An unusual agreement for that era was signed in 1494 between Spain and Portugal - the Tordesillas Treaty. It was an international agreement on the rights to new lands, discovered by Christopher Columbus. To understand the essence of the Tordesillas Treaty, it is necessary to consider the events preceding it.
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At the end of the 15th century, Portugal and Castile were independent states, but their royal houses were closely connected by ties of kinship and common political interests. This connection was interrupted in 1469, when Princess Isabella, the heiress of the Castilian throne, became engaged to her cousin Ferdinand, who later inherited the crown of the kingdom of Aragon. The combination of crowned persons laid the foundation for the state of Spain.
This alliance played a significant role in the political arena, making a significant advantage in the direction of Aragon. And now the question was, how will relations between Portugal, Castile and Aragon develop in the future?
Battle for the throne
As it turned out, the king of Portugal also had his views on Isabella, and more precisely on the throne of Castile. He agreed in advance with the half-brother of Princess Enrique IV, and when they did not succeed, he takes his daughter as his wife. Together they are trying to deprive Isabella of the right to succession to the throne. But the princess was able to fight back. In 1471, a bloody war broke out for the Castilian inheritance, which lasted 8 years.
In 1479, the royal couple Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the Portuguese king Afonso V at the battles of Thoreau and Albuer. And in the village of Alkasovas, a convention was signed establishing the rules of relations between Castile and Portugal.
Alkasovas Agreement
Although the long-awaited peace reigned, the discussion of the problems of succession to the throne will continue in the spirit of further overseas expansion. Queen Isabella believed that the Atlantic was always a win-win means of pressure on Portugal. The signed pact was the forerunner of the Tordesillas Treaty and significantly contributed to the strengthening of the young state of Spain.
Negotiations led to the fact that Portugal withdrew all claims to Castile. She, in turn, almost lost her supremacy at sea, leaving only the Canary Islands. The Pope blesses the agreement of the two states and assigns to Portugal all the lands located south of the Canary Islands.
At the same time, the western direction was not documented in any way and was deprived of attention from both sides. It is this omission that will necessitate the Tordesillas Treaty of 1494.
Discoveries of Christopher Columbus
Being a stubborn and ambitious person, he almost threatened the Alkasovas agreement by making revolutionary geographical discoveries.
Thanks to his father-in-law, Columbus had access to copyrighted sea charts, which dealt with lands located west of Europe. His grandiose plan has ripened: to pave the way to India through the Atlantic Ocean, without bypassing Africa. With his plan, he turns to the Portuguese king Juan II and fails, his arguments are taken for imagination and sent back.
After 7 years, Columbus met in Spain with the confessor of Queen Isabella, who subsequently was able to influence the decision of the monarchs. And in 1492, the navigator signs an agreement with the Spanish crown, having received 3 ships at his disposal. On May 28, he left Palos harbor, and already on October 12 he landed on the island of Gwanagani and proclaimed the land the property of Spain. Then followed the discovery of Cuba and Haiti.
On the way back to Spain, the ships of travelers fall into a big storm. As a result, the caravel of Columbus entered the Portuguese harbor. The navigator decides to pay his respects to the Portuguese monarch, although there is an opinion that he simply wanted to boast of his discovery. At the audience, the king asked him questions, trying to understand where Columbus was and whether he had violated the Alkasovas agreement with Spain. His discoveries aroused the interest and suspicion of Joan II. And he equips the fleet to control the route to the west of the Atlantic Ocean, and also sends his agents to the Spanish court.
New realities
Although the Alcazovas Pact created all the conditions for the hegemony of Portugal, the discoveries of Columbus make a significant gap in this agreement. Portugal began to make claims on open land. In response, the Spanish king is trying to gain international support. He immediately turns to the Pope for help, who was the absolute authority and authority of the time. In April 1493, Alexander VI issued a series of letters confirming the rights of Spain to new lands, which were thought to be in India.
The Spaniards come to understand that in connection with the new reality, it is necessary to work out a new agreement specifying the division of overseas lands.
Line of the Tordesillas Treaty
Columbus proposed drawing a line from the north pole to the south, which would pass through the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde. Everything west of the line should belong to Spain. Thus, the navigator pushed Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as the pope, to a new division of the world. The pontiff takes this proposal into account in his bulls (messages), but does not indicate a specific meridian, which leads to confusion.
Both the royal couple of Spain and the king of Portugal understood that the orders of the pope exacerbated the situation. They decide to proceed to direct negotiations without touching his bull.
In September 1493, Columbus again sent to open lands to draw up an accurate map of their location. She would allow to continue negotiations with Joan II. Manipulating the data, Columbus stated that, moving west, he did not cross the dividing line established by the Alkasovas Treaty and was above it.
After receiving the exact map, the Spaniards continued to negotiate.
Divided the world into two
Interested parties tried to avoid a military conflict and used all kinds of diplomatic and intelligence channels. After all, it was a question of lands about which no one really knew anything.
The negotiation process involving the two embassies continued for 15 months. In parallel with the question of the division of the Atlantic Ocean, political issues of the succession of Portugal were discussed, where Isabella and Ferdinand pursued their interests.
Finally, having met in the Spanish town of Tordesillas, delegations concluded a number of agreements. And on June 7, 1494, the Tordesillas Treaty was signed, dividing the Atlantic Ocean and part of the land into spheres of influence.
It was not easy to reach agreements; there was always a military threat. What is the Tordesillas Treaty, and what are the consequences of its conclusion? With its help, it was possible to maintain peace for almost two centuries. It was designed in such a way that it perfectly solved the problems that existed then.
Why was it necessary to supplement the Tordesillas Treaty?
When the seemingly contentious issues were resolved, passions still boiled. The monarchs of both states diligently collected all kinds of information about the naval campaigns of the opposing side. They also agreed to send a joint scientific commission so that its participants could see how the dividing line goes. But science and technology of that time did not have such opportunities.
Since it was impossible to determine the exact border, in the following years the Tordesillas Treaty was interpreted in different ways. At the beginning of the XVI century, this develops into a new problem. And with a view to resolving it after the expeditions of Fernand Magellan (when new information and knowledge appeared), the Zaragoza treaty will be concluded.