Treaty of Tordesillas
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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 into an exclusive duopoly between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a north-south meridian 370 leagues (1550 km) west of the Cape Verde islands (off the west coast of Africa), near 40°W.[1] This was about one third of the distance between the Cape Verde Islands and the islands discovered by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage, named in the treaty as Cipangu and Antilia (no doubt Cuba and Hispaniola). The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain. The treaty was ratified by Spain (at the time, the Crowns of Castile and Aragon), 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. The Treaty of Tordesillas stated that everything west of 46° 37' was given to Spain whereas everything east of 46° 37' was given to Portugal.
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[edit] Exploration and colonization
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. On 4 May 1493 the Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI decreed in the Bull Inter caetera that all lands west and south of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands should belong to Spain, although territory under Christian rule as of Christmas 1492 would remain untouched. The bull did not mention Portugal or its lands, so Portugal could not claim newly discovered lands even if they were east of the line. Another bull, Dudum siquidem, entitled Extension of the Apostolic Grant and Donation of the Indies and dated September 25, 1493, gave all mainlands and islands then belonging to India to Spain, even if east of the line. The Portuguese King John II was not pleased with that arrangement because it gave him far too little land — it even prevented him from possessing India, his near term goal (as of 1493, Portuguese explorers had only reached the east coast of Africa). He opened negotiations with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to move the line to the west and allow him to claim newly discovered lands east of the line. The treaty effectively countered the bulls of Alexander VI and 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 only divided according to the treaty. Spain gained lands including most of the Americas. The easternmost part of current Brazil, when it was discovered in 1500 by Pedro Álvares Cabral, was granted to Portugal. 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.
[edit] Anti-meridian
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. This discovery created the idea that the demarcation line should encircle the world, dividing it into two equal halves. The Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan and Ruy Faleiro, spurned by the Portuguese king but backed by the Spanish king, thought that the Moluccas 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 colonize the Philippines, judging that Portugal would not protest too vigorously because the archipelago had no spice, but he failed in his attempt. King Philip II succeeded in 1565, establishing the initial Spanish trading post at Manila.
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.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Measured west of the longitude of the westernmost cape of the westernmost island, Santo Antão, 25°21.5'W, using the Spanish league of 4.18 km at a latitude of 17°2.5'N (coordinates from Terraserver) (1° of longitude = (111.320 + 0.373sin²φ)cosφ km, where φ is latitude), and rounded to the nearest degree to simulate fifteenth century accuracy.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (vol 1 of 55), ed. by Emma Helen Blair, containing complete English translations of both treaties and related documents.
- Treaty of Tordesillas English translation from Blair
- Compact Between the Catholic Sovereigns and the King of Portugal Regarding the Demarcation and the Division of the Ocean Sea English translation from Blair
- Map
- Translation of the Treaty of Tordesillas
