ABSTRACT
The discovery appeared accidental, but to the Portuguese it was one more sign of their nation's divine mission to expand overseas. For over a century since 1385 the relatively tiny kingdom of Portugal under the ruling House of A vis had been actively involved in organizing voyages of discovery and exploration. Interest in the wider world reflected the country's geographical position bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The resulting sea-going tradition of the people of the coast was reinforced by contemporary improvements in cartography and navigational techniques and especially the development of the caravel, a sailing ship that combined stability on the high seas with the capacity to carry large cargoes of merchandise. In addition, the Portuguese monarchy, of which Prince Henrique 'the Navigator' was a prominent member, gave enthusiastic backing to merchants in their schemes to circumvent the traditional land passage across Europe and Asia and discover a new
Portuguese overseas expansion was copied by its larger and more powerful neighbor, the Kingdom of Castile, which sponsored the celebrated expedition organized by Christopher Columbus that discovered the Indies in 149 2. The success of Columbus raised the question of ownership of the previously unknown territories and those still to be discovered in what Europeans would refer to as the 'New World.' In 1493 Pope Alexander VI sought to resolve the issue by drawing a line running from the north to the south about 100 leagues ( 1, 700 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands. In return for an undertaking from the monarchs of Spain and Portugal to spread Christianity, the pope stated that the lands to the west of the line belonged to Spain while those to the east were the exclusive possession of Portugal. King Joao II of Portugal, however, did not agree with the division, alleging that the pope had been too sympathetic to Spain. In June 1494 Portugal and Spain signed the Treaty of Tordesillas that was more acceptable to Portugal because it moved the pope's line to 370 leagues west of the Cape Verdes. No other European rulers were consulted in the arrangement. In effect, the two kingdoms were unilaterally dividing the New World between themselves.
