Page 197 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1498 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1492

Columbus’s discoveries that he claimed for Spain con- considered the best and readiest, provided the dis-
cerned Portugal’s king who feared enchroachment on tance shall be no greater than aforesaid. And all
lands considered to belong to Portugal. On 7 June lands, both islands and mainlands found and dis-
1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas, extracted below, par- covered already, or to be found and discovered here-
titioned the world between Spain and Portugal. after, by the said King of Portugal and by his vessels
on this side of the line and bound determined as
Whereas a certain controversy exists between the said
above, toward the east, in either north or south lati-
lords, their constituents, as to what lands, of all those
tude, on the eastern side of the said bound, provided
discovered in the ocean sea up to the present day, the
the said bound is not crossed, shall belong to, and
date of this treaty, pertain to each one of the said
remain in the possession of, and pertain forever to
parts respectively; therefore, for the sake of peace and
the said King of Portugal and his successors. And all
concord, and for the preservation of the relationship
other lands, both islands and mainlands, found or to
and love of the said King of Portugal for the said
be found hereafter, discovered or to be discovered
King and Queen of Castile, Aragon, etc., it being the
hereafter, which have been discovered or shall be dis-
pleasure of their Highnesses, they, their said repre-
covered by the said King and Queen of Castile,
sentatives, acting in their name and by virtue of their
Aragon, etc., and by their vessels on the western side
powers herein described, covenanted and agreed that
of the said bound, determined as above, after having
a boundary or straight line be determined and drawn
passed the said bound toward the west, in either its
north and south, from pole to pole, on the said
north or south latitude, shall belong to, and remain
ocean sea, from the Arctic to the Antarctic pole.This
in the possession of, and pertain forever to, the said
boundary or line shall be drawn straight, as afore-
King and Queen of Castile, Leon, etc., and to their
said, at a distance of three hundred and seventy
successors.
leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, being calcu-
Source: Davenport, F. (Ed.). (1917–1937). European treaties bearing on the history of the
lated by degrees, or by any other manner as may be United States and its dependencies (Vol. 4, p. 84).Washington DC: Carnegie Institution.
city in southern India) to two astonished Spanish- Albuquerque conquered Muslim Goa on the western
speaking Tunisians, “We have come to seek Christians coast of India to serve as the Portuguese capital, captured
and spices.” Although King Manuel I’s (1469–1521) the entrepôts (intermediary centers of trade and trans-
assumption of the title “Lord of the conquest, navigation, shipment) of the strait of Melaka on the Malay Peninsula
and commerce of Ethiopia, India, Arabia, and Persia” (1511) and the strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf
reflected ambitions more than realities, the monarchy (1515). Having secured these key straits, the Portuguese
would keep the title for centuries. expanded their maritime empire with a string of perma-
nent forts along the coasts of eastern Africa, India, and
Ceylon, which complemented the sizeable lands acquired
1505–1598: Constructing along the Zambezi River in Africa and in western India.
an Empire Portuguese victories came as much from their tenacity
A celebrated veteran of the wars against Islam, Francisco and superior firearms as from native rulers’ intramural
de Almeida (c. 1450–1510) left Lisbon, Portugal, in conflicts and disinclination toward lowly maritime
1505 to serve as India’s first viceroy. He wrested an battles.
incomplete dominance of Indian Ocean trade from the Lacking a relative military advantage in eastern Asia,
Arabs and Muslim Indians by defeating their combined the Portuguese reached commercial agreements with the
naval forces off Diu in western India in 1509.That year local authorities in Bengal and China. Although early
he gave up his office to a Crown-appointed governor, relations were troubled, through informal agreements
Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515). During his tenure worked out in the 1540s the Portuguese began to lease