Claims of Spain
The claims of Spain dated back nearly 300 years to the papal bull of 1494 which, along with 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 interpreted it in the widest possible sense, deducing that it gave them full sovereignty. Other European powers did not recognize the Inter caetera, and even Spain and Portugal only adhered to it when it was useful and convenient. Britain's claims to the region were dated back to the voyage of Sir Francis Drake in 1579, and also by right of prior discovery by Captain James Cook in 1778, although the Spanish had explored and claimed the region in 1774, under Juan Pérez, and in 1775, under Bruno de Heceta and Bodega y Quadra.
Read more about this topic: Nootka Convention
Famous quotes containing the words claims and/or spain:
“In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“Heroic ages are not and never were sentimental and those daring conquistadores who conquered entire worlds for their Spain or Portugal received lamentably little thanks from their kings.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)