Inter caetera
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Inter Caetera was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, to stop fights between Spain and Portugal over territories in the New World. The document established a meridian 100 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands. Lands west of that line should belong to Spain, and those on the east, to Portugal.
The division, however, was unequal. Spain heavily influenced the Bull, which excluded Portugal from America (Alexander VI was of Spanish origin himself). The reasoning behind the Bull's favoring of Spain was a reward for that nation's service to the Roman Catholic Church. The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) was a necessary followup. It moved the north-south line further west, allowing Portuguese claims to Brazil.
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