User blog:Callumthered/Portuguese Australia?

Okay. Here is a possible TL that I think has real potential.

In 1522, a small Portuguese fleet under the command of Cristovai de Mendonca was sent to the Spice Islands to intercept Ferdinand Magellan. The reason for the interception wad the 1492 Treaty of Tordesillas. It divided the non-Christian world in half, one half for Portugal, and the other for Spain. Evidence suggests that Medonca, in his search for Magellan, sailed down the Eastern Australian coast before turning back when one of his ships was lost.

The evidence:

Maps: The original records of de Medonca's voyage were kept in the Casa de India, which was destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. However, copies of the maps survived. The coastline of the continent called Java le Grande is remarkably similar to that of Eastern Australia.

Political change: The discoveries of de Medonca were clearly in the Spanish half of the world. In 1529, the Portuguese paid Spain 350 000 ducats to move the line 17 degrees east, placing the entirety of Java le Grande within the Portuguese half of the world.

So, assuming that the Portuguese DID discover the Eastern coast of Australia, the main question the TL would ask would be: What if the Portuguese colonised Australia in the 1500s?

Please leave any feedback or ideas.