Windsor, Treaties of

   Various Anglo-Portuguese treaties bear the name of Windsor. Among others were the treaties of 1386 and 1899. Signed at Windsor, England, on 9 May 1386, the former treaty confirmed the Alliance Treaty between England and Portugal of 1383 and committed both signatories to defend the other against all enemies and to participate in a "perpetual" league, friendship, and confederation. The 1899 Treaty of Windsor (a misnomer since it was signed in London) followed the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa. Portugal pledged to allow the movement of British forces through its east-African colony of Mozambique to South Africa and to prevent arms from reaching the Boers through the same colony. At the same time, there was a reaffirmation of the ancient Anglo- Portuguese Alliance, as spelled out in articles of the 1642 and 1661 Anglo-Portuguese treaties, thus signifying a mutual defense treaty for both countries. Especially vital for Portugal, concerned about secret negotiations between Great Britain and Germany over the possible breakup of Portugal's African empire due to Portugal's bankruptcy, was the 1899 treaty's reconfirmed pledge on Britain's part that it would defend Portugal as well as her overseas empire against all enemies "future and present."