Background
Columbus' arrival in supposedly Asiatic lands in the western Atlantic Ocean in 1492 threatened the unstable relations between Portugal and Spain, which had been competing for power and possession of colonial territories along the African coast for many years. The King of Portugal asserted that the discovery was within the bounds set forth in the papal bulls of 1452 (Dum diversas), 1455 (Romanus Pontifex), 1456 (Inter caetera, not to be confused with the 1493 bull of the same name), 1481 (Aeterni regis), and 1484. The King and Queen of Spain recognized the authority of these papal bulls and initiated diplomatic discussions over the rights to possess and govern the newly found lands. Spanish and Portuguese delegates met and debated from April to November 1493, without reaching an agreement. At the same time Spain urged Pope Alexander VI, a Spaniard native of Valencia and a friend of the Spanish King, to issue a new bull favorable to Spain. The Pope did so, issuing four edicts dated 3 and 4 May 1493. The third superseded the first two, and the fourth, titled Inter caetera, superseded the third. A fifth edict, Dudum siquidem of 26 September 1493, supplemented the Inter caetera.
The Inter caetera and the following Treaty of Tordesillas defined and delineated a zone of Spanish rights exclusive of Portugal. In relation to other states the agreement was legally ineffective (res inter alios acta). Spain's attempts to persuade other European powers on the legal validity of the Inter caetera were never successful.
Read more about this topic: Inter Caetera
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