Latest / The Rise of Colonialism: How Europe Divided the World — Fexingo History / The Treaty of Tordesillas: How Spain and Portugal Divided the World
Transcript
- Lucas: So, before we get into today's episode, just a quick reminder that if you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, this show exists because of listeners who chip in through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small group, but that support is what keeps us ad-free and lets us dig into these stories. Okay, back to it. Luna: Yeah, it's great that people help keep this going. Lucas: Alright, so today we're talking about the Treaty of Tordesillas — that 1494 agreement where Spain and Portugal basically drew a line down the Atlantic and said 'this side is yours, that side is ours.' It's one of those foundational documents of colonialism, but the story behind it is a lot messier and more interesting than just a line on a map. Luna: I've heard of it, but I never really understood how they decided where to draw the line. Lucas: Right, so it all starts with Columbus. When he returned from his first voyage in 1493, he claimed he had reached Asia — though of course he hadn't. But the Portuguese had been working their way around Africa for decades, and they had a papal monopoly on trade with non-Christian lands south of Cape Bojador. Suddenly Spain had a rival claim, and both sides wanted to avoid war. So they turned to the Pope, Alexander VI, who was Spanish — Rodrigo Borgia, actually — and he issued a series of papal bulls. The most famous one is Inter Caetera, in May 1493, which granted Spain all lands west and south of a line drawn one hundred leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde. Luna: Wait, so the Pope just gave them the rights to entire continents? Lucas: That's exactly what happened. The medieval doctrine of papal plenitude of power meant the Pope claimed authority to dispose of non-Christian lands. The Portuguese were furious. King John II — João II — felt the line was too far east. He threatened to send a fleet to assert his claims. So Spain agreed to negotiate, and the result was the Treaty of Tordesillas, signed on June 7, 1494. The new line was set 370 leagues west of Cape Verde — much further west than the papal line. Luna: That seems like a huge concession from Spain. Why did they agree? Lucas: Great question. The Spanish crown — Isabella and Ferdinand — were eager to secure peace and focus on consolidating their new realms. They also didn't fully understand the geography yet. But the Portuguese had better cartographic knowledge. They suspected — or perhaps knew — that pushing the line west would give them a foothold in South America. And indeed, that's exactly what happened. When Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in Brazil in 1500, it fell east of the line, so Portugal claimed it. Luna: So the treaty basically gave Portugal Brazil even before they knew it existed? Lucas: That's the fascinating part. The line was drawn in complete ignorance of the actual shape of the continents. And the treaty only applied to the Atlantic. When Europeans reached the Pacific, a new dispute arose — over the Moluccas, the Spice Islands. That led to the Treaty of Zaragoza in 1529, which we covered in episode 83. But the Tordesillas line itself was remarkably durable. It was reaffirmed by later popes and even by the Portuguese and Spanish crowns for centuries, though it was never enforceable in practice. Other European powers simply ignored it. Luna: Did anyone actually try to enforce it? Lucas: The Spanish and Portuguese did patrol their claimed waters, but the line was impossible to survey with the technology of the time. There were endless disputes about where exactly Cape Verde was, or how long a league should be. And the treaty said nothing about lands already held by other Christian princes — so for example, the Portuguese didn't accept that it applied to their African outposts. It was really more of a political compromise than a functional boundary. Luna: It's amazing that such a vague agreement shaped so much of world history. Lucas: Absolutely. It set the precedent for dividing the non-European world between two powers, and it influenced later colonial boundaries. But it also sparked debates about the legitimacy of papal authority over non-Christian peoples — debates that would echo through the Valladolid controversy and the writings of Francisco de Vitoria. So in a way, the Treaty of Tordesillas is not just a line on a map; it's a document that raises fundamental questions about conquest, property, and human rights. Luna: I never thought of it that way. Thanks for unpacking it. Lucas: My pleasure. And if you want to dive deeper, we've got episodes on the Treaty of Zaragoza and the Requerimiento that tie right into this.