The Demarcation Line. 225 



west or south of the aforesaid hne which were not actuall}^ 

 owned by any other Christian king or prince prior to the last 

 feast of the nativity of our Lord Jesu^ Christ, from which the 

 present 3'ear, fourteen hundred and ninety-three, began, at the 

 time when some of the aforesaid islands were discovered by 

 your envoys and captains, together with all their territories, 

 cities, castles, towns and villages, all their rights, jurisdictions 

 and possessions. We moreover create, constitute and appoint 

 you and your heirs and successors aforesaid lords of the same, 

 with full, free and universal authority. We decree, however, 

 that by this our grant, donation and assignment no acquired 

 right of any Christian ruler who was in actuah possession of any 

 of the said islands prior to the above-mentioned feast of the 

 nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ is to be understood as taken 

 away, nor is it to be taken away. We moreover command you 

 in virtue of holy ol>edience (according to your promise, which 

 we feel certain you in your great devotion and royal magna- 

 nimity will fulfill) to appoint, with all due diligence, virtuous, 

 God-fearing, learned, experienced and well-tried men, who shall 

 instruct the natives of the aforesaid islands in the Catholic faith 

 and imbue them with good morals. Moreover we strictly forbid, 

 under penalty of excommunication, to be incurred in the act of 

 disobedience, all persons of whatsoever rank, be it even imperial 

 or royal, state, degree, order or condition, to presume to go, 

 whether for the purpose of trade or for any other whatsoever, 

 to the continents or islands that have been and shall be dis- 

 covered to the west and south of a line drawn from the north to 

 the south poles, whether in the direction of India or of any 

 other country, the said line to be one hundred leagues distant 

 to the west and south from the most western and most southern 

 island of those commonly called the Azores and Cape Verde, as 

 has already been set forth, without the special permission of 

 yourselves and your aforesaid heirs and successors, apostolic 

 constitutions and decrees and all else to the contrary notwith- 

 standing. We trust in Him from whom empires, governments 

 and all goods things proceed that if you persevere in this your 

 holy and laudable purpose your labors and endeavors will under 

 the divine guidance be speedily crowned with a most fruitful 

 result, to the joy and glory of all Christendom, etc. 



Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, in the year of the Lord's 

 incarnation 1493, May 12, in tlie first year of our pontificate. 



WJ— Nat. (teou. Mar., vol. V, 1898. 



