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Very Early Spanish Exploration
Perhaps as a move to stem the fighting, the Treaty of Tordesillas, drawn in 1494, split the world into two parts. A line, 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands was declared and all of the world to be explored east of the line was given to Portugal; everything west of the line was given to Spain.
Bartholomew Diaz reached the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Storms, renamed by King Joao, the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. Vasco Da Gama rounded the cape in 1497 and opened the Indian Ocean to trade; other expeditions by Da Gama, Almeida and Albuquerque led to control of the lucrative spice trade with the east by 1515. Columbus was followed by Almagro (Chile), Pizarro (Peru), Quesada (Colombia), Magellan and Cortes.
Magellan sailed with Almeida to the Far East and later commanded a caravel on a reconnaissance of the Spice Islands; like Columbus, he became convinced that the est could be reached by sailing west. Unable to interest the King of Portugal, he went to Spain and in 1519 sailed west for the Spice Island. Magellan crossed through the strait in Patagonia which bears his name and reached the Far East and the Spice Islands; his successor brought the ship, "Victoria" home after the his death. That voyage was the first circumnavigation of the world.
The exhibit continues with an account of exploration in the American Southwest.