14947 June 1494 · Tordesillas

Treaty of Tordesillas

The stone and brick Casas del Tratado in Tordesillas, where the 1494 treaty was agreed — Photo: Txo. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Two years after Columbus's first voyage, envoys of Castile and Portugal met in the Castilian town of Tordesillas and agreed a line from pole to pole, 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. Newly found lands west of it would go to Castile and those to the east to Portugal. The deal ignored everyone who already lived there, and it is why Brazil speaks Portuguese.

Colonial & Imperial History
Political History
Maritime History
Madrid, Spain

Sites

Site 1: Casas del Tratado (Treaty Museum)The riverside houses where, by tradition, the treaty was negotiated and signed.Map ↗
Site 2: Royal Monastery of Santa ClaraMudéjar palace-convent where Queen Joanna of Castile was confined for 46 years.Map ↗