Battle of Aljubarrota - Aftermath

Aftermath

During the night and throughout the next day, as many as 5000 more Castilians were killed by the neighbouring towns' villagers; according to Portuguese tradition surrounding the battle, there was a woman called Brites de Almeida, the Padeira of Aljubarrota (the baker-woman of Aljubarrota), said to be very tall, strong, and to possess six fingers on each hand, who ambushed and killed by herself eight Castilian soldiers as they stormed her bakery in the town of Aljubarrota itself. This story in particular is clouded in legend and hearsay. But the popular intervention in the massacre of Castilian troops after the battle is, nevertheless, historical and typical of battles in this period.

In the morning of the following day, the true dimension of the battle was revealed: in the field, the bodies of Castilians were enough to dam the creeks surrounding the small hill. In face of this, the Portuguese King offered the enemy survivors an amnesty and free transit home; an official mourning was decreed in Castile that would last until the Christmas of 1387. The French cavalry contingent suffered yet another defeat (after Crécy and Poitiers) by English defensive tactics. The battle of Agincourt decades later would show that they still had a lesson to learn.

In October 1385, Nuno Álvares Pereira led a pre-emptive attack against Mérida, in Castilian territory, defeating an even larger Castilian army than at Aljubarrota in the battle of Valverde, in Valverde de Mérida. Scattered border skirmishes with Castilian troops would persist for five years more until the death of John I of Castile in 1390, but posed no real threat to the Portuguese crown; recognition from Castile would arrive only in 1411 with the signature of the Treaty of Ayllón (Segovia).

As stated above this victory assured that John of Aviz was the uncontested King of Portugal and the House of Aviz ascended to the crown of Portugal. In 1386, the closeness of relations between Portugal and England resulted in a permanent military alliance with the Treaty of Windsor, the eldest still active in existence. His marriage to Philippa of Lancaster in 1387 initiated the Portuguese second dynasty, and their children went on to make historically significant contributions in their own right. Duarte, or Edward of Portugal, became the eleventh King of Portugal, and was known as "The Philosopher" and "The Eloquent". Henrique, or Henry the Navigator, sponsored expeditions to Africa.