1494: How a Family Feud in Medieval Spain Divided the World in Half
Ever wonder how the inhabitants of Brazil came to speak Portuguese? The answer to that question can be found in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, where in an effort to stave off a war for global hegemony, Pope Alexander VI divided the New World between the Spanish and the Portuguese. With the advent of the Protestant Reformation, however, France, England, and the Dutch Republic employed a combination of legal argument and piracy to end the Iberian mercantile monopoly. In this popular account spanning the Age of Exploration, Brown (Merchant Kings, 2009) argues that Alexander’s line of demarcation, sanctioned by God and backed by the threat of excommunication, was “part politics, part sound decision, and part disaster waiting to happen.” Brown incorporates a sprawling cast of characters, including Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus, Magellan, Sir Francis Drake, and members of the ostentatious Borgia clan, into what is both a judicious synthesis of the surrounding scholarship and an entertaining look at the evolution of international law on the high seas. In lieu of earth-shattering revelations, Brown provides general readers and fans of the period with a work meant for pure enjoyment. --Brian Odom