At Aljubarrota in 1385: How Farmers, Soldiers and Nobles Defended Portugal's Border

Portuguese and English armies defeating a French vanguard of the King of Castile in the Fernandine Wars. On the far right, King Fernando I of Portugal (1345-1383) can be seen on horseback. In the center, King Juan I of Castile (1358-1390) is on horseback. (From the Les Chroniques d'Angleterre of Jean de Wavrin).

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Had the Battle of Aljubarrota been lost, the Kingdom of Portugal probably would have been swallowed up by its Castilian neighbor.

"The pride we feel to belong to a country, Portugal, which is the most ancient and homogeneous in Europe, would not exist today," according to Journey Through Time -- 1385, Aljubarrota Battle, Fundação Batalha de Aljubarrota.

One of the most important battles of the Middle Ages, the Battle of Aljubarrota is remembered by the Portuguese as one of their most decisive historical events.

"There's no doubt that there's one battle all Portuguese know, even if only hearing about it: the Battle of Aljubarrota. This great military confrontation between the Portuguese and the Castilians, which was crucial to maintaining our country's independence and confirmed that the idea of nationality existed and was strong among the working classes, occurred 640 years ago today -- August 14," according to Luís Almeida Martins, in Visão (August 7).

"The theater of operations was the field known as São Jorge, near the small town of Aljubarrota (municipality of Alcobaça, district of Leiria, former province of Extremadura), and swords and spears began to clang at dusk on that hot summer day in 1385.

"The skirmish, though fierce, was short-lived, and contrary to the odds (if there had been any . . . ), the Portuguese, though vastly outnumbered, triumphed beyond doubt, to the point that for decades the Castilians did not recover from the heavy defeat they had suffered."

The Visão journalist, Almeida Martins, founded and edited the magazine História (1978-1993) and the editor of Visão (História) since 2008.

Visão Fighting for Its Existence

Now, Visão is fighting its own battle. It is hoping to continue putting out the magazine after the recent liquidation of Trust in News (2018), the largest media group in Portugal, which owns it and about a dozen other magazines. Eleven Visão journalists filed a petition with the Sintra court asking that the titles be able to continue operating, saying that they have a viable financial plan, reported Expresso (July 27).

The first newspaper in Portugal, A Gazeta da Restauração, would not be published until 1641, around the same time as other newspapers in European capitals, 256 years after the Battle of Aljubarrota, according to Gazeta "da Restauração" (1641-1642) -- A Introdução do Periodismo Noticioso em Portugal, Instituto de Comunicação de NOVA (ICNOVA).

Indeed, who could even read in Europe in 1385? Very few. Only some of the clergy, nobility and those in royal service would have been literate.

A People's Revolt

Those who defended Portugal at Aljubarrota were not just trained soldiers and knights. Men and women of different trades and backgrounds also played a decisive role, according to Companhia Livre, a group, based in Aljubarrota, which stages historical re-enactments. Before the battle, the people helped prepare the field of battle by digging or installing ground obstacles.

Once the battle began, there are reports of people armed with sticks, hoes and scythes chasing and capturing fleeing Castilian soldiers in the Chronicle of D. João I, by Fernão Lopes.

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The Battle of Aljubarrota on August 14, 1385, by an unknown artist, ca. 1470-1475

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How France Became an Ally of the Castilian Kingdom

The end of the 14th century was a dark time in Europe.

There was the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), an intermittent struggle between the English and the French over a series of disputes, including the legitimate succession to the French crown, according to Britannica. The war was frequently interrupted by external forces, such as the Black Death, a bubonic plague pandemic which devastated the continent. And hunger was widespread across the continent.

Portugal, independent since 1143, was not untouched by these social crises and political upheavals.

Once the One Hundred Years' War began, the Castilian kingdom became the main ally of France, according to The Relation of England to Portugal in the XIV Century, Fundação Batalha de Aljubarrota.

How England Became an Ally of Portugal

In October 1383, King Fernando I of Portugal died with no son to inherit the crown. The only surviving child of his marriage to Leonor Telles de Meneses, was a girl, Princess Beatrice of Portugal.

In April, months before the king's death, the Treaty of Salvaterra de Magos between Portugal and Castile ended the Fernadine Wars, of which there were three conflicts characterized by the dispute over the throne of Castile between Fernando I and Henrique II of Castile (and later with the latter's son, Juan I of Castile). The wars took place intermittently between 1369 and 1382.

Within the context of the Fernandine Wars, the Treaty of Tagilde was signed on July 10, 1372, in the church of São Salvador of Tagilde, near Guimarães, in the municipality of Vizela, by King Fernando I and representatives of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, son of Edward III of England.

The Treaty of Tagilde was the first political and military alliance between Portugal and England. It created the foundation of the alliance between the two countries, which still exists today. Under this treaty, Portugal would help John of Gaunt attack Castile, by land and sea, in order to place his wife, Constanza, daughter of the previous king of Castile, as the Queen of Castile.

Also, King Henrique II, the present king of Castile, had killed John's wife's father, Pedro I, also called Peter the Cruel and Peter the Just.

John the Gaunt was Geoffrey Chaucer's patron. Chaucer had visited Castile during Pedro I's reign and lamented the monarch's death in The Monk's Tale of The Canterbury Tales (Well ought men read thy piteous death with pain!)

Under the Treaty of Tagilde, the Portuguese king would have no claim to the Castilian lands, according to The Relation of England to Portugal in the XIV Century. With regard to the Kingdom of Aragão, its lands would belong to John of Gaunt or to Portugal, depending on whom conquered it first.

A Period of Political Uncertainty

The Treaty of Salvaterra was an agreement to consolidate peace between the two crowns of Portugal and Castile, not an agreement to consolidate union of the two kingdoms. Fernando agreed to a marriage of political expediency of his 10-year-old daughter, Beatriz, to Juan I of Castile. The marriage occurred one month after the treaty. The rules of succession were stipulated to avoid a possible union of kingdoms. Leonor Teles would remain in power while Beatriz was too young to rule and did not yet have a son.

Nonetheless, King Fernando's death in October 1383 created a period of political uncertainty. The Castilian king began calling himself the King of Portugal. It was determined that the Crown of Portugal would belong to the descendants of the King of Castile and the capital relocated to the Kingdom of Toledo, according to Journey Through Time -- 1385, Aljubarrota Battle, Fundação Batalha de Aljubarrota.

"The Kingdom of Castile would inevitably dominate Portugal. The situation that is created causes discomfort and does not please the majority of the Portuguese population. Looking back at the political crisis from 1383 to 1385, it is possible to ascertain that its roots were in the dissatisfaction felt by the population due to the deterioration of the living conditions of the majority of the population, but also when faced with the possibility that the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal could be at stake.

"This desire for change grew when Leonor Teles and her allies wanted a political solution for Portugal, which not only was legally questionable but also clearly dissatisfying to the majority of the Portuguese population."

With the people's support, Dom João, Master of the Order of Avis, half brother of King Fernando, tried to prevent the kingdoms' union. He took possession of several cities, including Lisbon and Oporto.

D. João was elected king in the Courts of Coimbra in April 1385. He was chosen to lead a revolt against Leonor Teles, the dowager queen, and the power of the regency passed to him.

D. João, acclaimed in Lisbon as Regent and Defender of the Kingdom, set about defending the kingdom against Castilian attacks. He surrounded himself with friends, such as Nuno Álvares Pereira, who would become commander of the Portuguese army.

Nuno Álvares Pereira, Constable of Portugal

Earlier, in 1380, Nuno Álvares Pereira, who was then a regular soldier in the army, had met English soldiers during their first military presence in Portugal. From these soldiers, he learned the military techniques used in the One Hundred Years' War, which included preference for fighting on foot rather than on horseback, the choosing of a favorable battleground, the installation of defense obstacles, such as pit holes, trees on the ground and ditches, and the extensive use of archers, according to Journey Through Time -- 1385, Aljubarrota Battle.

Luís Vaz de Camões makes reference to the strong Nuno many times in Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads).

When D. João became king, he named Nuno Álvares Pereira as Constable of Portugal, second in the military hierarchy after himself. Between 1385 and 1390, the Constable carried out raids along the Castilian border using the military techniques which he had learned from the English.

While it is debated whether the English longbow originated in England or in Wales from the Welsh bow, by the 14th century, the 1.8 meter long (6-foot) longbow was being used by both the English and the Welsh as a weapon of war and for hunting. Longbows were effective against the French during the Hundred Years' War, particularly in the battles of Sluys (1340), Crécy (1346), Poitiers (1356) and, of course, Agincourt (1415), led by Henry V and the backdrop of William Shakespeare's eponymous play.

From a war meeting in Abrantes, 100 kilometers (62 miles) outside of Lisbon, the Portuguese army of 9,000 men advanced to the fields of Aljubarrota 80 kilometers (50 miles) east in order to intercept the march of the Castilian army toward Lisbon. With all probability, all the English archers present in Portugal took part in this march. In April 1385, four ships had arrived from Plymouth in Porto, Lisbon and Setúbal with 650 experienced mercenaries, 450 of whom were archers.

In June 1385, Juan I invaded Portugal, through the city of Guarda, with an army of 42,000 men, including 2,000 French cavaliers.

At Aljubarrota, "in the right wing of the Portuguese defense -- the Madressilva (Honeysuckle) Wing -- about 200 English archers, veterans of the Hundred Years' War and masters of the use of the dreaded longbow stood out," according to Companhia Livre, a group, based in Aljubarrota, which stages historical re-enactments.

"Each archer fired up to 12 arrows per minute, at more than 350 meters away, with enough power to pierce steel mesh coats and armor. It is estimated that they fired about 200,000 arrows at the Castilian army, provoking thousands of casualties and breaking formations even before the hand-to-hand combat. This firepower from distance made advances, opened gaps and helped secure the Portuguese victory."

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Along with the archers, ordinary people participated in attaining Portugal's victory, according to Companhia Livre.

"One of the best-known legends of the national imagination was born: that of Padeira de Aljubarrota, a symbol of popular courage in defense of independence."

There are many versions of the baker's identity and her story. RTP Ensina tells one:

"The protagonist of this story never lacked strength and courage, having learned to defend herself from the mockery of boys as a child. Brites de Almeida was tall, corpulent, (with six fingers on each hand) and was always involved in disputes. She would face anyone, with her bare hands, with her sword or with a spade. (After being out all day hunting fleeing Castilians, she returned home.) She killed seven Castilians with her baker's shovel (who had been hiding in her oven), an episode which made her a legend of the Battle of Aljubarrota."