Supervised by Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI; the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 divided the world in half鈥攊nto Spanish and Portuguese territories.

Following Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama's success in discovering a sea route around Africa to India in 1498; King Manuel I commissioned Pedro Alvares Cabral to lead a second voyage of 13 ships and 1;500 men to India. Although he intended to stay close to the west coast of Africa; Cabral sailed far off course and accidentally chanced upon the coast of South America.

According to the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494; any land falling within 370 leagues [2.060 km] west of the Cape Verde Islands was to belong to Portugal; whereas any land discovered west of this meridian would be Spanish territory; as decreed by Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI. The coastline of Brazil therefore fell within the Portuguese sphere of influence and was colonized by Manuel I.

However; following Portugal's discovery of the Spice Islands of the Moluccas in 1512; Spain contested the line of demarcation. The issue was never fully settled; but the Treaty of Zaragoza in 1529 attempted to resolve the matter by setting the 鈥榓ntemeridian' as 17 degrees to the east of the Moluccas; thus preventing the Spanish from claiming the Spice Islands.