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Jan 1, 1450
The established overland routes
The established overland routes came under control of other groups along the way, including Turkish Muslims, who gained control of the main route in the 1450s. -
May 4, 1493
Unclaimed territories to the west of the line.
On May 4, 1493 Pope Alexander VI took action to clear up any confusion that may have arisen over territorial claims. He issued a decree which established an imaginary line running north and south through the mid-Atlantic, 100 leagues (480 km) from the Cape Verde islands. Spain would have possession of any unclaimed territories to the west of the line and Portugal would have possession of any unclaimed territory to the east of the line. -
May 1, 1494
Spain and Portugal met
In the spring of 1494, representatives of Spain and Portugal met in the Spanish town of Tordesillas and negotiated a mutually satisfactory solution to their dispute. By resulting Treaty of Todesillas -
Jun 7, 1494
The continue of the treaty
On June 7, 1494 Spain and Portugal met at Tordesillas, Spain and signed a treaty moved the line 270 leagues west, to 370 leagues west of Cape Verde. This new line (located at approximately 46° 37') gave Portugal more claim to South America yet also provided Portugal with automatic control over most of the Indian Ocean. -
Jun 7, 1494
The Treaty Started
Treaty of Tordesillas, agreement between Spain and Portugal aimed at settling conflicts over lands newly discovered or explored by Christopher Columbus and other late 15th-century voyagers. No other European powers facing the Atlantic Ocean ever accepted this papal disposition or the subsequent agreement deriving from it. King John II of Portugal was dissatisfied because Portugal’s rights in the New World were insufficiently affirmed, and the Portuguese would not even have sufficient room at sea -
May 1, 1500
The new boundary enabled!!!
The new boundary enabled Portugal to claim the coast of Brazil after its discovery by Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500. To accommodate them, the Spanish-born pope Alexander VI issued bulls setting up a line of demarcation from pole to pole 100 leagues (about 320 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands. -
Jan 1, 1506
Meeting at Tordesillas
Meeting at Tordesillas, in northwestern Spain, Spanish and Portuguese ambassadors reaffirmed the papal division, but the line itself was moved to 370 leagues (1,185 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands, or about 46°30′ W of Greenwich. Pope Julius II finally sanctioned the change -
Apr 22, 1529
Treaty of Zaragoza
The other side of the world would be divided a few decades later by the Treaty of Saragossa, or Treaty of Zaragoza, signed on April 22, 1529, which specified the anti-meridian to the line of demarcation specified in the Treaty of Tordesillas. -
The lands east of the line
The lands east of the line were acknowledged to belong to Portugal; those west of the line were conceded to Spain. The Treaty of Tordesillas was abrogated in 1777. -
The Beginning
After reports of Columbus’s discoveries had reached them, the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella enlisted papal support for their claims to the New World in order to inhibit the Portuguese and other possible rival claimants.
