Age of Discovery

===Westward and eastward exploration meet===
[[File:Pulau Maitara and Pulau Tidore from the Floridas Restaurant in Pulau Ternate (Ternate Island), The Moluccas (Maluku) (15182126636).jpg|thumb|View from [[Ternate]] to [[Tidore]] islands in [[Maluku Islands|Maluku]], where Portuguese eastward and Spanish westward explorations ultimately met and clashed between 1522 and 1529<ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Newitt 2005|Newitt 2005]], p. 104.</ref><ref>[[#Lach 1998|Lach 1998]], p. 1397</ref>]]
[[File:Saavedra-1527-1529.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Saavedra's failed attempts to find a return route from the Maluku to New Spain (Mexico) in 1529]]
Soon after Magellan's expedition, the Portuguese rushed to seize the surviving crew and built a fort in [[Ternate]].<ref name="ReferenceC"/> In 1525, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles I of Spain]] sent another expedition westward to colonize the [[Maluku Islands]], claiming that they were in his zone of the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]]. The fleet of seven ships and 450 men was led by [[García Jofre de Loaísa]] and included the most notable Spanish navigators: [[Juan Sebastián Elcano]] and Loaísa, who died then, and the young [[Andrés de Urdaneta]].

Near the [[Strait of Magellan]] one of the ships was pushed south by a storm, reaching 56° S, where they thought seeing "''earth's end''": so [[Cape Horn]] was crossed for the first time. The expedition reached the islands with great difficulty, docking at [[Tidore]].<ref name="ReferenceC"/> The conflict with the Portuguese established in nearby Ternate was inevitable, starting nearly a decade of skirmishes.<ref>[[#Lach 1998|Lach 1998]], p. 1397.</ref><ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], p. 375.</ref>

As there was not a set eastern limit to the Tordesillas line, both kingdoms organized meetings to resolve the issue. From 1524 to 1529, Portuguese and Spanish experts met at Badajoz-Elvas trying to find the exact location of the [[antimeridian]] of Tordesillas, which would divide the world into two equal hemispheres. Each crown appointed three [[astronomer]]s and [[Cartography|cartographers]], three [[Navigation|pilots]], and three [[mathematician]]s. [[Lopo Homem]], Portuguese cartographer and cosmographer was on the board, along with cartographer [[Diogo Ribeiro (cartographer)|Diogo Ribeiro]] of the Spanish delegation. The board met several times without reaching an agreement: the knowledge at that time was insufficient for an [[History of longitude|accurate calculation of longitude]], and each group gave the islands to its sovereign. The issue was settled only in 1529, after a long negotiation, with the signing of [[Treaty of Zaragoza]], that allocated the Maluku Islands to Portugal and the [[Philippines]] to Spain.<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], pp. 368, 473.</ref>

From 1525 to 1528, Portugal sent several expeditions around the Maluku Islands. [[Gomes de Sequeira]] and Diogo da Rocha were sent north by the governor of Ternate [[Jorge de Menezes]], being the first Europeans to reach the [[Caroline Islands]], which they named "Islands de Sequeira".<ref>[[#Galvano 1563|Galvano 1563]], p. 168</ref> In 1526, Jorge de Meneses docked on [[Biak]] and [[Waigeo]] islands, Papua New Guinea. Based on these explorations stands the [[theory of Portuguese discovery of Australia]], one among several competing theories about the early discovery of Australia, supported by Australian historian [[Kenneth McIntyre]], stating it was discovered by [[Cristóvão de Mendonça]] and Gomes de Sequeira.

In 1527, [[Hernán Cortés]] fitted out a fleet to find new lands in the "South Sea" (Pacific Ocean), asking his cousin [[Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón]] to take charge. On 31 October 1527, Saavedra sailed from [[New Spain]], crossing the Pacific and touring the north of [[New Guinea]], then named ''Isla de Oro''. In October 1528, one of the vessels reached the Maluku Islands. In his attempt to return to New Spain he was diverted by the northeast [[trade wind]]s, which threw him back, so he tried sailing back down, to the south. He returned to New Guinea and sailed northeast, where he sighted the [[Marshall Islands]] and the [[Admiralty Islands]], but again was surprised by the winds, which brought him a third time to the Moluccas. This westbound return route was hard to find, but was eventually discovered by [[Andrés de Urdaneta]] in 1565.<ref>[[#Fernandez-Armesto 2006|Fernandez-Armesto 2006]], p. 202.</ref>