632 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



TRANSLATION. 



Alexander, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, to his very dear son 

 In Christ, Ferdinand, King, and to his very dear daughter In Christ, Isabella, 

 Queen, illustrious, of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Sicily, Granada, health and 

 apostolic benediction. Among the works most acceptable to the Divine Ma- 

 jesty, and desirable to our hearts, that is certainly above all, that the 

 Catholic faith, and the Christian religion, especially in our times, should be 

 exalted and everywhere diffused and spread; and that the salvation of souls 

 be sought after, and barbarous nations subjected, and brought over to the 

 said faith. Wherefore We, having been elevated, by the favour of divine cle- 

 mency, although undeserving by our merits of so high a rank, to this sacred 

 seat of Peter, acknowledging you, as true catholic Kings and Princes, whom 

 we have always known as such and as your most illustrious actions now 

 made known lo all the world shew, not only that you are desirous of that, 

 but that you likewise prosecute it with all vigour, earnestness, and diligence, 

 sparing no fatigue, expense, or danger whatever, even to the shedding of your 

 blood, and that it is long since you have dedicated all your mind and all your 

 efforts to it, as the recovery of the kingdom of Granada from the tyranny of 

 the Saracens, recently effected by you, with such evident proofs of divine 

 favour, clearly shews; we deem it, therefore, worthy of us, and are bound to 

 grant you even spontaneously and graciously, those things, by which you may 

 be enabled more fervently to follow up this holy and praiseworthy resolu- 

 tion, and acceptable to the eternal God, to the honour of God, and for the pro- 

 pagation of the Christian empire. And in truth it has come to our knowledge, 

 that you, who had resolved in your minds, for some time past, to seek for 

 and discover some remote and unknown islands and main-lands, and by no 

 others hitherto found out, in order to induce the natives and inhabitants 

 of them to worship our Redeemer and to profess the Catholic faith, but had 

 not until now been able to conduct this holy and praiseworthy resolution to 

 its wished-for end, finding yourselves fully engaged in the conquest and re- 

 covery of the said kingdom of Granada ; but at length, as it pleased the 

 Lord, having recovered the foresaid kingdom, and wishing to fulfil your 

 desires, you despatched our beloved son Christopher Columbus, a man every 

 way worthy and deserving of great praise, and capable of so great an aftair, 

 with vessels and men accustomed to such undertakings, with very great 

 labour, danger and expense, in order that he might diligently seek out those 

 main-lands and remote and unknown islands, in a sea where no person had 

 navigated until now. Who, at last, with the assistance of God, having used 

 extreme diligence, in navigating through the ocean, discovered certain very 

 remote islands, and also main-lands, that nobody had as yet found out; the 

 inhabitants of which are numerous, live peacefully, and, as it is affirmed, go 

 naked, and feed not upon flesh; and as far as your foresaid messengers can 

 opine, the people who inhabit the foresaid islands and lands, believe that 

 there is in heaven a God Creator ; and appear well disposed to embrace the 

 Catholic faith, and civilized manners; and there is a hope, that if they were 

 instructed, the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ would be intro- 

 duced into the said lands and islands. And already the said Christopher 

 has caused to be constructed and built in one of the principal of the foresaid 

 islands, a very strong tower, in which he placed certain Christians, who went 

 out with him, in order that they might have the care of it, and likewise dis- 

 cover other remote and unknown islands and continents. In which islands 

 and lands already discovered, are lo be found, gold, spices, and a great many 

 other precious things of divers kinds and qualities. Whence, having dili- 

 gently considered all these things, and especially the advancement and 

 spreading of the Catholic faith, as it becomes Catholic Kings and Princes, 

 you have resolved, in imitation of the Kings your ancestors of renowned 

 memory, with the favour of the divine clemency, to subject and reduce to 

 the Catholic faith the foresaid main-lands and islands, and the natives and 



