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The Pope once divided half the world between Spain and Portugal

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

Armed with absolutely zero cartographic knowledge, the Pope just casually drew a completely arbitrary line down the middle of a map of the globe, legally giving half the undiscovered world to the Spanish crown and the other half to the Portuguese. It was the ultimate display of divine geopolitical arrogance over land they hadn't even seen.

The Pope once divided half the world between Spain and Portugal
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