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Inter caetera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Inter caetera ("Among other [works]") was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, which granted to Spain (the Crowns of Castile and Aragon) all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-of-pole line 100 leagues (418 km) west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands.[1]
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Columbus' arrival to supposedly Asiatic lands in the western seas in 1492 threatened the unstable relations between Portugal and Spain, which had been jockeying for position and possession of colonial territories along the African coast for many years. The King of Portugal asserted that the discovery was within the bounds set forth in the papal bulls of 1455, 1456, and 1479.[citation needed] The King and Queen of Spain disputed this and sought a new papal bull on the subject. Pope Alexander VI, a native of Valencia and a friend of the Spanish King, responded with three bulls, dated May 3 and 4, which were highly favorable to Spain. The third of these bulls was Inter caetera.
This bull was silent regarding whether lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal, which had only recently reached the southern tip of Africa (1488) and had not yet reached India (1498). These lands were "to be discovered" beyond those along the west coast of Africa as far as Guinea that were given to Portugal via the 1481 bull Aeterni regis, which had ratified the Treaty of Alcaçovas. Moreover, in the bull Dudum siquidem dated September 25, 1493 entitled Extension of the Apostolic Grant and Donation of the Indies, the Pope granted to Spain even those lands in eastern waters that "at one time or even yet belonged to India."[2] This nullification of Portugal's aspirations led to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal, which moved the line further west to 40°W.[3]
Initially, the division line did not explicitly extend around the globe. Spain and Portugal could pass each other toward the west or east, respectively, on the other side of the globe and still possess whatever they were first to discover. In response to Portugal's discovery of the Spice Islands in 1512, the Spanish put forward the idea, in 1518, that Pope Alexander had divided the world into two halves.[4] The antipodal line in the eastern hemisphere was then established by the Treaty of Saragossa (1529) near 145°E.
Inter caetera states: "... we (the Papacy) command you (Spain) ... to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and residents and dwellers therein in the Catholic faith, and train them in good morals." This papal command marked the beginning of colonization and Catholic Missions in the New World. An important, if initially unintended, effect of the combination of this papal bull and the Treaty of Tordesillas was that nearly all the Pacific Ocean, and the west coast of North America were given to Spain, which used them for example, to make claims to British Columbia and Alaska as lands bordering the Pacific Ocean, as late as 1819, until the Adams-Onís Treaty.
 The Cantino planisphere of 1502 shows the line of the Treaty of Tordesillas. |
 An anachronous map showing areas pertaining to the Spanish Empire at various times over a period exceeding 400 years. For detailed key click on map. Red marks the Spanish colonial empire at its territorial height in 1790. |
 Maximum extent of Portuguese colonial possessions in the 16th century. |
- ^ A single meridian is excluded because no lands can be south of it. Two partial meridians are possible, one extending north from a point west of the Azores and another extending south from a point south of the Cape Verde Islands, the two being connected by a north-northwest south-southeast line segment. Another possibility is a rhumb line west and south of the islands extending north-northeast and south-southeast. All rhumb lines reach both poles by spiralling into them.
- ^ Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson, "Preface to Volume I", The Philippine Islands 1493-1803.
- ^ Measured west of the longitude of the westernmost cape of the westernmost island, Santo Antão, 25°21.5'W, using the Spanish league of 4.18 km at a latitude of 17°2.5'N (coordinates from Terraserver) (1° of longitude = (111.320 + 0.373sin²φ)cosφ km, where φ is latitude), rounded to the nearest degree to simulate fifteenth century accuracy.
- ^ Edward Gaylord Bourne, "Historical Introduction", in The Philippine Islands 1493-1803 by Emma Helen Blair.
- Portuguese Empire
- Spanish Empire
- History of the west coast of North America
- Et cetera, a Latin phrase meaning "and others".
