Let’s never forget the Decree of the Pope in 1496 in which he divided up the New World between Spain and Portugal by his Line of Demarcation. The English colonists, of course, didn’t get the memo. To the Vatican, the English Protestants have been usurpers on the soil of America and violators of its sacred bull —
Yeah! Wasn't this how Brazil became Portuguese....and the rest of South America became Spanish? The Pope, thinking the majority of the land would go to Portugal, because at that point no one knew how extensive the continents really were.
Evidently, the Portuguese were held in very high esteem. When you look at it in retrospect it would appear the Spanish were the ones actually held in high esteem!