Question

In 1493, Pope Alexander VI settled the conflict between Spain and Portugal about their rights to claim the lands they encountered during their explorations. Explain why the pope settled the argument, how he settled the matter, and the terms of the settlement

Answer 1

Answer:

In 1493, Pope Alexander VI settled the conflict between Spain and Portugal about their rights to claim the lands they encountered during their explorations through the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Explanation:

The Treaty of Tordesillas was an agreement between Spain and Portugal dated 7 June 1494, which divided the world outside Europe. The treaty defined a south-north divide line extending approximately 1,800 kilometers west of the Cape Verde Islands. Spain received the western areas of the dividing line, while Portugal received all the eastern areas.  

In practice, the Treaty of Tordesillas led Portugal to gain access to areas in Africa and Asia, and eastern Brazil. Portugal accidentally caught Brazil because, at the time of the conclusion of the agreement, it was not known that America would extend east of the agreed line. With the exception of the eastern part of Brazil, Spain remained the whole of America. However, the fact that France and England were not involved in the negotiation process reduced the significance of the agreement.

Answer 2

The Portuguese King found out that Spain was sponsoring trips to the new world and me became very angry. Then, the King sent a threatening letter to the Catholic Monarchs and in those, he stated that by the Treaty of Alcáçovas, which was signed in 1479 and confirmed in 1481 with the papal bull Æterni regis, all lands at the south of the Canary Islands were granted to Portugal. Which caused them to go to the Pope, which then created a line to divide the new lands between those two countries, in a way to avoid a war that the Spanish most likely would lose.

In the end, Portugual was not pleased with the division, mostly because it prevented them to conquer India witch was a goal pursued by them for a long time. So they went to the Catholic Monarchs to renegotiate directly the position of the line. The treaty of Tordesillas was the diplomatic solution found by the Catholic Monarchs. Curiously, even though the treaty and the resulting line was negotiated without consulting the Pope, some sources call the division the "Papal Line of Demarcation".