The Treaty of Alcáçovas: How Portugal Kept Its Atlantic

The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History · Aug 23, 2026 · 11m · transcript

In 1479, Portugal and Spain signed the Treaty of Alcáçovas, a pact that quietly drew a line through the Atlantic and handed the Madeira, Azores, and Cape Verde islands to Portugal while leaving the Canaries to Castile. This episode digs into the messy politics behind the treaty: the War of Castilian Succession, the marriage of Afonso V's daughter to Isabella's son, and the papal bulls that tried to bless the deal. We explore how the treaty shaped the race for the New World, why Portugal's crown used it to claim Brazil decades later, and how the line was redrawn at Tordesillas…