The History Book

148

THIS LINE SHALL

BE CONSIDERED AS

A PERPETUAL MARK

AND BOUND

THE TREATY OF TORDESILLAS ( 1494 )

S

pain and Portugal signed a

treaty on June 7, 1494, at

Tordesillas in Spain, that

resolved the countries’ disputes

about the possession of newly

discovered territory. The rulers

settled on a meridian 370 leagues

west of the Cape Verde Islands as

a line of demarcation. All the lands

to the west of this line would belong

to Spain; all those to the east would

belong to Portugal. The line was

chosen because of its location:

it lies roughly halfway between

the Cape Verde Islands, which

already belonged to Portugal,

and the Caribbean islands,

which Christopher Columbus

had claimed for Spain in 1492.

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Spanish and Portuguese

American conquests

BEFORE

1492 Columbus makes his

first journey to the New World,

signaling the beginning of

Spanish interest in the area.

AFTER

1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral

claims Brazil for Portugal.

1521 Hernán Cortés

completes his conquest

of the Aztec Empire.

1525 The first Spanish

settlement in Colombia,

Santa Marta, is established.

1532 Francisco Pizarro begins

the Spanish campaign to

conquer the Inca Empire.

1598 Juan de Orñate founds

the first Spanish settlement

in California.

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149

See also: Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ The foundation of Tenochtitlan 112–17 ■ Christopher Columbus reaches

America 142–47 ■ The Columbian Exchange 158–59 ■ The formation of the Royal African Company 176–79

By the 1490s both countries were

discovering substantial territories,

including lands in the New World,

although at this point the size and

extent of the Americas was unclear

to Europeans. In spite of the fact

that the Spanish Crown had funded

Columbus’s voyages, Spain’s claim

to his discoveries was not clear-cut.

The 1479 Alcaçovas treaty between

the Catholic Monarchs of Spain

and the rulers of Portugal gave all

newly discovered lands south of the

Canary Islands to Portugal. When

Columbus landed at Lisbon after

his first voyage, he told John II, king

of Portugal, that he was claiming

Hispaniola and Cuba for his Spanish

backers. John wrote to Spain’s rulers

immediately to say that he was

preparing to send his own ships to

claim the Caribbean for Portugal.

Legalizing possession

To prevent such disputes erupting

each time a navigator made a

fresh discovery, the leaders of both

countries decided to review the

terms of the Alcaçovas treaty.

The papacy had been involved

in the 1479 treaty, and now Pope

Alexander VI (a Spaniard) proposed

a combined north–south and east–

west dividing line, suggesting that

any lands west and south of a line

100 leagues west and south of the

Azores and Cape Verde Islands be

allocated to Spain. John rejected the

proposition, considering it to be

biased in favor of his rivals, and

eventually all parties agreed on the

meridian between the Cape Verde

Islands and the Caribbean. The

resulting treaty set the agenda for

future colonization, and influenced

the fate of vast swathes of the world.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA

The Treaty of

Tordesillas resolves

territorial conflicts

between Spain

and Portugal.

European traders see

potential for rich profit

in Asian spices and

luxury goods.

Spanish and

Portuguese navigators

compete to gain new

territories.

Exploration opens

eastern and western

sea routes.

Portuguese colonies

By the time the Tordesillas treaty

was signed, Portugal had already

made headway in exploring Africa

and southern Asia. Working south

from a North African base at Ceuta,

explorers established a series of

trading posts on the West African

coast, gradually pushing south

until, in 1498, Vasco da Gama

rounded the Cape of Good Hope

and sailed into the Indian Ocean.

In the 16th century, Portugal had

settlements in India, the Moluccas,

Sumatra, Burma, and Thailand, and

by 1557 they had established their

long-standing enclave in Macau,

which became a hub for their trade

with many Asian communities.

The treaty line passed through

South America, allocating a north-

western portion to the Portuguese.

In 1500, explorer Pedro Álvares

Cabral landed on the coast of Brazil

and claimed it for Portugal. The

conquistadors exploited their new

colony, forcing indigenous peoples

to cultivate sugar cane, and later to

grow coffee, and mine gold. The

laborers died in huge numbers,

both from diseases introduced by ❯❯

I and my companions

suffer from a disease of the

heart that can be cured

only with gold.

Hernán Cortés, 1519

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