Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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Treaty of Tordesillas
Inscribed 2007
What is it
The agreement signed by the monarchs of Portugal and
Spain to divide between them the newly discovered lands
of the New World.
Why was it inscribed
The treaty marked officially the start of the Portuguese
and Spanish presence on the American continent, and
established their zones of jurisdiction there and in the
lands beyond.
Where is it
Arquivo Nactional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon, Portugal;
Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain
The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed on 7 June 1494
between King John II of Portugal and the Spanish Catholic
Monarchs King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella
I of Castile. Under its terms, the world was divided into
two zones of demarcation along a meridian running
pole to pole at a point 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde
Islands. Portugal was allowed to claim everything to the
east of the zone and Spain everything to the west.
The treaty was prompted by Christopher Columbus’s
return from the New World the previous year. Portugal
had been one of the foremost maritime powers
in the 15th century and the Portuguese suspected
that Columbus’s discoveries lay within their zone of
influence as agreed under the Treaty of Alcáçovas of
1479–80: that treaty had given Portugal exclusive rights to
156 Treaty of Tordesillas
navigate, discover and trade in the Atlantic south of the
Canary Islands.
In 1493 talks began between the Castilian and Portuguese
crowns, with the pope weighing in on the Spanish side.
Complex diplomatic negotiations between ambassadors
and barristers from both kingdoms concluded with the
Treaty of Tordesillas, signed at the small town of that
name near the Spanish border with Portugal.
In the years that followed the treaty, the Portuguese and
Spanish discoveries resulted in Iberian hegemony over a
large part of the world’s surface and their sovereignty over
the Atlantic Ocean led to the discovery of new sea routes,
giving access to other lands. The empires both nations
built up after 1494 were largely on either side of the line
of demarcation, which lay roughly 1770 km west of the
Cape Verde Islands, or 46° 37´ W.
For Spain, it allowed the conquest of the Americas; for
Portugal, new lands in Africa and Asia to the south and east
brought them access to the valuable spice trade. Crucially,
the line of demarcation fell across the American continent
at what would become Brazil.
The repercussions of the treaty would be felt up to the
18th century when questions about borders between the
Portuguese and Spanish colonies in South America led
to the modification of the demarcation line. This change
set the Brazilian borders much further to the west and
signified the revocation of the treaty.
� The Portuguese royal seal and the treaty King John II of Portugal �