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GCSE History · key term
The 1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal that divided their overseas claims using a north–south line through the Atlantic, with Spanish claims to the west and Portuguese claims to the east.
Used by Edexcel
Paper 2
Revise: Columbus Reaches the AmericasThe Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in 1494, moved the dividing line farther west than the pope’s earlier boundary. Spain was allocated claims to the west of the new line and Portugal to the east.
For consequence questions, link an event to what changed: Columbus’s discoveries challenged Portuguese claims, leading to negotiations and the Treaty of Tordesillas.
Use 1492 for Columbus’s first arrival in the Americas and 1494 for the Treaty of Tordesillas.
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