Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand

Patrons of Columbus, in separate documents, Spanish monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand grant a salary payment and request an appointment be made - at the time of these orders, in 1501 and 1510, each monarch authorized actions which, in effect, resulted in the beginning of the African slave trade to the New World.

      The marriage of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469 eventually led to a united Spain. Their sponsorship of the four voyages of Christopher Columbus to the New World and their subsequent encouragement of colonial development of the Americas led to a period of prosperity and sea supremacy for Spain for almost 100 years. (1) Queen Isabella of Spain. Manuscript DS “Yo la Reyna” (“I the Queen”), one page, 8.5” x 12”. Granada. April 6, 1501. In old Spanish, not translated. “La Reyna” at top center. Countersigned by the Queen’s secretary “Gaspar de Trizio” beneath the words “By Command of the Queen.” An order to her chamberlain, Sancho de Paredes, to pay the sum of 7,500 maravedis to fray Juan Beato, thus completing his annual salary of 15,000 maravedis. Manuscript receipt signed “Fray Juan Beato” in lower portion of document. Docketed on verso. On laid paper with two inconspicuous cancellation cuts used during this period strengthened by glassine on verso. Fine condition. In 1501, Queen Isabella established the encomienda in New Spain, allowing the allotmentof natives as slave workers to missions and to individual owners. The Queen also granted permission to the Spanish colonists in the Caribbean to import African slaves. (2) King Ferdinand of Spain. Manuscript DS “Yo el Rey” (“I the King”), one page, 8.25” x 11”. Guadalajara, April 8, 1510. In old Spanish, not translated. “El Rey” at top center. Order to Dona Beatriz Maldonado, wife of el Licenciado Pedrosa, to appoint a replacement for Diego de Salamanca who is not qualified for his post. On laid paper. Slight separations at edges of horizontal folds. Related dockets on verso Fine condition. On January 22, 1510, eleven weeks before he signed this document, King Ferdinand authorized a shipment of 50 African slaves to be sent from southern Spain to Santo Domingo and that more be sent later. In April, at the time of this document, over a hundred slaves were bought in the Lisbon market. According to Yale history professor Dr. Edward Gaylord Bourne in “Spain in America, 1450-1580” (New York: Harper & Bros., 1904), “This is the beginning of the African slave-trade to America.”