Inter caetera
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The meridian to the right was defined by Inter caetera, the one to the left by the Treaty of Tordesillas. The location of modern cities is for purposes of illustration only.
The meridian to the right was defined by Inter caetera, the one to the left by the Treaty of Tordesillas. The location of modern cities is for purposes of illustration only.

Inter caetera ("Among other [works]") was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493, which granted to Spain (the Crowns of Castile and Aragon) all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-of-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands, granting all lands to the east and south of that line to Portugal.[1] This bull and other similar to it made up the Bulls of Donation.

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Background

Columbus' arrival to supposedly Asiatic lands in the western seas in 1492 threatened the unstable relations between Portugal and Spain, which had been jockeying for position and possession of colonial territories along the African coast for many years. The King of Portugal asserted that the discovery was within the bounds set forth in the papal bulls of 1455, 1456, and 1479.citation needed The King and Queen of Spain disputed this and sought a new papal bull on the subject. Pope Alexander VI, a native of Valencia and a friend of the Spanish King, responded with three bulls, dated 3 May and 4 May, which were highly favorable to Spain. The third of these bulls was Inter caetera. The monarchs of England and France did not recognise this division.

Provisions

This bull was silent regarding whether lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal, which had only recently reached the southern tip of Africa (1488) and had not yet reached India (1498). These lands were "to be discovered" beyond those along the west coast of Africa as far as Guinea that were given to Portugal via the 1481 bull Aeterni regis, which had ratified the Treaty of Alcáçovas. Moreover, in the bull Dudum siquidem dated 25 September 1493 and entitled Extension of the Apostolic Grant and Donation of the Indies, the Pope granted to Spain even those lands in eastern waters that "at one time or even yet belonged to India".[2]

The Cantino planisphere of 1502 shows the line of the Treaty of Tordesillas.
The Cantino planisphere of 1502 shows the line of the Treaty of Tordesillas.

This nullification of Portugal's aspirations led to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal, which moved the line further west to a meridian 370 leagues west of the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands, now explicitly giving Portugal all newly discovered lands east of the line.[3] Initially, the Tordesillas line did not encircle the globe. Spain and Portugal could pass each other toward the west or east, respectively, on the other side of the globe and still possess whatever lands they were first to discover. In response to Portugal's discovery of the Spice Islands in 1512, the Spanish put forward the idea, in 1518, that Pope Alexander had divided the world into two halves.[4] The Treaty of Saragossa (1529) settled the dispute by placing the antipodal line 17° east of the Moluccas.

Inter caetera states: "...we (the Papacy) command you (Spain) ... to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and residents and dwellers therein in the Catholic faith, and train them in good morals." This papal command marked the beginning of colonization and Catholic Missions in the New World. An important if initially unintended effect of the combination of this papal bull and the Treaty of Tordesillas was that nearly all the Pacific Ocean and the west coast of North America were given to Spain. Consistent with these ancient claims, Spain made claims to British Columbia and Alaska as late as 1819 because they bordered the Pacific Ocean. The Adams-Onís Treaty resolved this by settling the border between Spain and the United States, limiting Spain's northward expansion to the 42nd parallel, south of Oregon.

A map of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the period of their personal union (1581–1640)Red/Pink – Spanish EmpireBlue / Light Blue – Portuguese EmpireAreas explored & claimed by the Spanish, but unsettled, (i.e. Amazon basin) are not shown.
A map of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the period of their personal union (1581–1640)
Red/Pink – Spanish Empire
Blue / Light Blue – Portuguese Empire
Areas explored & claimed by the Spanish, but unsettled, (i.e. Amazon basin) are not shown.

See also

References

  1. ^ A single meridian is excluded because no lands can be south of it. Two partial meridians are possible, one extending north from a point west of the Azores and another extending south from a point south of the Cape Verde Islands, the two being connected by a north-northwest south-southeast line segment. Another possibility is a rhumb line west and south of the islands extending north-northwest and south-southeast. All rhumb lines reach both poles by spiraling into them.
  2. ^ Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson, "Preface to Volume I", The Philippine Islands 1493-1803.
  3. ^ The Treaty of Tordesillas did not specify any longitude, thus writers have proposed several, beginning with Jaime Ferrer's 1495 opinion provided at the request of and to the Spanish king and queen.
  4. ^ Edward Gaylord Bourne, "Historical Introduction", in The Philippine Islands 1493-1803 by Emma Helen Blair.

External links


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