Neptune's Needle

Pope from 1492 to his death in 1503, the Spanish-born Alexander VI in a series of papal bulls divided the world along a meridian west of Canaries in mid-Atlantic conferring on Spain exploratory rights to the west of it (e.g., where Columbus had been), all such rights to Portugal to the east of it (e.g., Africa, South Asia.Line later moved westward inmdirection more favorable to the Portuguese in the bilateral Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). Basis for Portuguese claim to Brazil when Pedro Cabral happened upon it in 1500.

Sources

Images

Public Domain Source

Compiler

Peter Richards