Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 01).djvu/143

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE KING OF SPAIN TO HIS AMBASSADORS IN THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH PORTUGAL

[In this document, written in Valladolid, February 4, 1523, and signed by the king and the chancellor and countersigned by the king's secretary Cobos, the king lays down the following points:]

First, that the course of action mapped out for you, our said notary-in-chief Barroso, in answer to your letter reporting your conversation with the duke of Berganza regarding this treaty, seemed then, and seems still right and proper; since by this course we declare in effect our purpose and wish to fulfil in toto toward the said most serene King, the treaty concerning the division and demarcation of the seas, negotiated between the Catholic sovereigns—my lords and grandparents—and King Don Juan of Portugal. I order you, likewise, to ascertain briefly what regions lie within the right of our conquest, and where are the limits of our demarcation, and those of the said most serene King of Portugal. And you shall ascertain in what manner restitution of whatever I may have appropriated of his possessions, with the profit accruing therefrom, may be made to the said most serene King, the latter making to our Royal crown the same restitution of whatever he may have