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500 ANOS DA ASSINATURA DO TRATADO DE TORDESILHAS
PROF. ESTEVÃO C. DE REZENDE MARTINS Universidade de Brasília 500 YEARS OF THE SIGNATURE OF THE TREATY OF TORDESILLAS The Treaty of Tordesillas signed by Spain and Portugal on June7, 1494, fixed the criteria of partitioning the overseas lands discovered by Columbus and later by other navigators between the two countries. Previously, in 1493, Pope Alexander VI had already issued an edict defining a line from the North Pole to the South Pole (meridian) at 100 leagues from the "Cabo Verde" archipelago. Spain would have total domain over the lands west of the line and Portugal over those east of the line. No other nation could occupy territories already under possession of a Christian sovereign. It the imminence of diplomatic crises and threats of armed confrontation, negotiations were rapidly arranged during which the Spanish sovereigns Ferdinand Il and Isabella I succeed in having the edict "Inter coetera" issued (May 3-4, 1493). That edict recognized Castelas dominion over lands and islands discovered or to be discovered west of a meridian 100 leagues distance (about 320 maritime miles) west of "Cabo Verde" islands or of Azores. The geographic and political inaccuracies did not contribute to solve the pending discords between the Iberian Crowns. Therefore the sovereigns decided to convene diplomatic missions to Tordesillas, a small town at the river Douro margins, between Salamanca and Valladolid, northwest of Spain. Although maintaining the principle of the worlds division into two portions as established by the papal edict, Spanish and Portuguese traced the meridian farther west: 370 leagues (1184 miles) from "Cabo Verde" (between latitudes 48° and 49° west of Greenwich). The east portion would come to Castela and the west portion to Portugal. The papal ratification of this treaty, signed by Pope Julius Il, was to take place only in 1506, year of Columbus death. The Treaty of Tordesillas prevented a conflict between two Iberian nations and established the principle of free actions of conquest and exploration by those two countries over the reserved dominions. PROF. ESTEVÃO C. DE REZENDE MARTINS University of Brasilia
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2012 notice: Please note that most material on this site is copyrighted, if
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Copyright
2012 notice: Please note that most material on this site is copyrighted, if
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would like to use some pictures, contents of this site, please contact author
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For problems or questions and advertising regarding this Web site contact
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Last updated: 12/22/11.
Copyright
2012 notice: Please note that most material on this site is copyrighted, if
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would like to use some pictures, contents of this site, please contact author
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