Age of Discovery and the New WorldPolitics and state
Treaty of Tordesillas
Castile and Portugal divided the world outside Europe along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands: lands to the west went to Castile, those to the east to Portugal.
- Date
- 7 June 1494exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Tordesillastoday: Tordesillas, Spain · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- Crown of Castile, Crown of Aragon, Kingdom of Portugal, Isabella I of Castile, Ferdinand II of Aragon, John II of Portugal
- Threads
- Age of Discovery and the New World, History of Portugal since the Battle of Aljubarrota
The treaty replaced the line of demarcation drawn by the papal bull Inter caetera (1493) and moved it far to the west. As a result, the eastern part of Brazil, not yet discovered, later became Portuguese. Castile ratified the agreement on 2 July, and Portugal on 5 September 1494.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- First voyage of Christopher Columbus3 August 1492 – 15 March 1493 · Western and Central Europedispute between Castile and Portugal over the new lands
Related events
- Discovery of Brazil by Cabral’s expedition22 April 1500 · Latin Americathe newly found coast lay east of the Tordesillas line
- Voyages of the Corte-Real brothers to Newfoundland1500–1502 · North AmericaManuel I hoped that the new lands lay east of the Tordesillas line
Same participants
- Founding of São Jorge da Mina (Elmina)January 1482 · Africavia John II of Portugal
- Voyage of Bartolomeu Dias around the southern tip of Africabetween July and August 1487 – December 1488 · Africavia Kingdom of Portugal
- Fall of Granada2 January 1492 · Western and Central Europevia Crown of Aragon
- Expulsion and forced conversion of the Jews of Portugal5 December 1496 – October 1497 · Western and Central Europevia Kingdom of Portugal
Adjacent events in the thread
- John Cabot’s voyage to North AmericaMay 1497 – 6 August 1497 · North America
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 5 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Sudebnik of 1497September 1497
- Construction of the Moscow Kremlin walls and towers1485–1495
Africa
- Askia Muhammad’s pilgrimage to Meccabetween 1495 and 1497 – between 1497 and 1498
South Asia
- Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut20 May 1498
North America
- John Cabot’s voyage to North AmericaMay 1497 – 6 August 1497
Latin America
- Columbus’s landfall on San Salvador12 October 1492