In short
On June 7, 1494, Spain and Portugal signed a treaty in the small town of Tordesillas that carved up the entire non-European world between them. A single line drawn 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands became the boundary—everything west went to Spain, everything east to Portugal. It was colonial empire-building by geometry, and it reshaped the global order for centuries.
How it unfolded.
The five-minute version
What actually happened.
The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. That line of demarcation was about halfway between Cape Verde and the islands visited by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage, thought then to be Cipangu and Antillia, but in fact Cuba and Hispaniola; the treaty itself does not mention Cipangu or Antillia.
As it was happening
11 voices, 13340 days.
One beat at a time. Click any dot on the timeline to jump, press play for autoplay, or use the arrow keys to step.
Columbus reaches the Caribbean
Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Bahamas, triggering European competition for non-European territories.
Voices from this moment (1)
Columbus reaches the Caribbean
Oct 12
“Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Bahamas,…”
As it was happening
11 voices, 13340 days.
Day 0 · October 12, 1492
Columbus reaches the Caribbean
Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Bahamas, triggering European competition for non-European territories.
“Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Bahamas,…”
- Columbus reaches the Caribbean, Oct 12
Day 204 · May 4, 1493
Pope Alexander VI issues Inter Caetera
Papal bull grants Spain dominion over lands west of a meridian 100 leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands, sparking Portuguese objections.
“Papal bull grants Spain dominion over lands west of a…”
- Pope Alexander VI issues Inter Caetera, May 4
Day 603 · June 7, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas signed
Spain and Portugal agree to move the dividing meridian westward to 370 leagues west of Cape Verde, accommodating Portuguese concerns about Atlantic access.
“Spain gains the greater portion of the unknown world to the…”
- Synthesized from period accounts - Royal proclamation and treaty ratification documents, Jun 7
“We divide the discovered and undiscovered lands outside…”
- Synthesized from period accounts - Bull Inter Caetera and related papal correspondence, Jun 7
“By moving the meridian further west, Portugal preserves her…”
- Synthesized from period accounts - Portuguese royal correspondence and treaty negotiations, Jun 7
“The treaty secures Portugal's mastery of the African route…”
- Synthesized from period accounts - Navigator's correspondence and memoirs, Jul 15
“The Spanish believe they have won the greater prize, but…”
- Synthesized from period accounts - Merchant correspondence networks, Aug 1
“Spain and Portugal agree to move the dividing meridian…”
- Treaty of Tordesillas signed, Jun 7
Day 693 · September 5, 1494
Treaty ratified in Portugal
Portugal formally ratifies the treaty in Setúbal, making the division binding between the two powers.
“Portugal formally ratifies the treaty in Setúbal, making…”
- Treaty ratified in Portugal, Sep 5
Day 2748 · April 22, 1500
Pedro Álvares Cabral reaches Brazil
Portuguese navigator reaches the Brazilian coast, claiming it for Portugal under Tordesillas boundaries—a landfall that would define colonial South America.
“Portuguese navigator reaches the Brazilian coast, claiming…”
- Pedro Álvares Cabral reaches Brazil, Apr 22
Day 13340 · April 22, 1529
Treaty of Zaragoza adjusts Pacific boundary
Spain and Portugal renegotiate the meridian's eastern equivalent in the Pacific to resolve disputes over the Moluccas (Spice Islands).
“Spain and Portugal renegotiate the meridian's eastern…”
- Treaty of Zaragoza adjusts Pacific boundary, Apr 22
Captured in time.
Captured before it changed
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Sources & citations.
Sources
Where this came from.
Every claim on this page traces to a public, license-clean source. We don't asterisk well.
Wikipedia
1 source- 1.Treaty of Tordesillas
en.wikipedia.org