tea but it was Catherine of Braganza who first made tea drinking fashionable in Britain you see the Portuguese had been trading with China since the early 16th century and they developed their passion for tea long before the British however few things characterize the bond between Britain and Portugal more than the trade and consumption of port wine Portuguese wine had been traded for centuries but it was events in 1667 that spurred the development of port wine as we know it today a trade War had resulted in a ban on the import of French wines into Britain the British needed to Source their wine from elsewhere and British merchants already living in Portugal were quick to supply the demand this is Taylor's Port Lodge where casks of Porter stored for aging Christoph one here quite an art to moving these barrels and he makes it look incredibly easy Taylor's is one of the original Port houses tracing its history back to 1692 and I've come here today to meet its managing director Adrian Bridge Portugal was shipping wine to England in the early days it was something called red Portugal and I have a sort of example of it here it was much lighter wine that was made sort of up in the northern part of Portugal um I mean that to me that's an extremely Pleasant red wine but not yet Port it's not yet poured it's a much lighter example it's what would have been traded in the mid 17th century after Oliver cromwell's treated with Portugal where wool and wines were being traded between Britain and Portugal and the people were on the coast making this lighter style of wine it took a few years before they discovered the big powerful wines of the Duro which is what the British Market wanted British Market were looking for a bit more strength a little bit more fruit a little bit more richness and by going into the interior of the country you've got riper grapes bigger fruit and therefore the capacity to make much more powerful wines Portugal's Duro Valley is where the grapes are grown to make true port wines the valley sits the other side of the morale mountain range in Portugal's interior it has an entirely different climate from the coastal Vineyards with bitterly cold Winters and searingly hot summers this produces grapes with extra thick skins these retain more sugar resulting in a robust rich and sweet wine with a high alcohol content apart from the quality of the grapes what makes Port Port is that it is a fortified wine Brandy is added to the mix thanks for watching this video on the history Hit YouTube channel you can subscribe right here to make sure you don't miss any of our great films that are coming out or if you are a true history fan check out our special dedicated History Channel historyhit.tv you're gonna love it

Channel: History Hit

Views: 189,660

Keywords: history hit, history hit youtube, portugal england, anglo-portuguese alliance, portugal england alliance, mike loades documentary, mike loades archery, mike loades history hit, mike loades horse, portugal and england alliance, longest alliance in history, historic alliances, longest military alliance, spanish armada documentary, spanish armada 1588, spanish armada defeat, history of port, port history, english trade history, sir francis drake, origin of port

Id: Hf4D4zOaVs4

Length: 15min 10sec (910 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 21 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/joaommx]

O vídeo completo está no canal da Taylor's Port.

[u/some_where_else]

We British may be scruffy and shouty, but we know how to give the French a kicking when it matters!

(much love to French people, turns out you really do have a culture!)