Map of Mexico and Peru, showing the Aztec Empire and the Inca Empire. (print)

Map of Mexico and Peru, showing the Aztec Empire and the Inca Empire. Also shown is the black line down the right hand side of the map denoting The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494, which divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire (Crown of Castile), along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. That line of demarcation was about halfway between the Cape Verde islands (already Portuguese) and the islands visited by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage (claimed for Castile and Leon), named in the treaty as Cipangu and Antillia (Cuba and Hispaniola). This Treaty modified an earlier division proposed by Pope Alexander VI which was known as the Pope's Line. All territory west of it was given to Spain. From the book Outline of History by H.G. Wells, published 1920.