Latest / The Rise of Colonialism: How Europe Divided the World — Fexingo History / The Treaty of Tordesillas: How a Papal Bull Divided the World
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about how Spain and Portugal built their empires on the ground — encomiendas, mitas, cartazes. But before any of that, they had to decide who got which piece of the world. And the way they did it was astonishingly simple: draw a line on a map. Luna: A line? Like, just a line? Lucas: Pretty much. In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas — Tratado de Tordesillas in Spanish — established a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. Everything east of that line went to Portugal; everything west went to Spain. But that line was the result of years of negotiation, and a pope's intervention. Lucas: It all started with Pope Alexander VI — a Spanish-born pope, Rodrigo Borgia. In 1493, a year after Columbus's first voyage, he issued a series of papal bulls, the most famous being Inter Caetera, which granted Spain all lands discovered west of a line drawn 100 leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde. Portugal was not happy. Luna: I bet they weren't. They had their own explorations going on down the African coast. Lucas: Exactly. King João II of Portugal — João II de Portugal — protested vigorously. He argued that the pope's line cut off Portugal's route to India around Africa. So the two kingdoms sat down in the Spanish town of Tordesillas and hammered out a new agreement. They moved the line 270 leagues further west, to 370 leagues west of Cape Verde. That shift is crucial — it's what later gave Portugal a claim to Brazil. Lucas: Because when Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on the coast of Brazil in 1500, that territory fell east of the Tordesillas line — so it belonged to Portugal. Some historians think the Portuguese already knew Brazil was there, or at least suspected it, and that's why they pushed for the line to be moved. It's a tantalizing theory, though we don't have solid proof. Luna: So the line was based on guesswork about where land actually was. Lucas: Completely. No one knew the exact geography of the Atlantic. The line was defined in leagues, not degrees of longitude, and measuring longitude at sea was still a huge problem. So in practice, the treaty was more of a political declaration than a precise boundary. Both sides violated it constantly — especially when they reached the Spice Islands, the Moluccas. Lucas: That's where the Treaty of Zaragoza — Tratado de Zaragoza — comes in. In 1529, after Magellan's crew had sailed around the world and claimed the Moluccas for Spain, Portugal and Spain signed another treaty, this time drawing a line in the Pacific, east of the Moluccas. Spain got the Philippines, Portugal got the Spice Islands. But again, enforcement was a mess. Luna: So the whole idea of dividing the world with a line was kind of a fantasy. Lucas: In a way, yes. But the fantasy had real consequences. The Treaty of Tordesillas shaped the colonial boundaries of South America — modern Brazil's massive size is a direct result of that line. It also set a precedent: European powers could claim vast territories with just a signature and a papal blessing. And it locked Portugal and Spain into competition that would last centuries. Luna: It also meant that other European powers were effectively told 'stay out' — which they completely ignored. Lucas: Absolutely. The English, French, and Dutch never accepted the papal division. They saw the New World as open for grabs, which led to centuries of conflict. So the Treaty of Tordesillas was both a landmark of diplomatic ambition and a complete failure in practice. Lucas: If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep the show going, and we really appreciate it. Luna: Yeah, it's what lets us dig into these stories without any commercial breaks. So thanks to anyone who chips in. Lucas: Back to the treaty — one of the most fascinating footnotes is that the line itself was almost impossible to enforce. Ships couldn't determine their longitude accurately, so captains basically guessed whether they were east or west of the line. The treaty relied on good faith, and in the age of exploration, good faith was in short supply. Luna: So how did they resolve disputes when someone crossed the line? Lucas: Often through negotiation or outright war. But the treaty did create a framework for dialogue. It's one of the first examples of European powers trying to peacefully divide the non-European world. Of course, 'peacefully' from their perspective — the people already living on those lands had no say. Lucas: The Treaty of Tordesillas remained in effect, at least officially, until 1750, when the Treaty of Madrid replaced it. By then, the colonial map had changed beyond recognition. But the line drawn in 1494 echoes even today, in the languages and cultures of the Americas. Luna: It's incredible that something so arbitrary could have such lasting effects. Lucas: It really is. And it's a reminder that colonialism wasn't just about conquest and exploitation — it was also about paperwork, diplomacy, and lines on a map. Those lines, as artificial as they were, shaped the world we live in.