becoming to all men, but especially to kings, princes, and great lords, who have the power to do it, and it is their peculiar privilege to honour and exalt those who serve them well and faithfully, and whose virtues and services deserve it; and in rewarding good deeds the kings who do so show that they are discerners of virtue and likewise administrators of justice, for justice does not consist only in the exemplary punishment of evil-doers, but also in rewarding the good. And moreover another great utility arises therefrom, for it incites the good to become more virtuous and the wicked to amend themselves, and when this course is not pursued the contrary might happen. And since among the other rewards and remunerations which kings can bestow upon those who serve them well and faithfully they can honour and elevate them among the others of their family, and ennoble, decorate, and honour them, and confer many other benefits, graces, and favours upon them : Therefore, considering and taking into account all that is aforesaid, we desire that by this our patent of privilege, or by the transcript thereof signed by a public scrivener, all who now are and shall be from henceforth may know that we Don Ferdinand and Donna Isabella, by the grace of God King and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Sicily, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Majorca, Seville, Sardinia, Corsica, Murcia, Jaen, Algarbe, Algeciras, Gibraltar, and the Canary Islands; Count and Countess of Barcelona; Lords of Biscay and Molina, Dukes of Athens and Neopatria; Counts of Roussillon and Cerdagne, Marquises of Oristano and Goziano, have seen a patent of grace, signed with our names and sealed with our seal, made in this manner: Don Ferdinand and Donna Isabella, by the grace of God King and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Sicily, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Majorca, Seville, Sardinia, Cordova, Corsica, Murcia, Jaen, Algarbe, Algeciras, Gibraltar, and the Canary Islands; Count and Countess of Barcelona; Lords of Biscay and Molina; Dukes of Athens and Neopatria, Counts of Roussillon and Cerdagne, Marquises of Oristano and Goziano; Forasmuch as you, Christopher Columbus, are going by our command, with some of our ships and with our subjects, to discover and acquire certain islands and mainland in the ocean, and it is hoped that, by the help of God, some of the said islands and mainland in the said ocean will be discovered and acquired by your pains and industry; and therefore it is a just and reasonable thing that since you incur the said danger for our service you should be rewarded for it, and as we

desire to honour and favour you on account of what is aforesaid, it is our will and pleasure that you, the said Christopher Columbus, after you have discovered and acquired the said islands and mainland in the said ocean, or any of them whatsoever, shall be our Admiral of the said islands and mainland which you may thus discover and acquire, and shall be our Admiral and Viceroy and Governor therein, and shall be empowered from that time forward to call and entitle yourself Don Christopher Columbus, and that your sons and successors in the said office and charge may likewise entitle and call themselves Don, and Admiral and Viceroy and Governor thereof; and that you may have power to use and exercise the said office of Admiral, together with the said office of Viceroy and Governor of the said islands and mainland which you may thus discover and acquire, by yourself or by your lieutenants, and to hear and determine all the suits and causes civil and criminal appertaining to the said office of Admiralty, Viceroy, and Governor according as you shall find by law, and as the Admirals of our kingdoms are accustomed to use and exercise it; and may have power to punish and chastise delinquents, and exercise the said offices of Admiralty, Viceroy, and Governor, you and your said lieutenants, in all that concerns and appertains to the said offices and to each of them; and that you shall have and levy the fees and salaries annexed, belonging and appertaining to the said offices and to each of them, according as our High Admiral in the Admiralty of our kingdoms levies and is accustomed to levy them. And by this our patent, or by the transcript thereof signed by a public scrivener, we command Prince Don Juan, our very dear and well beloved son, and the Infantes, dukes, prelates, marquises, counts, masters of orders, priors, commanders, and members of our Council, and auditors of our chamber, alcaldes, and other justices whomsoever of our household, court, and chancery, and sub-commanders, governors of castles and fortified and unfortified houses, and all councillors, assistants, governors, alcaldes, bailiffs, judges, veinticuatros, jurats, knights, esquires, officers, and liege men of all the cities, towns, and places of our kingdoms and dominions, and of those which you may conquer and acquire, and the captains, masters, mates, officers, mariners, and seamen, our natural subjects who now are or hereafter shall be, and each and any of them, that upon the said islands and mainland in the said ocean being discovered and acquired by you, and the oath and formality requisite in such case having been

made and done by you or by him who may have your procuration, they shall have and hold you from thenceforth for the whole of your life, and your son and successor after you, and successor after successor for ever and ever, as our Admiral of the said ocean, and as Viceroy and Governor of the said islands and mainland, which you, the said Don Christopher Columbus, may discover and acquire; and they shall treat with you, and with your said lieutenants whom you may place in the said offices of Admiral, Viceroy, and Governor, about everything appertaining thereto, and shall pay and cause to be paid to you the salary, dues and other things annexed and appertaining to the said offices, and shall observe and cause to be observed towards you all the honours, graces, favours, liberties, pre-eminences, prerogatives, exemptions, immunities, and all other things, and each of them, which in virtue of the said offices of Admiral, Viceroy, and Governor you shall be entitled to have and enjoy, and which ought to be observed towards you in every respect fully and completely so that nothing may be diminished therefrom; and that neither therein nor in any part thereof shall they place or consent to place hindrance or obstacle against you; for we by this our patent from now henceforth grant to you the said offices of Admiralty, Viceroy, and Governor by right of inheritance for ever and ever, and we give you actual and prospective possession thereof, and of each of them, and power and authority to use and exercise it, and to collect the dues and salaries annexed and appertaining to them and to each of them, according to what is aforesaid. Concerning all that is aforesaid, if it should be necessary and you should require it of them, we command our chancellor and notaries and the other officers who are at the board of our seals to give, deliver, pass, and seal for you our patent of privileges with the circle of signatures, in the strongest, firmest, and most sufficient manner that you may request and may find needful, and neither one nor the other of you or them shall do contrary hereto in any manner, under penalty of our displeasure and of ten thousand maravedis to our chamber, upon every one who shall do to the contrary. And further we command the man who shall show them this our patent, to cite them to appear before us in our court, wheresoever we may be, within fifteen days from the day of citation, under the said penalty, under which we command every public scrivener who may be summoned for this purpose, to give to the person who shall show it to him a certificate thereof signed with his signature, whereby

we may know in what manner our command is executed. Given in our city of Granada, on the thirtieth day of the month of April, in the year of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand four hundred and ninety-two. I the King. I the Queen. I, John de Coloma, Secretary of the King and of the Queen, our Lords, caused this to be written by their command. Granted in form, Roderick, Doctor. Registered, Sebastian Dolano. Francis de Madrid, Chancellor.

11. THE PORT OF PALOS ORDERED TO SUPPLY COLUMBUS WITH CERTAIN SHIPS

[Granada, April 30, 1492. John Boyd Thacher, Christopher Columbus... (1903), I, 466-467. Reprinted by permission of the publishers, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London.]

"The little port of Palos," explained Thacher, "had rendered itself liable to punishment for some disobedience or failure to comply with the will of the Government, and the sentence of keeping two vessels in readiness to serve the Sovereigns for twelve months at the expense of the town had been passed by the Royal Council. The ships were to be provided at the expense of the town, but the cost and maintenance of those who went in them were chargeable to the Crown. . . ." These two vessels were to be turned over to Columbus for use on his voyage, as will be revealed in the following royal order:

Don Ferdinand and Dona Isabella, by the grace of God, King and Queen of Castile, of Leon, of Aragon, of Sicily, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of the Mallorcas, of Seville, of Cerdeña, of Cordova, of Corcega, of Murcia, of Jaen, of Algarbia, of Algecira, of Gibraltar, of the Canary Islands: Counts of Barcelona; Lords of Vizcaya and of Molina; Dukes of Athens and of Neopatria; Counts of Rosellon and of Cerdania; Marquises of Oristan and of Gociano.

To you Diego Rodriguez Prieto [Alcalde], and to all the other persons, your companions and the other residents of the town of Palos, salutation and grace. You well know how on account of some things done and committed by you in default of our service, you were condemned by the members of our Council, that you should be obliged to serve us for twelve months with two caravels,

1 Christopher Columbus, I, 464.

equipped at your own cost and expense, whenever and wherever it should be commanded by us, under certain penalties, which is all contained more at length in the said sentence which was pronounced against you: And now, inasmuch as we have ordered Christopher Columbus to go with a fleet of three caravels, as our Captain of the said three caravels, through certain parts of the Ocean-sea, upon some matters which are in fulfilment of our service: and we wish to have him take with him the said two caravels, with which you are to serve us in this manner: Therefore we command you that within the first ten days following the date of this our letter, by which you are notified, without further asking us or consulting us or awaiting us or receiving another letter from us in regard to the matter, that you shall have the said two caravels prepared and placed in readiness, equipped, as you are under obligation to do in virtue of the said sentence, to go with the said Christopher Columbus wherever we order him to go, and you shall go with him from the said length of time henceforward, whenever and wherever you shall be told and commanded by him in our behalf, because we command him to then pay you wages for four months for the people who shall go with the said caravels, at the prices which shall be paid to the other people who shall go in the said three caravels, and in the other caravel which we command him to take, which is what is commonly paid on this coast to people who go upon the sea with fleets of vessels. And having thus departed, that you follow the way which he shall command you to take, in our behalf, and fulfil his commands, and go under his command and government, providing that neither you, nor the said Christopher Columbus, nor any others of the persons who shall go on the said caravels, shall go to the Mine nor interfere with the traffic of the Mine which is carried on by the Most Serene King of Portugal our Brother, because it is our will to observe and to have observed what we have agreed and capitulated with the said King of Portugal in regard to this matter: and upon being shown a signed declaration from the said Captain that he is satisfied with your service with the said two equipped caravels, we shall consider you as relieved from the said penalty which was imposed upon you by the members of our Council: and from the present for that time, and from that time for the present time, we consider and hold that we are well served by you with the said caravels, for the time and according to and in the manner which was commanded you by the members of our Council, with the warning which we give you, that if you do not do as we have commanded you or make any delay or excuse in the matter, that we shall order executed upon you and upon each one of you, and upon your property, the penalties contained in the said sentence which was pronounced against you. And none of you shall disobey it in any manner, under pain of our displeasure and a fine of 10,000 maravedis for each one of our Treasury, under which said penalty we command the Notary Public who is called in this matter, that in another manner which he shall show you, you shall give a signed deposition. Given in our city of Granada April 30, in the year of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ 1492. I the King. I the Queen. (Signed.) I Joan de Coloma, Secretary of the King and of the Queen, our Lords, caused