England & Portugal: The Oldest Alliance in the World

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 December 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you’re enjoying a glass of port during the festive period, you have the world’s oldest treaty to thank.

Winston Churchill once described the Anglo-Portuguese alliance as ‘without parallel in world history.’ Forged in the backdrop of the Hundred Years War 650 years ago, the alliance is the oldest in the world.

In this episode Dan explores the medieval roots of this diplomatic friendship, which has benefitted both nations politically, culturally, and commercially.

Hear why John of Gaunt travelled to an unassuming town outside Porto to lay the foundations of the alliance in the 1300s, and find out how often the treaty’s been invoked in the six centuries since.

From the hills of Porto to west London, Dan and the History Hit team uncover the incredible history of the world's oldest alliance.

Produced and mixed by Mariana Des Forges and Charlotte Long. Special thanks to Jorge Coelho from the Vizela Tourism Board.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Dan Snow's history hit.
0:02.4	Now this is a classic pub quiz trivia question.
0:05.6	You'll have heard it before, but let's see if you remember the answer.
0:09.2	With which country has England and now the UK
0:12.1	enjoyed the longest period of being allies.
0:16.0	You might think could be the USA, all that talk of special relationships, lots of collaboration
0:21.8	stretching back.
0:23.0	Once we saw now to a few little differences in the early 19th century,
0:26.0	you might think it was the Swedes, but you'd be wrong.
0:30.0	Because the UK's oldest ally is in fact Portugal.
0:35.0	England and Portugal signed a military alliance way back in 1373, which makes it England
0:49.2	and the UK's oldest treaty and the oldest standing military alliance in the world as well.
0:57.0	650 years old and still going strong.
0:59.8	The alliance has been invoked time and again through the 100 Years War when Portugal was
1:04.2	occupied by its Spanish neighbors the Napoleonic Wars and even the Great World Wars of
1:09.0	the 20th century. So in today's episode we're going to delve into the story of this great alliance
1:13.4	two medieval heavyweights forging a strategic bond which benefited both nations
1:18.5	politically culturally commercially commercially
1:21.2	commercially militarily.
1:22.6	In this episode I'm joined by history producer Charlotte Long.
1:26.0	She's uncovering the medieval origins of this alliance.
1:29.6	And that's the story of two men with a claim to the Castilian throne. John of Gaunt, son of the King of England, and the King of Portugal.
	...

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