AHC: Portugal and Spain divide the New World along the line of Alcocovas

raharris1973

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The treaty of Alcacovas in 1479 said that within Africa and the Atlantic, Portugal would have the claim to any islands or lands discovered or conquered south of the latitude of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic and Africa, while Castille/Spain would have the claim to any lands newly discovered in the Atlantic or conquered in Africa from the Canary islands on north.

Thus it divided the non-European world between a Portuguese south and a Spanish north.

After the voyage and return of Columbus and in the Treaties of Tordesillas of the 1490s, this was switched around in such a way that Spain would have claim to everything west of the treaty line while Portugal would have claim to anything east of the treaty line.

Thus the combined impact of Columbus' voyage and Tordesillas was to turn the line of the treaty of alcacovas on its side.

But what if the line of the earlier treaty was retained, so that even in the America, Portugal had claim to everything south of a line while Spain had claim to the north.

Strictly speaking, if extended to the west from Africa, the Alcacovas line would slice through south Florida, south Texas and northern Mexico. However, a slight southward adjustment, tying the line to the Tropic of Cancer, would leave all of Texas and Florida in the Spanish zone.

How could things end up divided this way?
 
With that line, Spain gets utterly screwed out of so much great land to exploit in South America. All they have is Mexico and the Caribbean. And Portugal now has a lot of land they need to find a way to exploit, i.e. conquistadors.

This seems like something which needs to be a fait accompli situation. Portugal conquers nowadays Colombia and Venezuela and perhaps the Inca if they can, their empire in the Americas isn't only oriented toward Brazil. Otherwise, Spain will not accept this and push for something more "fair". Since outside of Mexico and the Caribbean, there is so little worth noting aside from the dying civilisation (mix of drought and European disease) which de Soto uncovers, unless de Soto happens to find the gold which the Indians cleverly hid from him. Even then, there isn't much Spain could get. Maybe Spain could push for more rights in Asia? But that almost reverses the trajectories of the two states, and seems contrary to what Portugal wanted. Otherwise, you'll have to find a way for Portugal to agree to something which totally favours them over Spain.

I've always thought for a hyper-Portuguese empire (Portugal punched far, far above their weight OTL, and 19th century onward Portugal is closer to what you'd expect they might've ended up as), you'd need Galicia to come under the Portuguese crown, and 14th century civil wars in Castile could have ended up with the King of Portugal becoming King of Galicia. Not quite like incorporating Galicia into Portugal (though that might've come later and be predictably met with violence), but it would've certainly helped.
 

raharris1973

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All they have is Mexico and the Caribbean

Actually, it's worse than that, with the dividing line at the Tropic of Cancer, or a few degrees north, most of the Caribbean is Portuguese with the Bahamas as the lone exception, and the entire Aztec realm is in the Portuguese zone, with Spain only having the claim to more arid northern Mexico.

Spain could only get satisfaction from exploiting fish, fur, and cash crops like tobacco and sugar, with this last only in a few select places.

Another option if things are not resolved along the lines of Tordesillas would be that the Alcacovas line is "flipped" in the case of the American landmasses. After Columbus's early voyages are found to have mainly "cheated" by exploring and claiming "Portuguese" latitudes, Portugal gets the reverse side, the area *north* of the Tropic of Cancer in the Americas only, in addition to recognition of supremacy in Asia, in compensation for Spain's violation of the Alcacovas deal.
 
Wouldn't the reverse be likelier, say giving Portugal everything North of the line, and Spain everything South of it?
 
Wouldn't the reverse be likelier, say giving Portugal everything North of the line, and Spain everything South of it?

The point of the treaty was Castile forfeiting any rights to sail down the coast of Africa in exchange for Portugal renouncing any claims over the Canaries, so no.

At most, there could be a post-Columbus revision that extends the line a bit south, much like the OTL line was extended west from the Bull Intercaetera, but still north of Cape Verde.
 

raharris1973

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Wiki's account of the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Tordesillas implies Portuguese naval superiority in the Atlantic in the 1490s, even if Spain had more and better infantry and cavalry:

"After learning of the Castilian-sponsored voyage, the Portuguese King sent a threatening letter to the Catholic Monarchs stating that by the Alcaçovas Treaty signed in 1479 and confirmed In 1481 with the papal bull Æterni regis, that granted all lands south of the Canary Islands to Portugal, all of the lands discovered by Columbus belonged, in fact, to Portugal. Also, the Portuguese King stated that he was already making arrangements for a fleet (an armada led by Francisco de Almeida) to depart shortly and take possession of the new lands. After reading the letter the Catholic Monarchs knew they did not have any military power in the Atlantic to match the Portuguese, so they pursued a diplomatic way out."​
 

raharris1973

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Wouldn't the reverse be likelier, say giving Portugal everything North of the line, and Spain everything South of it?

I would agree it is not the most likely, as it would be the opposite of the Alcacovas arrangement and have little continuity with it.

On the other hand, I would not place it outside the realm of possibility. The Tordesillas line of OTL almost literally turned the Alcacovas line *sideways* after all.

In such a scenario, I could see Portuguese Florida through Labrador having a string of fishing colonies. The Portuguese would not invest much in them, but compounding over time they could grow quite alot by natural increase and immigration.

Meanwhile, Spain, in everything south of the Tropic of Cancer has its areas of historic dominance and can make some of the initial forays into Brazil.

While proximity and the convenience that provides, plus the search for a northwest passage, could motivate strong French and English efforts in north America, for as long as Portugal is *not* in an Iberian Union, geostrategic and balance of power concerns could well keep them focused on the Caribbean and South America instead. English Brazil could expand into La Plata and keep constant pressure on Chile.

Perhaps the Dutch could get in on that action. On the other hand, if the Portuguese end up as part of a union and there is a Dutch Revolt, the Dutch could chomp off bits of North America too. [Although Portuguese might be as well positioned or better positioned than in Brazil to drive them out].
 
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