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Treaty of Tordesillas
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Map of the Atlantic Ocean region showing the two vertical lines of demarcation established by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1493 and 1494. The lines run north to south, dividing the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal, with one line east of South America and the other closer to the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. Surrounding continents, including North and South America, Europe, and Africa, are labeled for reference.
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Map of the Atlantic Ocean region showing the two vertical lines of demarcation established by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1493 and 1494. The lines run north to south, dividing the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal, with one line east of South America and the other closer to the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. Surrounding continents, including North and South America, Europe, and Africa, are labeled for reference.
Treaty of Tordesillas Map showing the line of demarcation between Spanish and Portuguese territory, as first defined by Pope Alexander VI (1493) and later revised by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). Spain won control of lands discovered west of the line, while Portugal gained rights to new lands to the east.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Spain-Portugal [1494]
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History

Treaty of Tordesillas, (June 7, 1494), agreement between Spain and Portugal aimed at settling conflicts over lands newly discovered or explored by Christopher Columbus and other late 15th-century voyagers. In 1493, after reports of Columbus’s discoveries had reached them, the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella enlisted papal support for their claims to the New World in order to inhibit the Portuguese and other possible rival claimants. To accommodate them, the Spanish-born pope Alexander VI issued...

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