The Treaty of Tordesillas Divides the World
Spain and Portugal draw a line across the Atlantic and claim everything on either side belongs to one crown or the other
Quick facts
- Parties
- Crown of Castile and Kingdom of Portugal
- Line location
- 370 leagues west of Cape Verde
- Signed
- 7 June 1494, Tordesillas, Spain
- Consequence
- Brazil fell to Portugal; rest of the Americas to Spain
What happened
Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas to settle competing claims after Columbus's voyage, drawing a north-south line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. Lands to the west of the line went to Spain; lands to the east went to Portugal. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Castile agreed the treaty with King John II of Portugal; Spain ratified it on 2 July 1494 and Portugal on 5 September 1494, with papal confirmation following in 1506. Neither crown consulted the people already living in the Americas, Africa, or Asia whose land the line ran through.
Why it matters
The line gave Portugal the future territory of Brazil, since the eastern bulge of South America fell on Portugal's side, and gave Spain claim to the rest of the Americas it was actively colonizing. The treaty shaped the linguistic and colonial map of Latin America for the next five centuries: Portuguese in Brazil, Spanish nearly everywhere else.
How we know
The World History Encyclopedia's entry on the treaty and a digitized copy of the treaty text hosted by the Gilder Lehrman Institute both record the line's location and the ratification dates by Spain, Portugal, and the papacy.
Sources
- Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Treaty between Spain and Portugal, concluded at Tordesillas · Primary source (author-declared)gilderlehrman.org · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match).
- EBSCO Research Starters. Treaty of Tordesillas · General sourceebsco.com · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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