Treaty of Tordesillas

The Treaty of Tordesillas (Spanish: Tratado de Tordesillas, Portuguese: Tratado de Tordesilhas ) came in 1494 at the instigation of Pope Alexander VI. between the then prevailing maritime powers Portugal and Spain concluded. He should avoid an armed confrontation between the two then most important Catholic powers by divided the world into a Portuguese and Spanish half.

Objectives

Portugal wanted to retain control of the sea route to India along the African coast. Specifically, it was to secure the lucrative spice trade in the Pacific region and indemnify the Africa route by Spanish influences.

Spain, by contrast, the control and the rights of the discovered only recently by Christopher Columbus countries in the West wanted to be sure ( the held for India America).

Background

Already in 1481 were awarded the Portuguese in the papal bull Aeterni registered all areas south of the Canary Islands.

In May 1493, Pope Alexander VI. ( Rodrigo Borgia ) in the Bull Inter caetera a fixed dividing line that ran at 100 leagues ( about 480 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands in the north-south direction from pole to pole through the Atlantic Ocean. All territories that lay to the west of this running at about 38 ° West Line ( America), were awarded the Spanish kings and their heirs, all areas east of it (Africa and Asia) fell to the Portuguese.

In contrast, the Portuguese King John II raised an objection. Perhaps the Portuguese part of the Brazilian coast course were already known and they therefore urged to a relocation of the dividing line.

The agreement

In tough negotiations succeeded the Portuguese under their negotiators, the geographer, astronomer and navigator Duarte Pacheco Pereira to move the demarcation line on 370 Spanish leagues ( about 1770 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands. This new cut line corresponded to a length of 46 ° 37 ' West. It allowed later the Portuguese to colonize the east of this line lying areas of Brazil.

The Treaty of Tordesillas was concluded on June 7, 1494 and very quickly ratified on July 2, of Spain and of Portugal on September 5.

Further development

The text of the treaty was interpreted differently according to the respective interests. A major issue was whether the measuring point on the easterly or westerly of the Cape Verde Islands was (about 60 leagues or 290 km difference). In addition, the Spanish league had a different length than the Portuguese, which in turn could be divided into an old and a new league.

Both powers claimed as the Moluccas ( Spice Islands important ) to be situated in their area. After new negotiations was set in the Treaty of Saragossa in 1529, that the dividing line 297.5 leagues east of the Moluccas get lost.

The other major naval powers - for example, Britain and France - recognized the contract not to. The Treaty of Tordesillas is an example of a transaction to the detriment of third parties: Neither the interests of the people of the divided countries were involved nor the interests of those countries that were just as Spain and Portugal capable of conquests.

1750, now by the realities already become obsolete demarcation line was repealed by the Treaty of Madrid.