Firstly, that Your Highnesses, as actual Lords of the said Oceans, appoint from this date the said Don Cristóbal Colon to be your Admiral in all those islands and mainlands which by his activity and industry shall be discovered or acquired in the said oceans, during his lifetime, and likewise, after his death, his heirs and successors one after another in perpetuity, with all the pre-eminences and prerogatives appertaining to the said office, and in the same manner as Don Alfonso Enriques, your High Admiral of Castile,[78-1] and his predecessors in the said office held it in their districts.—It so pleases their Highnesses. Juan de Coloma.
Likewise, that Your Highnesses appoint the said Don Cristóbal Colon to be your Viceroy and Governor General in all the said islands and mainlands and in the islands which, as aforesaid, he may discover and acquire[78-2] in the said seas; and that for the government of each and any of them he may make choice of three persons for each office, and that Your Highnesses may select and choose the one who shall be most serviceable to you; and thus the lands which our Lord shall permit him to discover and acquire for the service of Your Highnesses, will be the better governed.—It so pleases their Highnesses. Juan de Coloma.
Item, that of all and every kind of merchandise, whether pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other objects and merchandise whatsoever, of whatever kind, name and sort, which may be bought, bartered, discovered, acquired and obtained within the limits of the said Admiralty, Your Highnesses grant from now henceforth to the said Don Cristóbal, and will that he may have and take for himself, the tenth part of the whole, after deducting all the expenses which may be incurred therein, so that of what shall remain clear and free he may have and take the tenth part for himself, and may do therewith as he pleases, the other nine parts being reserved for Your Highnesses.—It so pleases their Highnesses. Juan de Coloma.
Likewise, that if on account of the merchandise which he might bring from the said islands and lands which thus, as aforesaid, may be acquired or discovered, or of that which may be taken in exchange for the same from other merchants here, any suit should arise in the place where the said commerce and traffic shall be held and conducted; and if by the pre-eminence of his office of Admiral it appertains to him to take cognizance of such suit; it may please Your Highnesses that he or his deputy, and not another judge, shall take cognizance thereof and give judgment in the same from henceforth.—It so pleases their Highnesses, if it appertains to the said office of Admiral, according as it was held by Admiral Don Alfonso Enriques, and others his successors in their districts, and if it be just. Juan de Coloma.
Item, that in all the vessels which may be equipped for the said traffic and business, each time and whenever and as often as they may be equipped, the said Don Cristóbal Colon may, if he chooses, contribute and pay the eighth part of all that may be spent in the equipment, and that likewise he may have and take the eighth part of the profits that may result from such equipment.—It so pleases their Highnesses. Juan de Coloma.
These are granted and despatched, with the replies of Your Highnesses at the end of each article, in the town of Santa Fe de la Vega of Granada, on the seventeenth day of April in the year of the nativity of our Saviour Jesus Christ, one thousand four hundred and ninety-two. I the King. I the Queen. By command of the King and of the Queen. Juan de Coloma. Registered, Calcena.
[77-1] The Spanish text is that printed by Navarrete in his Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos, etc. (Madrid, 1825), II. 7-8, and taken from the Archives of the Duke of Veragua. The translation is that of George F. Barwick printed by Benjamin Franklin Stevens in his Christopher Columbus His Own Book of Privileges, 1502, etc. (London, 1893), pp. 42-45, with such slight changes (chiefly of tenses) as were necessary to bring it into conformity with the text of Navarrete. This document is also given in English translation in Memorials of Columbus (London, 1823), pp. 40-43. That volume is a translation of G. B. Spotorno, Codice Diplomatico Colombo-Americano (Genoa, 1823).
[77-2] In this edition of the Narratives of the Voyages of Columbus his name in the translation of the original documents will be given in the form used in the originals. During his earlier years in Spain Columbus was known as Colomo, the natural Spanish form corresponding to the Italian Colombo. At some time prior to 1492 he adopted the form Colon, apparently to make more probable his claim to be descended from a Roman general, Colonius, and to be related to the French admiral, Coullon, called in contemporary Italian sources Colombo, and Columbus in Latin. In modern texts of Tacitus the Roman general’s name is Cilonius, and modern research has shown that the French admiral’s real name was Caseneuve and that Coullon was a sobriquet added for some unknown reason. On the two French naval commanders known as Colombo or Coullon and the baselessness of Columbus’s alleged relationship see Vignaud, Études Critiques sur la Vie de Colomb pp. 131 ff.
[78-1] In 1497 Columbus at his own request was supplied with a copy of the ordinances establishing the admiralty of Castile so that he might have a documentary enumeration of his prerogatives in the Indies. This official copy he preserved in the collection of his papers known as the Book of Privileges, and the translation of the documents relating to the Admiralty of Castile is given in Stevens’s edition of the Book of Privileges, pp. 14 ff. This dignity of Admiral comprised supreme or vice-regal authority on the sea and the general range of legal jurisdiction in determining suits of law that is enjoyed by modern courts of admiralty. A translation of Columbus’s exposition of his rights derived from his admiralty of the islands in the Ocean may be found in P. L. Ford, Writings of Columbus (New York, 1892), pp. 177-198, taken from Memorials of Columbus (London, 1823), pp. 205-223. For a summary of these powers cf. the [Titulo] that follows.
[78-2] It is a remarkable fact that nothing is said in this patent of discovering a route to the Indies. It is often said that the sole purpose of Columbus was to discover such a route, yet it is clear that he expected to make some new discoveries, and that if he did not, the sovereigns were under no specified obligations to him. Patents are usually drawn on the lines indicated by the petitioner. Can we conclude that the complete silence of the articles as to the Indies means that Ferdinand and Isabella refused to make any promises if Columbus only succeeded in reaching the known East Indies and could gain for them no new possessions?