Battle of Aljubarrota

  1. Major battle between Portuguese forces led by King João I of Portugal and his Constable Nuno Álvares Pereira, and an army three times the size led by Juan I of Castile on August 14, 1385.
  2. This battle confirmed João I's right to the Portuguese crown and assured Portuguese independence from Castile for another three hundred years.
  3. The Battle of Aljubarrota has become another classical example of the supremacy of a lighter equipped and more mobile army as opposed to the traditional medieval army relying mostly on a large cavalry force. This battle is often compared to the Battles of Crécy (1346) and of Poitiers (1356), where lighter English armies defeated a much larger French opponent still heavily reliant on its cavalry.
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