Treaty of Tordesillas

History

2022

We explain what the Treaty of Tordesillas was, its characteristics, causes and consequences. Also, when was it abolished and where is it preserved.

The Treaty of Tordesillas established the territories to be explored by Spain and Portugal in America.

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?

The Treaty of Tordesillas was a pact signed on June 7, 1494 between the Spanish crown (kings Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragon) and the Portuguese crown (king Juan II of Portugal), in order to establish limits to the zones of exploration and conquest that each kingdom would have in the so-called New World, that is, in the American continent. The name of the treaty comes from the town where it was signed, Tordesillas, located in the current province of Valladolid, in Spain.

The purpose of this treaty was to preserve the recently established peace between the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, after the signing of the Treaty of Alcáçovas in 1479 ended the War of the Castilian Succession (1474-1479). The situation between the two kingdoms was tense, due to the mutual competition for maritime control of the Atlantic and the African coasts, and the return in 1493 of Christopher Columbus's expedition of the New World revived the rivalry between the two kingdoms for control of the territories newly discovered.

The Treaty of Tordesillas, thus, established the bases for the distribution of the new territories, through an imaginary line drawn 370 leagues from the islands of Cape Verde, separating the areas of influence of both kingdoms and guaranteeing that neither would interfere in the colonial affairs of the other.

The treaty was successful in preventing confrontation between the Spanish and the Portuguese, although the latter violated it in a sustained manner by expanding the borders of their Brazilian colony to the west, under the pretext that using the instruments of the time, it was very difficult to set the meridians accurately. In addition, between 1580 and 1640 the treaty lost practical meaning, as the crowns of Spain and Portugal were in the hands of the same Spanish monarch of the House of Austria. Finally, it was abolished in 1750, with the signing of the Treaty of Madrid.

Characteristics of the Treaty of Tordesillas

The Treaty of Tordesillas takes its name from the Spanish city where it was signed.

The Treaty of Tordesillas was characterized by:

  • It was signed in 1494 in the Spanish town of Tordesillas, with the presence of the representatives of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns.
  • It guaranteed the distribution of the American lands, forcing both kingdoms to respect the assigned maritime routes, which went from the Cape of Good Hope to the New World, in the Portuguese case, and from the Spanish coasts to the Antilles, in the case of Spain.
  • It was a relatively successful treaty, although difficult to apply to the letter, which was in force until the signing of the Treaty of Madrid in 1750.
  • On the day of the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas, a fishing delimitation was also signed between Cape Bojador and the Río de Oro, and the limits of the Kingdom of Fez in the north of Africa.

Causes of the Treaty of Tordesillas

The signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas had the following causes:

  • The tense rivalry between the monarchies of Spain and Portugal, recently confronted during the War of Castilian Succession, and the ambition of both empires to expand to the west, over the lands newly discovered by Columbus. This forced to sign some type of agreement, to avoid new wars and clashes that weakened both kingdoms.
  • The separation of Columbus' caravels on their return to Europe, due to a storm in the Atlantic, caused the pint, commanded by Pinzón, arrived in Galicia before his companion, The girlwhere Columbus traveled. The latter docked in Lisbon after making a stopover on the Portuguese island of Santa María, in the Azores. There King John II questioned the sailors and learned all about the discovery of the New World, and immediately set out to claim possession of these lands.
  • The promulgation by Pope Alexander VI, a friend of the Spanish crown, of the so-called Alexandrian Bulls, in which he granted Spain the right of ownership over the lands and seas located 100 leagues west of the islands of the Azores and Cape Green, and threatened with excommunication those who entered those territories without Spanish permission. This infuriated the Portuguese monarch, since his kingdom was excluded from American colonization.
  • The difficulty in mapping and geographically measuring the new continent with the instruments of the time gave rise to inaccuracies and confusion. The King of Portugal, for example, was convinced that the islands recently discovered by Columbus in the New World were to the south of the Canary Islands and that, therefore, they legally belonged to him, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Alcáçovas. .

Terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas

The Treaty of Tordesillas had the purpose of delimiting and organizing the areas of colonial influence of each kingdom in the New World, and for this it established an imaginary line drawn from one pole to the other at 370 leagues to the west of the Cape Verde Islands. Spain had the right to explore and conquer everything to the west of that border, and the Portuguese had all the land to the east, with the addition that neither of the two kingdoms could send expeditions to the territory assigned to the other.

In addition, Spanish ships were granted freedom and security of transit through Portuguese waters when sailing to America, as long as they followed a straight line to their respective destinations. And finally, it was agreed, given that a new voyage of Columbus was already under way, that until June 20, 1494, Spain would have property rights over the lands and islands discovered between 250 and 370 leagues from Cape Verde, which was not happened because on the second voyage Columbus did not approach South America.

The treaty was signed in Tordesillas and ratified after 100 days by signature of the monarchs of each kingdom, and in its terms it was established that it would be sent for confirmation by the Holy See of Rome, since it altered the terms established in the Bulls Alexandrines. However, Pope Alexander VI never confirmed it, but his successor Julius II, in 1506, through the papal bull Ea quae pro bono pacis.

Consequences of the Treaty of Tordesillas

  • The Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal continued their expeditionary and colonial work in the New World without open military confrontation with each other. The new limits drawn allowed Portugal to explore and colonize the entire eastern coast of South America, establishing colonies there that would later give rise to Brazil.
  • The treaty established that the boundary line would be determined by a joint expedition that never took place. In addition, the terms of the treaty were so inaccurate in geographical matters, and the tools and concepts of the time were so little standardized, that each one interpreted it in his own way and convenience. This allowed the Portuguese to move the borders of their territory to the west over time, appealing to maps inaccurate or intentionally misrepresented.
  • The inaccuracies of the treaty, as well as its suspension during the years in which both crowns were unified, allowed the Portuguese expansion beyond the established limits and are the reason why the Brazilian territory is currently the largest in South America. .

Abolition of the Treaty of Tordesillas

The Treaty of Tordesillas was nullified in 1750, when the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Portugal signed the Treaty of Madrid instead. The treaties of Lisbon, Utrecht and the deed of sale granted in Zaragoza were also annulled with this new agreement.

However, the Treaty of Madrid was, in turn, annulled with the signing of the Treaty of El Pardo in 1761, in which the imaginary line of the Treaty of Tordesillas was reestablished. Finally, in 1777, said border line was definitively annulled with the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso.

The Treaty of Tordesillas today

The documents signed in the Treaty of Tordesillas reside today both in the Archivo General de Indias in Spain and in the Archivo Nacional de la Torre do Tombo in Portugal, and have been recognized by the unesco as part of Memory of the World Register.

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