Treaty of Tordesillas
The
Treaty of Tordesillas (
Portuguese:
Tratado de Tordesilhas,
Spanish:
Tratado de Tordesillas), signed at
Tordesillas (now in
Valladolid province,
Spain),
June 7 1494, divided the world outside of Europe in an exclusive duopoly between the
Spanish and the
Portuguese along a north-south
meridian 370
leagues (1770 km; 1100 miles) west of the
Cape Verde islands (off the west coast of Africa), roughly 46° 37' W. The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain. The treaty was ratified by Spain,
July 2, and by Portugal,
September 5,
1494. The
Treaty of Saragossa or
Treaty of Zaragoza, which was signed on
April 22,
1529, more precisely specified its
anti-meridian.
It was intended to resolve the dispute that had been created following the return of
Christopher Columbus. In 1481 the papal
Bull Aeterni regis had granted all land south of the
Canary Islands to Portugal. In May 1493 The Spanish-born
Pope Alexander VI decreed in the
Bull Inter caetera that all lands west of a meridian only 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands should belong to Spain while new lands discovered east of that line would belong to Portugal, although territory already under Christian rule would remain untouched. Naturally the Portuguese King
John II was not happy, so he opened negotiations with King
Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella of Spain to move the line to the west, arguing that the meridian would extend all around the globe — limiting Spanish control in
Asia. The treaty effectively countered the bull of Alexander VI but it was sanctioned by
Pope Julius II in a new bull of 1506.
Very little of the newly divided area had actually been seen, as it was divided according to the treaty. Spain gained lands including all the Americas. The easternmost part of current
Brazil, when it was discovered in 1500 by
Pedro Álvares Cabral, was granted to Portugal. Although the line extended over the pole into Asia, at the time accurate measurements of
longitude were impossible so uncertainties arose. The line was not strictly enforced — the Spanish did not resist the
Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian. The treaty was rendered meaningless between 1580 and 1640 while Spain controlled Portugal. It was superseded by the
1750 Treaty of Madrid which granted Portugal control of the lands it occupied in South America.
The remaining exploring nations of Europe such as
France and
England were explicitly refused access to the new lands, leaving them only options like
piracy, unless they (as they did later) rejected the papal authority to divide undiscovered countries. The view taken by the rulers of these nations is epitomized by the quotation attributed to
Francis I of France demanding to be shown the
clause in Adam's will excluding his authority from the New World.
Although both countries agreed that the line should be considered to be running around the globe, dividing the world into two equal halves, it was not clear where the line should be drawn on the other side of the world because longitude could not be determined accurately. The Moluccas or the fabled
Spice Islands, so named for their
spices, and now known locally as the
Maluku Islands, were reached and claimed by Portugal in 1512. The Portuguese
Ferdinand Magellan and
Ruy Faleiro, spurned by the Portuguese king but backed by the Spanish king, thought that they were within the Spanish half of the world. When Magellan reached and claimed for Spain the
Philippines in 1521, he confirmed that the Moluccas were within the Spanish half. After his death in the Philippines, two of his ships did reach the Moluccas. Thus both countries now claimed the Moluccas, creating a new dispute.
After new negotiations, the
Treaty of Saragossa or
Treaty of Zaragoza, signed
April 22,
1529, specified that the pole-to-pole line of demarcation near Asia should pass 297.5 leagues or 17° to the east of the Moluccas, which places the Saragossa line near 145° east longitude. The treaty states that this line passes through the islands of Las Velas and Santo Thome, named Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of Thieves) by Magellan, which are now called
Guam and the
Mariana Islands. These islands were further specified as lying 19° northeast by east of the Moluccas, more or less.
Portugal gained control of all lands and seas west of the line, including all of Asia and its neighboring islands so far 'discovered', leaving Spain most of the
Pacific Ocean. Spain agreed to relinquish all claims to the Moluccas upon the payment of 350,000
ducats of gold by Portugal. Although the Philippines were not named in the treaty, Spain implicitly relinquished any claim to them because they were well west of the line. Nevertheless, by 1542, King
Charles V decided to conquer them, judging that Portugal would not protest too vigorously because they had no spice, but he failed. King
Philip II succeeded in 1565.
Besides Brazil and the Moluccas, Portugal would eventually control
Angola,
Mozambique,
Guinea-Bissau, and
São Tomé and Príncipe in
Africa;
Goa and
Daman and Diu in
India; and
East Timor and
Macau in the Far East.
*
Portugal in the Age of Discovery*
Inter caetera*
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 by Emma Helen Blair, consisting of complete English translations of both treaties and related documents.
