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Diplomacy and the Papal Donation 1493-1585*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Paul E. Hoffman*
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Extract

The Papal Donation of 1493 has been the subject of propaganda, diplomatic negotiations, and scholarly debate since at least 1512. Recent studies have been more concerned with the doctrine of freedom of the seas than with detailed examinations of the diplomatic events of the 16th century which pitted the Spanish interpretations of the Donation against the desires and ideas of her European rivals. As a consequence, the nuances of the various mid-sixteenth century diplomatic settlements have passed unnoticed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1973

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Footnotes

*

The author would like to thank the University of Wyoming and the National Endowment for the Humanities for their support of the research used in this article.

References

1 The most recent example of this trend is Fahl, Gundolf , Der Grundsatz der Freiheit der Meer in der Staatenpraxis von 1493 bis 1648 (Max-Planck-Institut für Ausländisches Öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Beitrage zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, 51; Köln, 1969).Google Scholar

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3 Davenport, Treaties, I, 77–78.

4 Nowell, Charles E., “The Treaty of Tordesillas and the Diplomatic Background of American History,” in: Greater America. Essays in Honor of Herbert Eugene Bolton, edited by Ogden, Adele and Sluiter, Engel (Berkeley, 1945), 118.Google Scholar Davenport, Treaties, I, 84–100, provides the text of the treaty.

5 Mattingly, Garrett, “No Peace Beyond What Line?” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (London), 5th Series, 13 (1963), 145162, esp. p. 152. See also the texts in Davenport, Treaties, I, 77, and 95.Google Scholar

6 de Tudela, Juan Pérez, Las Armadas de Indias y los origines de la politica de colonización, 1492–1505 (Madrid, 1956), 29.Google Scholar Konetzke, Richard, “Legislación sobre immigración de extranjeros en America durante la época colonial,” Revista Internacional de Sociología (Madrid), 1112 (1945), 272–273.Google Scholar

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10 Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista, y organización de las antiguas posesiones españoles de ultramar, editado por Pacheco, Joaquin F., de Cárdenas, Francisco, y de Mendoza, Luis Torres (25 vols.; Madrid, 1885–1932), V, 74, 78.Google Scholar Cited hereafter as DIU. Konetzke, “Legislación,” 277279.Google Scholar

11 Connell-Smith, , Forerunners, passim, and 14.Google Scholar See also his “English Merchants Trading to the New World in the Early Sixteenth Century,” London University, Institute of Historical Research, Bulletin, XXIII, No. 67 (May, 1950), 53–67, which is incorporated into Forerunners.

12 With regards to the religious problem see the case of Thomas Pery, Connell-Smith, Forerunners, 111–118. This seems to have been atypical, but the example undoubtedly served to remind other English merchants that they were under suspicion. A recent article has demonstrated that even after 1558 the number of Englishmen arrested by the Inquisition was much lower than previous writers had suggested. See: Croft, Pauline, “Englishmen and the Spanish Inquisition, 1558–1625,” English Historical Review, 87, No. 1343 (April, 1972), 249268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13 Cedula, October 1535, DIU, XXI, 92, #15. Cedula, 6 Dec. 1538, Encinas, Cedulario, I, 441.

14 Charles to Council of Indies, 30 June 1549, in, Haring, Clarence H., Trade and Navigation Between Spain and the Indies in the Time of the Hapsburgs (Harvard Economic Studies, Vol. 19; Cambridge, Mass., 1918), 101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

15 Morison, Northern Voyages, 233–236.

16 Ibid., 270.

17 On Franco-Portuguese diplomacy see: de Santarem, Viscont, Quadro Elementar das relacões políticas e diplomáticas de Portugal … (18 vols, in 13; Paris, 1842–1876), III, 170523, passim.Google Scholar On the uses of bribes see: Luis de Sarmiento to Crown, various dates of 1540–1542, in Biggar, Henri P., ed., A Collection of Documents Relating to Jacques Cartier and the Sieur de Roberval (Public Archives of Canada, Publications, No. 14; Ottawa, 1930), 105, 108–109, 110–112, 114-115, 137, 143, 171, 174–175.Google Scholar For the hostilities see: Thomazi, August A., Les Flottes de l…or: Histoire des galions d…Espagne (Paris, 1937), 2832,Google Scholar and Pigeonneau, Henri, Histoire du Commerce de la Franceq (2 vols.; Paris, 1885, 1897), II, 134170.Google Scholar

18 Folmer, Henry, Franco-Spanish Rivalry in North America, 1524–1763 (Glendale, Cal., 1953), 3537.Google Scholar Wroth, Lawrence C., The Voyages of Giovanni da Verrazzano, 1524–1528 (New Haven, 1970), chapters 4 and 11, but especially p. 200.Google Scholar Both Folmer and Wroth assert that the voyage was known in Spain. Wroth’s “documentation” of this view is to quote Ganong, W. F., “Critical Maps in the Early Cartography and Place Nomenclature of the Atlantic Coast of Canada, Part IV,” in Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Section II, 3rd Series, 26 (1932), 126127, 149.Google Scholar Ganong in turn quotes Stevens, Henry, Historical and Geographical Notes on the Earliest Discoveries in America, 1453–1530 … (New Haven, 1869), 36,Google Scholar who quotes his own prejudices. In sum, there is no documentary evidence for Spanish knowledge of the voyage. Neither Folmer nor Davenport provide any evidence of diplomatic interest in it.

19 Folmer, , Rivalry, 43.Google Scholar

20 Morison, , Northern Voyages, 341.Google Scholar Morison bases this on: de la Chapelle, Baron, “Jean Le Veneur et le Canada,” Nova Francia, 6, Nos. 5–6 (Sept.-Dec, 1931), 342.Google Scholar La Chapelle’s text is “Extrait de la Généalogie de la Maison le Veneur, Comtes de Tillières de Carrouges, Par le Président Hénault, Membre de l’Académie Française, 1723.” The date and derivation of this document suggest that its claim, not reported in any of the standard literature, needs to be further substantiated. I was unable to do this. Admiral Morison provided the citation given here.

21 de Granvelle, de Granvelle, Papiers d’état du cardinal de Granvelle d’après les manuscrits de la bibliothèque de Besançon, Publiés sous l’direction de M. Ch. Weiss (9 vols.; Colection de documents inédites sur l’histoire de France, Publiés par ordre du Roy et par les soins du ministre de l’instruction publique. 1er Serie, Histoire Politique; Paris, 1841–1852), 2, 404.Google Scholar

22 Konetzke, , “Legislación,” 279281.Google Scholar Haring, , Trade, 98100.Google Scholar

23 Lic. Pedro Vásquez to Crown, Panama, 12 April 1537, Archivo General de Indias: Patronato 194, No. 1, R. 39, Doc. 2. Cited hereafter as AGI:PAT. His concern may have reflected the contemporary effort by the Spanish to establish a commercial route to Peru by way of the Strait of Magellan. See: SirMarkham, Clements R., ed., Early Spanish Voyages to the Strait of Magellan (Hakluyt Society, Works, 2nd Series, No. 28; London, 1911), 135156.Google Scholar

24 Charles to Los Cobos and Granvelle, 30 Nov. 1537, quoted in Davenport, Treaties, I, 205, Note 2.

25 Tregua firmada en Niza, 18 Junio 1538, in de Giron, Pedro, Cronica del Emperador Carlos V, edición por Juan Sanchez Montes (Madrid, 1964), 268, 269.Google Scholar

26 Bonvallot to Charles, 21 Aug. 1540, Archivo General de Simancas: Estado-Francia K 1485, No. 20, as quoted in Biggar, Documents Cartier, 102-103. Cited hereafter as AGS : Estado-Francia.

27 Charles’ instructions were not found by Biggar, but their substance was reported by Charles in a letter to his Spanish ministers, which was in turn paraphrased in: Cardinal of Toledo to Luis Sarmiento, 28 Sept. 1540, AGS:Estado-Castilla 49, fol. 331, in ibid., 104-107. Folmer, Rivalry, 44–45, notes the conflicting Franco-Spanish interpretations of the Treaty.

28 Bonvallot to Charles, n. d. [8-10 Nov. 1540], AGS:Estado-Francia K 1484 (Yr. 1535), No. 18, in Biggar, Documents Cartier, 136.

29 Charles to Cardinal of Toledo, n. d. [11–13 Nov. 1540?], AGS: Estado-Portugal 372, fol. 6, in ibid., 141.

30 Bonvallot to Charles, 27 Dec. 1540, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1485, No. 41, in ibid., 169–171.

31 These famous phrases, often inaccurately given as verbatim quotes, were reported in a letter of the Cardinal of Toledo to Charles, 27 Jan. 1541, apparently on the basis of a communication from Francisco de los Cobos, Commendador Mayor of Alcántara, who learned of Francis’ remarks from sources in the French court. Ibid., 190.

32 These letters have not been published, but are alluded to in “Memorial de lo que parecío a los del Consejo de las Indias,” n. d. [before 13 Dec. 1540], AGI:PAT 267, No. 13, in ibid., 158–162, and Consulta of Council of the Indies, n. d. [before 24 March 1541], loc. cit., in ibid., 244–253.

33 Charles to Cardinal of Toledo, 5 Feb. 1541, AGS:Estado-Castilla 55, fol. 115, in ibid., 197–198.

34 Cardinal of Toledo to Charles, 24 March 1541, AGS: Estado-Castilla 51, fols. 5–7, in ibid., 242–243.

35 Marquis de Aguilar to Los Cobos, Rome, 14 April 1541, AGS:Estado-Roma 870, fol. 32, in ibid., 268–269. Same to Same, 17 April 1541, loc cit., fol. 36, in ibid., 270–271. Cardinal of Toledo to Charles, 26 June 1541, AGS:Estado-Castilla 51, fol. 226, in ibid., 318. Los Cobos to Aguilar, 6 July 1541, AGS:Estado-Castilla 55, fol. 76–78, in ibid., 329–330.

36 Consulta of Council of Indies, n. d. [before 24 March 1541], AGI:PAT 267, No. 13, in ibid., 244–253, and in Smith, Buckingham, ed., Colección de varios documentos para la historia de la Florida y tierras adyacentes (London, 1857),103–105.Google Scholar Smith, Colección, 106-118, and Biggar, Documents Cartier, contain the correspondence regarding these two ships (March-July 1541) and the report of one of the captains ( Smith, , Colección, 116118).Google Scholar

37 Traité de Paix … 18 September 1544, in Dumont, Jean, Corps Universal Diplo-matique du Droit des Gens … (8 vols.; Amsterdam, 1726–1731), 4, pt. II, 280, 281.Google Scholar

38 Text of Agreement for a separate article, 18 Sept. 1544, in Davenport, Treaties, I, 208–209.

39 Ibid., 205–208. Folmer, Rivalry, 63–65.

40 Francisco de Vitoria, De Indis (1539), as On the Indians Lately Discovered, translated by John Pawley Bate, Appendix A in: Scott, James B., The Spanish Origin of International Law, Part I, Francisco de Vitoria and His Law of Nations (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Division of International Law, Classics of International Law, No. 1; Oxford and London, 1934),Google Scholar especially Section III, Proposition II, Proof No. 1, as xli–xlii.

41 Manzano, Juan y Manzano, , La incorporación de las Indias a la Corona de Castilla (Madrid, 1948), 139146.Google Scholar

42 Davenport, Treaties, I, 207. de La Roncière, Charles G. M. B., Histoire de la marine française (6 vols.; Paris, 1899–1932), 3, 302303,Google Scholar citing documents from the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris.

43 Charles to Ambassador Renard, 2 Aug. 1549, in Granvelle, , Papiers d’Etat, 3, 389390.Google Scholar

44 Plenipotentiaries to Philip, 5 Feb. 1555, in ibid., IV, 541.

45 “Truce between France and Spain, Concluded at Vaucelles, February 5, 1556; Separate Article Relating to the Indies and Savoy,” in Davenport, Treaties, I, 217. Philip was then King of England by virtue of his marriage to Mary Tudor.

46 Consulta of Council of Indies, n. d., and Consulta of Council of State, n. d. [1558], AGI:Indiferente General 738, R. 3, No. 41.

47 Granvelle to Philip, 20 Oct. 1558, in Granvelle,Papiers d–Etat, V, 285–286.

48 Philip to Plenipotentiaries, 14 March 1559, in ibid, 546. Same to Same, 30 March 1559, in ibid., 564. Folmer, Rivalry, 68–69.

49 Traite de Paix …, 3 April 1559, in Dumont, Corps Universal, V, Pt. I, 35.

50 Duke of Alba to Philip, 22 July 1559, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1492, No. 62, in de la Historia, R. Academia (Madrid), Negociaciones con Francia (11 vols, to 1960 Google Scholar; Archivo Documental Español, Vols. 1——; Madrid, 1950-[1960]), I, 37–39, with Anexos,39–43. Cited hereafter as RAH, Negociaciones con Francia.

51 “Navegación de Franceses a Indias, Proyecto de Prohibición,” 1559, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1492, No. 94, in ibid., 39. Philip to Duke of Alba, 7 Aug. 1559, loc. cit., No. 65, in ibid., 44. Thomas Perrenot de Chantonnay to Philip, 16 Aug. 1559, loc. cit., No. 66, in ibid., 49.

52 Philip to Chantonnay, n. d. [Oct. 1559], AGS:Estado-Francia 1493, No. 6, in ibid., 74, acknowledges receipt of the French proposal. Its terms are paraphrased in Same to Same, 24 Dec. 1559, loc. cit., No. 10, in ibid., 128–129.

53 Same to Same, 24 Dec. 1559, loc. cit. in ibid.

54 Chantonnay to Philip, 17 Jan. 1560, loc.cit., No. 32, in ibid., 157–158.

55 Same to Same, 2 Feb. 1560, loc. cit., No. 39, in ibid., 174–175.

56 Confirmation of this conclusion is contained in: Same to Same, 29 Dec. 1561, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1495, No. 107, in ibid., III, 217, and in: Consulta of Council of Indies, 18 June 1565, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1504, No. 19, in ibid., VII, 421–423.

57 Philip to Gov. of Cuba, 27 Nov. 1560, Encinas, Cedulario, I, 446. Same to Gov. of Cartagena, 27 Nov. 1560, AGI:Santa Fe 987, libro 3, fol. 200.

58 Decree, 14 July 1561, Encinas, Cedulario, I, 449–450.

59 Norembega was an Indian town on the Penobscot River in Maine which was said to have been very rich and large. It figures prominently in the lore of discovery. See, Morison, , Northern Voyages, passim.Google Scholar

60 Chantonnay to Philip, 15 Dec. 1561, AGS:Estado 1495, No. 99, in RAH, Negociaciones conFrancia, III, 172. There is no evidence of this voyage, although some aspects of it resemble the Verrazzano voyage of 1524.

61 Same to Same, 23 Jan. 1562, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1497, No. 6, in ibid., 294.

62 Same to Same, 7 May 1562, loc. cit., No. 29, in ibid., IV, 15.

63 Same to Same, 25 Jan. 1563, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1500, No. 29, No. 30, in ibid., V, 51–52.Philip to Chantonnay, 14 Feb. 1563, AGS : Estado-Francia K 1499, No. 17, in ibid., 84.

64 Lowery, Woodbury, Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits of the United States, Vol. II, Florida, 1562–1574 (2 vols.; Reprint Edition; New York, 1959), 4448.Google Scholar

65 Lyon, Eugene, “Captives of Florida,” Florida Historical Quarterly, L, No. 1 (July, 1971), 45.Google Scholar

66 Duke of Alba to Philip, 11 April 1565, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1503, No. 57b, in RAH, Negociaciones con Francia, VII, 236–237.

67 Philip to Alava, 16 April 1565, loc. cit., No. 62, in ibid., 257. Alava to Philip, 27 April 1565, loc. cit., No. 67, in ibid., 279.

68 Philip to Alava, 2 June 1565, AGS:Estado 1504, No. 2, in ibid., 372–373. Alava to Philip, 8 June 1565, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1504, No. 6, in ibid., 384–385.

69 Consulta of Council of Indies, 18 June 1565, loc. cit., No. 19b., in ibid., 421–423. Duke of Alba to Philip, 28 June 1565, loc. cit., No. 35, in ibid., 485–486.

70 Marginal notes on Alava’s letters of 5, 27 August 1565, loc. cit., No. 64, in ibid., VIII,

71 Philip to Alava, 30 Sept., 4 Oct. 1565, loc. cit., No. 75, in ibid., 98–99.

72 Alava to Philip, 29–30 Nov. 1565, loc. cit., No. 89, in ibid., 144. Same to Same, 29–30 Nov. 1565, loc. cit., No. 92, in ibid., 155–156.

73 Same to Same, 19 Jan. 1566, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1505, No. 67, in ibid., 201–202.

74 Philip to Alava, 23 Feb. 1566, loc. cit., No. 78, in ibid., 246–250.

74 Same to Same, 25 Feb. 1566, loc. cit., No. 79, in ibid., 253, acknowledging Alava’s letters of 4, 19 January, and 3, 7 February. Alava to Philip, 16 March 1566, loc. cit., No. 81, in ibid., 262–266. Alava’s account of this interview makes delightful reading.

75 Philip to M. Fourquevaux, n. d. [March 1566], loc. cit., No. 93, in ibid., 295. Philip to Alava, 7 April 1566, loc. cit., No. 101, in ibid., 314–316.

76 Alava to Philip, 27 July 1568, AGS:Estado-Francia K 1510, No. 16, in ibid., XI, 49.

77 Girard, Albert, Le commerce français à Séville et Cadiz au temps des Hapsbourgs: Contribution à l’étude du commerce étranger en Espagne aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles (Paris, 1932), 5051.Google Scholar

78 Ortíz, Antonio Domínguez , “La Concessión de naturalezas para comerciar en Indias durante el siglo XVII,” Revista de Indias (Madrid), 19, No. 2 (1959), 227229.Google Scholar

79 Quadra to Chantonnay, 23 Nov. 1561 [Copy], AGS:Estado 1494, No. 112, in RAH, Negociaciones con Francia, III, 142–143.

80 Quadra to Philip, 19 June 1563, AGS:Estado-Inglaterra 816, fol. 163; also published in: Great Britain. Public Records Office, Calendar of Letters and State Papers Relating to English Affairs Preserved Principally in the Archives of Simancas. Elizabeth, 1558–1603, Edited by Hume, Martin A. S. (4 vols.; London, 1892–1899; Reprinted, Nendeln, 1971), 1, 335.Google Scholar Cited hereafter as PRO, Calendar of State Papers … Simancas, Elizabeth. Wright, J. Leitch Jr., “Sixteenth Century English-Spanish Rivalry in la Florida,” Florida Historical Quarterly, 38 (1960), 265279,Google Scholar contains brief notes on this and other incidents to be noted below. Wright’s account focuses mainly on events in America, and thereby provides a less satisfactory view of the breakdown of English-Spanish relations. It is reprinted in his Anglo-Spanish Rivalry in North America (Athens, 1971).

81 Williamson, James A., Hawkins of Plymouth (London, 1949), 4955,Google Scholar esp. 55.

82 Guzmán de Silva to Philip, 12 Oct. 1566, PRO, Calendar of State Papers … Simancas, Elizabeth, I, 584, notes the 1564 promise. Same to Same, 1 Oct. 1565, ibid., 485–486. Same to Same, 8 Oct. 1565, ibid., 488.

83 Same to Same, 22 Oct. 1565, ibid., 495–496. Same to Same, 5 Nov. 1565, ibid., 502–504. Same to Same, 4 Feb. 1566, ibid., 522–523. Same to Same, 11 Feb. 1566, ibid., 525. Philip to Guzmán de Silva, 12 Aug. 1566, ibid., 572.

84 Guzmán de Silva to Philip, 12 Oct. 1566, ibid., 584.

85 Same to Same, 30 March 1566, ibid., 536.

86 Same to Same, 19 Oct. 1566, ibid., 588.

87 Ibid.

88 Same to Same, 4 Nov. 1566, ibid., 593. Philip to Guzmán de Silva, 20 Dec. 1566, ibid., 605.

89 Guzmán de Silva to Philip, 31 May 1567, ibid., 642. Same to Same, 14 June 1567, ibid., 646. Same to Same, 26 June 1567, ibid., 651. Same to Same, 12 July 1567, ibid., 656–657. Same to Same, 21 July 1567, ibid., 659–661. Same to Same, 26 July 1567, ibid., 663. Same to Same, 2 Aug. 1567, ibid., 666–667. Same to Same, 13 Sept. 1567, ibid., 675. Same to Same, 28 Sept. 1567, ibid., 677.

90 Same to Same, 13 Oct 1567, ibid., 679.

91 Philip to Guzmán de Silva, 14 Oct. 1567, ibid., 680.

92 Gucrau de Spes to Philip, 18 Oct. 1568, ibid., II, 78.

93 Same to Duke of Alba, 9, 14, 16 June 1569 [extracts], ibid., 168. Same to Same, 18 Sept. 1569, ibid., 194–195. Memo of contents of Guerau de Spes’ letters of 11, 17, 22 June 1570, ibid., 251.

94 Guerau de Spes to Philip, 2 April 1569, ibid., 139–140.

95 Philip to Duke of Alba, 19 July 1569, ibid., 178.

96 Antonio de Guaras to Alba, 6 Oct. 1572, ibid., 419–420. “Answer that may be given to the English Ambassador …,” n. d. [1576], ibid., 537–538. An agreement, known as the Alva-Cobham Agreement, was reached in December 1575. See: Croft, “Englishmen,” 254–255.

97 Guerau de Spes to Philip, 28 Nov. 1570, PRO, Calendar of State Papers … Simancas, Elizabeth, II, 286.

98 Same to Same, 9 Jan. 1571, ibid., 289. Same to Same, 2 March 1571, ibid., 294–295.

99 Same to Same, 14 March 1571, ibid., 298.

100 Mendoza to Philip, 5 Sept. 1579, ibid., 694.

101 Same to Same, 20 Feb. 1580, ibid., III, 7.

102 Same to Same, 23 Oct. 1580, ibid., 59.

103 The first documented reference to the classic lines of amity comes in 1588 when French ship captains complained to their King that the Spanish and Portuguese attacked all ships west of the Meridian and south of the Tropic of Cancer. Santarem, Quadro Elementar, III, 510–511. Mattingly claims to have seen a document from 1580, but provides no documentation. Mattingly, “ No Peace,” 147.