Press Release by City Council of Braga
The Municipality of Braga joins the celebration of the 650 years of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
In 2022 the 650th Anniversary of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world still in force, will take place. The municipality of Braga is one of the institutions involved in the organization of a vast set of initiatives that will take place between Portugal and the United Kingdom in the next two years.
The first initiative that the Municipality of Braga will host takes place next Saturday, January 22nd, at 9pm at the Vita Auditorium, with the New Year’s Gala, promoted by Ent’Artes Dance School. Throughout this year, several institutions of the city will be involved in initiatives to celebrate this anniversary, which will have Braga and Vizela as main cities for the celebrations in Portugal. Several institutions of the municipality are already working on projects, such as the University of Minho, the Calouste Gulbenkian Music Conservatory and the Alberto Sampaio School Grouping, as well as the aforementioned Ent’Artes dance school. The high point of these celebrations will take place on the weekend of the 9th and 10th of July, with a gala at Theatro Circo, a religious ceremony at the Cathedral and commemorative activities in the municipality of Vizela. Moreover, there will also be an Interdisciplinary Conference at the University of Minho from the 6th of July to the 9th of July.
The beginning of the formalization of the Alliance, based on the perpetual friendship between the two countries, occurred with the signature of the Treaty of Tagilde on the 10th of July 1372 in the municipality of Vizela, municipality of Braga, and it was sealed with the signature of the “Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Alliance”, on the 16th of June 1373 in London. This Alliance was later reinforced in various ways by the Treaty of Windsor of 1386 and by other treaties throughout history.
Different activities within the Portugal-UK 650 Initiative are already underway in both countries, and the Initiative is supported by civil, military and religious authorities – including His Holiness Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Church, Justin Welby. The Celebrations began with an event at St James’ Palace in London, attended by authorities from both countries. Portugal-UK 650 is led by a coordinating committee from both countries, which includes, among other personalities, the Mayor of Braga, Ricardo Rio and the Mayor of Vizela, Victor Hugo Salgado, and is presided by Maria João Rodrigues de Araújo from the University of Oxford.
Apart from the celebration of the most important dates ̶ the 650th anniversary of the Treaty of Tagilde, on the 10th of July 2022 and of the Treaty of “Peace, Friendship and Alliance”, on the 16th of June 2023 ̶ Portugal-UK 650 also encompasses other initiatives such as research, education, culture, cooperation and social activities.
The full list of activities can be found at https://portugal-uk650.com