What was the Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal?
The Treaty of Tordesillas
El Tratado de Tordesillas
7 June 1494. On 7 June 1494, in the Castilian town of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the world they were discovering.
Where: Spain, The whole Spanish-speaking world, Portugal, Castile
What happened
On 7 June 1494, in the Castilian town of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the world they were discovering. A year earlier Pope Alexander VI had drawn a line 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands and given Castile everything beyond it; Portugal objected, and the treaty moved the line to 370 leagues west, roughly 46° 30' W. Lands east of it were Portugal's, lands west were Castile's. Nobody could yet measure longitude, so the line was imaginary, but it had real effects: it is why Brazil, which bulges east of the line, became Portuguese and speaks Portuguese, while the rest of South America became Spanish. In 1529 the Treaty of Zaragoza extended the division to the far side of the globe.
Say it
España y Portugal se repartieron el mundo con una línea en el mapa.
Spain and Portugal divided the world with a line on the map.
Why it matters
A line on a map decided that most of the Americas would speak Spanish and Brazil Portuguese.
Read about it
Connected
- Columbus reaches America (12 October 1492)
- Columbus reaches America (12 October 1492)
- Elcano sails round the world (6 September 1522)
- Elcano sails round the world (6 September 1522)
- Philip II becomes king of Portugal (1580–1640)
- Before: Columbus reaches America
- After: The Laws of Burgos
Sources
- Treaty of Tordesillas — World History Encyclopedia