4
May 1493 A.D. Pope
Alexander in the Map Business: Draws Maps for Spain & Portugal
Christianty.com carries the
story at: http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/alexanders-line-sounded-good-on-paper-11629898.html
At the Spanish court, smiles
creased the faces of almost everyone except the Portuguese Ambassador as Pope
Alexander's letter was read. "Alexander, bishop, servant of the servants
of God, to the illustrious sovereigns, our very dear son in Christ, Ferdinand,
king, and our very dear daughter in Christ, Isabella, Queen of Castile, Leon,
Aragon, Sicily, and Granada..."
The letter (technically called a
bull) drew a line between the colonies of Spain and Portugal. The pope declared
that this would advance the cause of Christ. "Among other works well
pleasing to the Divine Majesty and cherished of our heart, this assuredly ranks
highest, that in our times especially the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere
increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous
nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself...
"We have indeed learned that
you, who for a long time had intended to seek out and discover certain islands
and mainlands remote and unknown and not hitherto discovered by others, to the
end that you might bring to the worship of our Redeemer and the profession of
the Catholic faith their residents and inhabitants..."
Why was this extraordinary document
written? In the fifteenth century, Portuguese sailors found their way around
Africa to India. The little nation grew rich on trade in spices and other
oriental products. Columbus persuaded Ferdinand and Isabella that the world was
round and that India could be reached just as easily by sailing West. Spain
soon found an empire in the West. In this way the two nations got the jump on
the rest of Europe in exploring and colonizing the world and profiting on its
rich resources. However, their claims soon clashed. Who could settle their
differences?
Both nations were Catholic. Both
considered the Pope the final authority. Popes had already decided questions of
territorial conflict between them. Portugal and Spain accepted it when on this
day, May 4, 1493, Pope Alexander VI issued his bull. A Spaniard himself, his
ruling favored Spain.
The pope's line ran from the
arctic pole to the Antarctic pole one-hundred leagues west of the Azores and
Cape Verde Islands. Anything to the west of that line belonged to Spain.
Anything to the east, belonged to Portugal. The exception was if any other
Christian king or power already held lands within those areas by Christmas day,
1493.
Alexander has been harshly
criticized for this bull. For instance, it treated the people of America and
Asia as if their governments were of no account. Since he was one of the most
wicked Renaissance popes, everything he did is viewed with suspicion. However,
in this instance, he seems to have been honestly trying to keep the peace.
Bibliography
1. Brusher, Joseph. Popes Through
the Ages. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1959.
2. Davenport,Frances Gardiner.
European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and its
Dependencies to 1648. Washington, D.C Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1917
at http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/indig-inter-caetera.html
3. De Rosa, Peter. Vicars of Christ;
the dark side of the papacy. Crown, 1988.
4. Loughlin, James F. "Pope
Alexander VI" The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
5. Montor, Artaud de. The Lives and
Times of the Popes. New York: The Catholic publication society of America, 1910
- 11.
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