The Pope rules the land.

Originally posted by marcopolo
the Pope gave these rights in 1494 by signing the Treaty(which you would have known if you had read it properly), Protestantism (in its earliest form) didnt come into place until 1521,

Is it not still???

I dont get what your saying there mate, what do you mean "had nothing to do with it", so what had Spain and Portugal to do with it

France & England refused explicitly any access to the new land

Since France hadn't explored any of south america, it had nothing to do with it.

Are you asking, why was explicitly denied, while, say, the netherlands or the german states or Venice weren't explicitly named?

There were also the libraries and learning centers associated with the Medici family and others.

some factors may have been
the almost 100 year "captivity" of the papacy in france following the trials of the templars.

The "reformation" may well have started as early as 1370 in england with Strawe,

Originally posted by marcopolo

There were also the libraries and learning centers associated with the Medici family and others.

Okay, I undertsand that they were influencial but they were Italian, so why would they favour the Spanish/Portugese.

actually Venetian as I recall. But the point is this, the knowledge and information was passed back and forth across the Pyrenees into Southern France. and more specifically the Lorraine and/ or Languedoc. The House of Lorraine
on several occasions came close to overthrowing the Capatian monarchs of France.
Finally becomming aligned with the Hapsburgs of Germany or more specifically for the time The Holy Roman Empire. This area and Alsace during this period wasa
constant battle ground between france and Germany ( my own family came from this area when it was German) There are some that would say that this constant
strugle carried on to a termination with the 30 yrs war and Fredrick Elector Palatine who was a leader in cabalistic , Hermetic , and Alchemical studies.[/b

some factors may have been
the almost 100 year "captivity" of the papacy in france following the trials of the templars.

Sorry I am very unclear of what that meant

, could you clarify please

for almost 100 years the papacy was resident in france. from the time of Phillipe le Bel on. During this time the majority of the Cardinals were French as were the popes that were elected. As I recall during this period only 1 pope even visited rome. Many historians call this period the "Papal Captivity".

The "reformation" may well have started as early as 1370 in england with Strawe,

Do you mean the uprising of Protestantism?....I am still unclear about this also

Originally posted by marcopolo
First of all,

Since France hadn't explored any of south america, it had nothing to do with it.

Neither had Spain or Portugal.

Are you asking, why was explicitly denied, while, say, the netherlands or the german states or Venice weren't explicitly named?

I get what your saying there

, but the fact that France and England were explicitly refused suggests that their was something going on.


------

I dont have a theory though I dont understand why the Pope specifically refused these countries the chance to expand?, If it was because Spain was the superpower of the day then I still dont get it ?, Who is the Pope to say (without being ignorant or cheeky) whether expanding countries such as France & England are allowed to explore or not, My only theory without getting carried away would be that their was some sort of corruption or favourability towards Spain/Portugal.

Ok, well Spain and Portugal did discover and explore South America actually? Where do you see otherwise?