had not yet been found, nor the rich civ-
ilizations of China and Japan. Even so,
the Spanish sovereigns sent him out on
two more voyages.
On the third voyage, which took
place between May 1498 and October
1500, Columbus went to Trinidad and
came ashore on the mainland for the first
time, visiting what is now Venezuela. By
then, however, a number of colonists had
complained to the Spanish crown about
Columbus’s tyrannical style, leading
Ferdinand and Isabella to ask for his res-
ignation as governor. When he refused,
he was arrested and returned to Spain in
shackles. While the sovereigns recog-
nized his service to the crown, and thus
released him and approved plans for a
fourth voyage, they did not restore him to
the governorship of Hispaniola.24 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY
The Papal Line of Demarcation, 1493, and the Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494
Shortly before Columbus’s New World landing, Spain petitioned the pope for full control of any lands encountered. In 1493, Pope
Alexander VI granted to Spain all lands west of a line running 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Under this demarcation,
Spain received most of the Americas, while Portugal received lands that would become Brazil. When King John II of Portugal objected,
the two countries negotiated a treaty—signed at Tordesillas, Spain, in 1494—to move the line 270 leagues farther to the west.
Spanish galleons such as the one shown here dominated the seas during the 16th
century. This ship, the Victoria, was captained by Juan Sebastio de Elcano, a
member of Ferdinand Magellan’s crew. When Magellan himself was killed in the
Philippine Islands after crossing the Pacific in 1521, Elcano completed the journey
around the globe, arriving back in Spain the following year. (private collection)