(June 7, 1494) Agreement between Spain and Portugal aimed at settling conflicts over lands explored by voyagers of the late 15th century.
In 1493 Pope Alexander VI had granted Spain all the lands west of a line 100 leagues (about 320 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands, in return for an agreement to Christianize the peoples of the New World; Portuguese expeditions were to keep to the east. At Tordesillas (a village in Spain), ambassadors from Spain and Portugal moved that line west, thereby allowing Portugal to claim Brazil when it was discovered in 1500.