In 1493, Pope Alexander VI drew a line on the map that extended from north to south proclaiming that all land east of the line belonged to Spain, all land west of it to Portugal.

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Pope Alexander VI issued the Inter caetera bull in 1493, which granted Spain all lands to the west and south of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde islands. However, it was the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 that moved this line to 370 leagues west of Cape Verde, dividing the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and Spain along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. This effectively gave lands east of the line to Portugal and lands west of the line to Spain.

In 1493, Pope Alexander VI Drew a Line on the Map