Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 03).djvu/126

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122
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
[Vol. 3

future, drawing a line from pole to pole, one hundred leagues west of the Açores and Cabo Verde islands. All land already discovered and to be discovered, found west and south of this line (being not actually occupied by any Christian prince before Christmas and the beginning of the year one thousand four hundred and ninety-three)[1] was to be the navigation and discovery of the kings of Castilla, and was to come under their kingdom, seigniory, and jurisdiction. He who passed this line without permission would incur blame and punishment, as is more fully shown in the original bull, which is sealed with lead and deposited in the Archives of Simancas, and dated at Rome on the fourth of May of the said year.

On the twenty-sixth of September of the said year one thousand four hundred and ninety-three, the same supreme pontiff conceded to the Catholic Sovereigns, and their successors, besides the general concession of the Yndias, whatever conquest they might make in their name in the eastern, western, and southern islands, "provided they be not occupied by any other," etc., as is more fully shown in the original bull given in Rome on the sixth of October of the same year, and deposited in the Archives at Simancas.

These concessions made to the Catholic Sovereigns of Castilla and Leon and their successors, as well as that made to the Kings of Portogal, respecting the navigation of the East Indies, caused and still cause dispute and controversy between the kings of Castilla and those of Portugal, concerning the boundaries which should separate their navigation and discovery—the limit and bound which is to be

  1. The matter in parentheses is side notes in the original.