The Treaty of Windsor (1175) was a territorial agreement made during the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.[1] It was signed in Windsor, Berkshire by King Henry II of England and the Ard Rí or High King of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O'Connor).
Overall, the agreement left O'Connor with a kingdom consisting of Ireland outside the provincial kingdom of Leinster (as it was then), Dublin and a territory from Waterford Dungarvan, as long as he paid tribute to Henry II, and owed fealty to him. All of Ireland was also subject to the new religious provisions of the papal bull Laudabiliter and the Synod of Cashel (1172).
O'Connor was obliged to pay one treated cow hide for every ten cattle. The other "kings and people" of Ireland were to enjoy their lands and liberties so long as they remained faithful to the kings of England, and were obliged to pay their tribute in hides through O'Connor.[2]
The witnesses were Richard of Ilchester, Bishop of Winchester; Geoffrey, Bishop of Ely; Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin; William, Earl of Essex; Justiciar Richard de Luci; Geoffrey de Purtico, Reginald de Courtenea (Courtenay) and three of Henry's court chaplains.
The Annals of Tigernach recorded that: "Cadla Ua Dubthaig came from England from the Son of the Empress, having with him the peace of Ireland, and the kingship thereof, both Foreigner and Gael, to Ruaidhrí Ó Conchobhair, and to every provincial king his province from the king of Ireland, and their tributes to Ruaidhrí." The Annals also listed the ongoing violence in Ireland at the time.[3] The text reveals a misunderstanding of the scope of the treaty and the matters agreed by the two kings that soon proved fatal to the peace of Ireland. Henry saw O'Connor as his subordinate within the feudal system, paying him an annual rent on behalf of all his sub-kings; O'Connor saw himself as the restored High King of Ireland, subject only to a very affordable annual tribute to Henry.
However the Treaty was soon broken. The land-hungry Anglo-Norman lords rapidly began expanding. Henry II himself repudiated the Treaty in 1177 and named his son John as Lord of Ireland. However, John never assumed the position of King of Ireland simply because Henry died suddenly in 1189 and John, being the heir apparent to the English throne became King of England, and as the kingship of England at this time carried with it the ancillary title of ‘Lord of Ireland', and as the Treaty of Windsor had been reudiated by his father, John assumed the titles 'King of England' as well as 'Lord of Ireland', which had the further de facto effect of denying any claim he had on the Irish kingship.[4] Meaning subsequent claims by the English monarchy to the kingship of Ireland, such as Henry VIII and later kings claimed, were de facto and de jure, rendered illegitimate.