Treaty of Tordesillas: Spain and Portugal Split the New World
Two Catholic kings split a planet they hadn't finished mapping yet. Pope Alexander VI drew a line down the Atlantic in 1493 — 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands — and Spain got everything west, Portugal got everything east. Simple. Except nobody asked the people already living there. And nobody told England, France, or the Netherlands, who ignored the whole arrangement entirely. The line accidentally handed Brazil to Portugal, a fact discovered six years later when Cabral landed there. Two countries divided the world. The world disagreed.
June 7, 1494
532 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Portugal
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Spain
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New World
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Treaty of Tordesillas
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Spain
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ETA
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Portugal
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New World
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Treaty of Tordesillas
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Kingdom of Castile
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Civil Guard (Spain)
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Asesinato de José Pardines
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Conquista de América
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Geschichte der Seefahrt
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