• Book Beginning
  • Acknowledgments
  • Sources & Bibliography
  • Mary Ames Mitchell

The Treaty of Tordesillas

As soon as Christopher Columbus left King João II’s castle at Santa Maria das Virtudes, the Portuguese king sent a letter to his cousin Queen Isabella and her husband King Ferdinand reminding them of their agreement, the Treaty of Alcáçovas-Toledo.


Abbreviated family tree showing how Isabella and João II were second cousins.

Had Isabella forgotten that her right to be queen of Castile had been exchanged for his right to all lands discovered within the Ocean Sea on the way to the Indies? The islands that Admiral Columbus discovered were his.

João informed the Catholic Monarchs that he was sending a fleet west to the newly discovered lands to claim them for Portugal. Knowing King João was right, Ferdinand and Isabella panicked. They quickly dispatched an emissary to the brand new pope, Alexander VI, who, as we know, was from Ferdinand’s domain, Aragon. Pope Alexander, in turn, organized a meeting to discuss the matter. Negotiations to work the problem out were to be held in a small village in Castile called Tordesillas. Pope Alexander VI sent a representative to mediate.

The discussion went back and forth. Finally, on the 7th of June 1494, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and João II of Portugal signed a new agreement, the Treaty of Tordesillas.

The treaty specified an imaginary meridian line from the top of the world to the bottom, “pole to pole,” 370 leagues [approximately 1184 nautical miles] west of Cape Verde, the westernmost protrusion on Africa already under Portuguese control. Some historians think that King João II already knew about Brazil because he kept trying to extend the western border farther west [the Spanish wanted it at 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands]. It was still four years before Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing under Africa, but, as we also know, King João had Pedro of Corvilhã’s map in hand that detailed the route De Gama’s would take. King João was placing all his eggs in the African trade basket.

All powers concerned believed that the line was down the middle between the western islands Columbus had discovered and the eastern lands the Portuguese had already claimed. Pope Alexander VI added his seal of approval when the document reached him at the Vatican in Rome.

Spain received all lands west “whether mainlands and islands … discovered and yet to be discovered towards India or towards any other region whatsoever” but not yet possessed by any other Christian king or ruler. The inclusion of the word mainlands reveals that even if Spain and Portugal did not know about the huge continents of North and South America, they knew there was something big to the west.

Fortunately for Portugal, Brazil lay east of that line – as did the Azores archipelago. Now it was up to her explorers to investigate what other lands lay within her domain. On the map at the top of this article, you might want to note the location of Newfoundland. Also remember that geographers and astronomers were still trying to figure out how to precisely measure longitude.

Now that Granada had fallen, Spanish and Portuguese soldiers were left with nothing to do. Those who had not been awarded comendos or captaincies hungered for land and fame. Columbus’ news that there was land to conquer and gold to be found westward provided the perfect opportunity for these ambitious men. The new conquistadors would build Spain and Portugal into empires that dominated Europe and the Americas for the next 100 years.

Next Article: Columbus’ Second Expedition

Contents

Welcome
Notes on Discussing Time
Knowledge Ancient World
Technology Migrates West
The Romans and Latin
Iberia, Brittania, Fall of Rome
Judaism
Christianity
600s The Rise of Islam
800s Christian Europe
County of Portugal

980s The Vikings
1000s Fight for Jerusalem
1143 Portugal’s Independence
1147 Second Crusade
1154 Al-Idrisi’s World Map
1170 Prince Madog of Wales
1187 Third to Fifth Crusades
1200s Mongolian Empire
The Silk Road
Herbs and Spices
Legend of Prester John
1271 Marco Polo
Volta do Mar
Mythical Atlantic Islands
Real Atlantic Islands
Ancient Texts Resurface
Through the Pillars of Hercules
Rise of Portuguese
The Order of Christ
Pedro and Inês
Black Death
1303 Knights Templar in America
14th Century Maps
Rihlas & Travelogues

Portugal, Castile, or England
The House of Avis
1400s Henry the Navigator
Age of Discovery Begins
Henry’s Navigation Center
Chinese Treasure Fleets
Royal Distractions
Cape Bojador
The Caravel
Tools for Navigation
The Astrolabe
1440s Beginning of Slave Trade
Western Land Sightings
1450 Fra Mauro Mappa Mundi
Claiming the Azores
Constantinople
Dinheiro – Portuguese Money
The Guinea Trade
Crossing the Equator
Polo & Toscanelli
Treaty of Alcáçovas-Toledo
The Carrack
Diogo Cão Reaches the Congo
The Rule of the Sun
Overland to Abyssinia
Christopher Columbus
Columbus’ Calculations
1480 Alonso Sanchez of Huelva

c1485 Columbus Leaves Portugal
1486 Pushing West from Azores
1487-88 Bartolomeu Dias
Portuguese Reach Calicut
1487 Columbus in Spain
Conquest of Granada
Columbus’ New Proposal
1492 Columbus’ 1st Voyage
Treaty of Tordesillas
1493 Columbus’ 2nd Voyage
Calculating Longitude
1495 King Manoel I
John Cabot
Nuremberg Connection
Cabot in England
1497-98
Cabot’s 1st & 2nd Voyages

1497-98 Vasco da Gama
Cabot’s Return
1498 Cabot’s 3rd Voyage
1498 Columbus’ 3rd Voyage
1499 William Weston
1499 The Corte-Reals
1500 Fernão Alvares Cabral
1502 Columbus’ 4th Voyage
Maps After Columbus
Loose Ends
Mysterious Dighton Rock

We invite your feedback. If you have any comments, suggestions, or corrections, please email them to Mary.
Please tell me to which page you are referring. Thanks.

©2015 Mary Ames Mitchell. All rights reserved.
Book Beginning | Acknowledgments | Sources & Bibliography | Mary Ames Mitchell

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