The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 2

by William Hickling Prescott

[17] See the original instructions, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Col. Diplom., no. 45.—Muñoz, Hist. del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 22.— Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 413.

L. Marineo eagerly claims the conversion of the natives, as the prime object of the expedition with the sovereigns, far outweighing all temporal considerations. The passage is worth quoting, if only to show what egregious blunders a contemporary may make in the relation of events passing, as it were, under his own eyes. "The Catholic sovereigns having subjugated the Canaries, and established Christian worship there, sent Peter Colon, with thirty-five ships, called caravels, and a great number of men to other much larger islands abounding in mines of gold, not so much, however, for the sake of the gold, as for the salvation of the poor heathen natives." Cosas Memorables, fol. 161.

[18] See copies of the original documents, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Col. Diplom., nos. 39, 41, 42, 43.

[19] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 4.—Muñoz, Hist. del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 18.

[20] A point south of the meridian is something new in geometry; yet so says the bull of his Holiness. "Omnes insulas et terras firmas inventas et inveniendas, detectas et detegendas, versus Occidentem et meridiem, fabricando et constituendo unam lineam a Polo Arctico, scilicet septentrione, ad Polum Antarcticum, scilicet meridiem."

[21] See the original papal grants, transcribed by Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Col. Diplom., nos. 17, 18. Appendice al Col. Diplom., no. 11.

[22] Padre Abarca considers "that the discovery of a new world, first offered to the kings of Portugal and England, was reserved by Heaven for Spain, being forced, in a manner, on Ferdinand, in recompense for the subjugation of the Moors, and the expulsion of the Jews!" Reyes de Aragon, fol. 310, 311.

[23] La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iv. pp. 53-58.

[24] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 463.—Herrera, Indias Occidentales, loc. cit.—Muñoz, Hist. del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 27, 28.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 606, 607.—La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iv. pp. 53-58.

[25] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 413.—Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 44.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 118.—Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 1.—Benzoni, Novi Orbis Historia, lib. 1, cap. 9.—Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, cap. 20.