Tordesillas in the context of "Treaty of Tordesillas"

⭐ In the context of the Treaty of Tordesillas, what was the primary function of the established demarcation line?

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⭐ Core Definition: Tordesillas

Tordesillas (Spanish pronunciation: [toɾðeˈsiʎas]) is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain. It is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 m (2,310 ft). The population was c. 8,760 as of 2021.

The town is located on the Douro River although the river is not navigable at that point. Highways connect to Madrid (182 km (113 mi) southeast) and Salamanca (96 km (60 mi) southwest). The provincial capital Valladolid is also linked by four-lane highway. Because of its important highway connections Tordesillas has become a major transit hub. The economy is based on services—especially connected to tourism—and the agricultural production of the surrounding area. Wheat has long been the traditional agricultural product (see Cuisine of the province of Valladolid).

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👉 Tordesillas in the context of Treaty of Tordesillas

The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian 370 leagues or 2,100 kilometres (1,300 mi) west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. That line of demarcation was about halfway between Cape Verde (already Portuguese) and the islands visited by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage (claimed for Castile and León), named in the treaty as Cipangu and Antillia (Cuba and Hispaniola).

The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Castile, modifying an earlier bull by Pope Alexander VI. The treaty was created on 7 June 1494, then ratified by Spain on 2 July 1494, by Portugal on 5 September 1494, and by Pope Julius II on 24 January 1506. The other side of the world was divided a few decades later by the Treaty of Zaragoza, signed on 22 April 1529, which specified the antimeridian to the line of demarcation specified in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Portugal and Spain largely respected the treaties, while the Indigenous peoples of the Americas did not acknowledge them.

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Tordesillas in the context of Joanna of Castile

Joanna of Castile (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), historically known as Joanna the Mad (Spanish: Juana la Loca), was the nominal queen of Castile from 1504 and queen of Aragon from 1516 to her death in 1555. She was the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Joanna was married by arrangement to the Austrian archduke Philip the Handsome on 20 October 1496. Following the deaths of her elder brother John, elder sister Isabella, and nephew Miguel between 1497 and 1500, Joanna became the heir presumptive to the crowns of Castile and Aragon. When her mother died in 1504, she became queen of Castile. Her father proclaimed himself governor and administrator of Castile.

In 1506, Joanna's husband Philip became king of Castile jure uxoris as Philip I, initiating the rule of the Habsburgs in the Spanish kingdoms. Philip died that same year. Despite being the ruling queen of Castile, Joanna had little effect on national policy during her reign as she was declared insane and confined in the Royal Palace in Tordesillas under the orders of her father, who ruled as regent until his death in 1516, when she inherited his kingdom as well. Her son Charles I became king, and during his reign Joanna was nominally co-monarch but remained confined until her death. Joanna died aged 75 in 1555, at which point her son Charles, the Holy Roman Emperor, became the sole ruler of Castile and Aragon.

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Tordesillas in the context of Royal Palace of Tordesillas

The Palace of Tordesillas (Spanish: Palacio Real de Tordesillas) is a former royal residence in Tordesillas, Spain. It was here that queen Joanna of Castile, while nominally reigning, after being declared insane, was confined in 1506 until her death in 1555. The palace was demolished in the 18th century.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Treaty of Tordesillas ← Joanna of Castile ← Royal Palace of Tordesillas
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Municipalities of Spain → Province of Valladolid → Castile and León → Spain → Valladolid → Douro → Madrid → Salamanca → Cuisine of the province of Valladolid →