High Middle Ages · Europe · Politics

1175

Treaty of Windsor

1175

Henry II and the Irish high-king Rory O'Connor signed a treaty recognizing Rory as overlord of the still-independent Irish kingdoms in exchange for tribute to the English crown. It gave Henry a legal fig leaf and Rory a reprieve; neither side honored it for long. The treaty's failure to establish a workable framework for Anglo-Irish relations set the pattern for centuries of contested sovereignty on the island.