They Knew: The Secret That Stole a Continent

Описание: In the summer of 1494, diplomats from Spain and Portugal met in a small, dusty town to commit one of the most arrogant acts in human history. With a single stroke of a pen on a map they barely understood, the Treaty of Tordesillas sliced the planet in half, granting ownership of entire undiscovered continents to two kings who had never seen them. This was not a treaty of peace, but a conspiracy to monopolize the globe.

This documentary explores the diplomatic nightmare triggered by Christopher Columbus’s return and the secret negotiations that followed. We investigate the corruption of the Borgia Pope, Alexander VI, whose Papal Bulls ignited a cold war between the maritime superpowers. Beyond the politics, we uncover the enduring mystery of the "Brazil Anomaly"—analyzing why Portugal fought so hard to push the demarcation line west, raising the question of whether they had discovered South America long before history records.

From the impossible science of enforcing a line on water to the defiance of rival nations that sparked the Golden Age of Piracy, this is the story of how an invisible border shaped the modern geopolitical landscape. It is a lesson in the fragility of power and the hubris of empires that attempted to lock the world away in a vault, only to find the world was too vast to be contained.

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#history #treatyoftordesillas #ageofdiscovery #documentary #worldhistory #colonialism #cartography #spanishempire #portugueseempire #brazilhistory #popealexandervi #historicalgeography #maritimehistory #medievalhistory #thronedust

Sources & References:

Roger Crowley – Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire

J.H. Parry – The Age of Reconnaissance: Discovery, Exploration and Settlement, 1450-1650

C.R. Boxer – The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415-1825

Hugh Thomas – Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan

Jerry Brotton – A History of the World in 12 Maps

UNESCO Memory of the World Register – The Treaty of Tordesillas

Lyle N. McAlister – Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1492-1700

H. Vander Linden – Alexander VI and the Demarcation of the Maritime and Colonial Domains of Spain and Portugal