The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898/Volume 1/Treaty of Zaragoza
[This treaty was negotiated at Zaragoza (Saragossa) between the representatives of the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs, and signed by them April 22, 1529. It was ratified the following day by Cárlos I at Lerida, and by João III, at Lisboa (Lisbon), June 20, 1530. The usual letters of authorization precede the treaty proper, the Spanish letter being given at Zaragoza, April 15, 1529, and the Portuguese at Lisboa, October 18, 1528. The Spanish deputies were: Mercurio de Gatinara, count of Gatinara, and grand chancellor; Fray García de Loaysa,[1] bishop of Osma and confessor of the emperor; and Fray García de Padilla, commander-in-chief of the order of Calatrava,[2] all three members of the emperor's council. The Portuguese deputy was the licentiate Antonio de Azevedo coutiño, member of the Portuguese council and the King's ambassador. The treaty follows:]
After said authorizations were presented by the said representatives it was declared that: inasmuch as there existed a doubt between the said Emperor and King of Castilla, etc., and the said King of Portugal, etc., concerning the ownership, possession, and rights, or possession or quasi possession, navigation, and trade of Maluquo and other islands and seas, which each one of the said lords, the emperor and king of Castilla and the King of Portugal declares as his, both by virtue of the treaties made by the most exalted, powerful, and Catholic sovereigns, Don Fernando and Doña Isabel, rulers of Castilla, grandparents of the said emperor and the King, Don Joam the Second of Portugal (may they rest in glory) about the demarcation of the Ocean Sea and by virtue of other rights and privileges which each one of the said emperor and monarchs asserts to belong and pertain to said islands, seas, and lands belonging to him of which he is in possession; and inasmuch as the said emperor and monarchs considering the very close relationship and great affection existing between them, and which, not only should very rightly be preserved, but as far as possible be increased; and in order to free themselves from the doubts, complaints, and disputes that might arise between them, and the many troubles that might ensue among their vassals and subjects and the natives of their kingdoms; the said emperor and monarchs and the said attorneys acting in their names, have covenanted and agreed as to the said doubts and disputes in the following form and manner:
First, the said grand chancellor, the bishop of Osma and the commander-in-chief of Calatrava, attorneys of the said emperor and sovereign of Castilla declared that they, in his name, and by virtue of their said power of attorney would sell and in fact did sell from this day and for all time, to the said King of Portugal, for him and all the successors to the crown of his kingdoms, all right, action, dominion, ownership, and possession or quasi possession, and all rights of navigation, traffic, and trade in any manner whatsoever; that the said emperor and king of Castilla declares that he holds and could hold howsoever and in whatsoever manner in the said Maluquo, the islands, places, lands, and seas, as will be declared hereafter; this, with the declarations, limitations, conditions, and clauses contained and stated hereunder for the sum of three hundred and fifty thousand ducats of gold, paid in the current money, of gold or silver, each ducat being valued in Castilla at three hundred and seventy-five maravedis. The said King of Portugal will give and pay this amount to the said emperor and king of Castilla, and to the persons whom his majesty may appoint, in the following manner: one hundred and fifty thousand ducats to be paid at Lixbona, within the first fifteen or twenty days after this contract, confirmed by the said emperor and king of Castilla, shall have arrived at the city of Lixboa, or wherever the said King of Portugal may be; thirty thousand ducats to be paid in Castilla—twenty thousand at Valhadolid and ten thousand at Sevilla, by the twentieth day of the month of May of this present year; seventy thousand ducats to be paid in Castilla at the May fair of Medina del Campo of this same year, at the terms of the payments of said fair;[3] and the hundred thousand ducats remaining at the October fair at the said town of Medina del Campo of this same year, at the terms of the payment of the same—all to be paid over and above the rate of exchange. If necessary, notes will be given for the said time; and, if said emperor and King of Castilla wishes to take in exchange the said hundred thousand ducats at the said May fair of this said year in order to avail himself of their use, he shall pay the said King of Portugal exchange at the rate of five or six per cent, the rate which his treasurer, Hernand Alvarez, is accustomed to exact from fair to fair. The aforesaid sale is made by the said emperor and king of Castilla to the said King of Portugal on condition that, at whatever time the said emperor and king of Castilla or his successors, should wish to return, and should return, all of the said three hundred and fifty thousand ducats without any shortage to the said King of Portugal or his successors, the said sale becomes null and void and each one of the said sovereigns shall enjoy the right and authority which he now holds and claims to hold, both as regards the right of possession or quasi possession, and as regards the proprietorship, howsoever and in whatever manner they belong to him, as if this contract were not made, and in the manner in which they first held possession and claimed to hold it, and this contract shall cause no prejudice or innovation.
Item: It is covenanted and agreed by the said , in the names of their said constituents, that, in order to ascertain what islands, places, lands, seas, and their rights and jurisdiction, are sold, henceforth and forever, by the said emperor and king of Castilla, by this contract under the aforesaid condition, to the said King of Portugal, a line must be determined from pole to pole, that is to say, from north to south, by a semicircle extending northeast by east nineteen degrees from Maluquo, to which number of degrees correspond almost seventeen degrees on the equinoctial, amounting to two hundred and ninety-seven and one-half leagues east of the islands of Maluquo, allowing seventeen and one-half leagues to an equinoctial degree. In this northeast by east meridian and direction are situated the islands of Las Velas and of Santo Thome, through which the said line and semicircle passes. Since these islands are situated and are distant from Maluquo the said distance, more or less, the deputies determine and agree that the said line be drawn at the said two hundred and ninety-seven and one-half leagues to the east, the equivalent of the nineteen degrees northeast by east from the said islands of Maluquo, as aforesaid. The said deputies declare that, in order to ascertain where the said line should be drawn, two charts of the same tenor be made, conformable to the chart in the India House of Trade at Sevilha, and by which the fleets, vassals and subjects of the said emperor and king of Castilla navigate. Within thirty days from the date of this contract two persons shall be appointed by each side to examine the aforesaid chart and make the two copies aforesaid conformable to it. In them the said line shall be drawn in the manner aforesaid; and they shall be signed by the said sovereigns, and sealed with their seals, so that each one will keep his own chart; and the said line shall remain fixed henceforth at the point and place so designated. This chart shall also designate the spot in which the said vassals of the said emperor and king of Castilla shall situate and locate Maluquo, which during the time of this contract shall be regarded as situated in such place, although in truth it is situated more or less distance eastward from the place that is designated in the said charts. The seventeen degrees eastward shall be drawn from the point where Maluquo is situated in said charts. For the good of this contract the said King of Portugal must have said chart, and in case the aforesaid be not found in the House of Trade of Sevilha, the said persons appointed by the said sovereigns shall make said charts within one month, signed and sealed as aforesaid. Furthermore navigation charts shall be made by them, in which the said line shall be drawn in the manner aforesaid, so that henceforth the said vassals, natives, and subjects of the said emperor and king of Castilla shall navigate by them; and so that the navigators of either part shall be certain of the location of the said line and of the aforesaid distance of the two hundred and ninety-seven and one-half leagues between the said line and Maluquo.
It is covenanted and agreed by the said deputies that, whenever the said King of Portugal should wish to prove his right to the proprietorship of Maluco, and the lands and seas specified in this contract, and although at that time the said emperor and king of Castilla shall not have returned the price abovesaid, nor the said contract be canceled, it shall be done in the following manner, namely, each one of the said sovereigns shall appoint three astrologers and three pilots or three mariners who are experts in navigation, who shall assemble at a place on the frontier between the kingdoms, where it shall be agreed that they assemble, within four months of the time when the emperor and king of Castilla, or his successors, shall be notified by the said King of Portugal to appoint a day. There they will consult, covenant, and agree upon the manner of ascertaining the right of said proprietorship conformable to said treaty and contract made between the said Catholic sovereigns, Don Fernando and Doña Isabel, and the said King Dom Joam the Second of Portugal. In case the said emperor and king of Castilla be judged to have the right of said proprietorship, such sentence will not be executed nor used until the said emperor and king of Castilla or his successors shall first have actually returned all the said three hundred and fifty thousand ducats, which by virtue of this contract shall have been given. If the right of proprietorship be conceded to the said King of Portugal, the said emperor and king of Castilla or his successors shall be obliged actually to return the said three hundred and fifty thousand ducats to said King of Portugal or his successors within the first four years ensuing after the date of such sentence.
Item: It was covenanted and agreed by said deputies, in the names of their said constituents, that, since this contract of sale shall be valid and hold good henceforth from date, if any spices or drugs of any sort whatever be brought to any ports or parts of the kingdoms and seigniories of either of the said constituents, in charge of the vassals, subjects or natives of the kingdoms of the said emperor and king of Castilla or by any other persons whomsoever who may not be vassals, subjects, or natives of said kingdoms, then the said emperor and king of Castilla in his kingdoms and seigniories, and the said King of Portugal in his, shall be obliged to order and cause, and they shall order and cause, the said spices or drugs to be deposited securely, without him to whose kingdom they have been brought being so notified to do so by the other side; but they shall be deposited in the name of both, in the power of the person or persons whom each one of the said sovereigns shall have ordered to take charge of said deposit in his lands and seigniories. The said sovereigns shall be obliged to order and cause such deposit to be made in the manner abovesaid, whether the said spices or drugs are found in the possession of those who brought them, or in the power of any other person or persons, in whatsoever regions or districts they shall have been found. The said emperor and kings shall be obliged to give notification to this effect henceforth throughout all their kingdoms and seigniories, so that these instructions may be complied with and no one may plead ignorance of them. The said spices or drugs having been taken to any ports or lands that do not belong to either one of said sovereigns, provided they are not those of enemies, either one of them, by virtue of this contract, may require, in the name of both, and without showing any further provision or power of the other to the justice of the kingdoms and seigniories where said drugs or spices happen to be or to have been found, and they may order them to be deposited, and they shall be deposited. In whatsoever ports said drugs or spices are thus found, they will be under embargo and deposited by both until it is known from whose demarcation they were taken. In order to ascertain if the places and lands from which the said spices or drugs are taken and brought, fall within the demarcation and limits which by this contract remain to the said King of Castilla, and if they contain the said spices or drugs, the said emperor and kings shall despatch two or four ships, an equal number being sent by both. In these an equal number of persons from both sides, sworn to fulfil their obligation, will sail to those places and lands whence the said spices or drugs were said to have been taken and brought in order to ascertain and determine within whose demarcation are situated the said lands and places whence the said spices or drugs are said to have been brought. Should it be found that said places and lands are within the demarcation of the said emperor and king of Castilla, that the said spices and drugs exist there in such quantity that they could reasonably be carried away; then the said deposit shall be given up and freely delivered to the said emperor and king of Castilla, without his being obliged to pay any costs, expenses, interests, or any other thing. If, on the other hand, it be discovered that said drugs or spices were taken from the districts and lands belonging to the said King of Portugal, the said deposit shall be ceded and delivered in like manner to the said King of Portugal without his being obliged to pay any costs, expenses, interests, nor anything whatsoever. The persons who thus imported said drugs or spices shall be penalized and punished by the said emperor and king of Castilla or by his justices, as violators of peace and faith, according to law. Each one of the aforesaid, the emperor and king of Castilla and the King of Portugal, shall be obliged to send as many ships and persons as may be required by the other. As soon as the said spices or drugs shall be deposited and placed under embargo in the manner aforesaid, neither the said emperor and king of Castilla, nor his agents, nor any one with his favor or consent, shall go or send to the said land or lands whence were taken the said drugs or spices in this manner. All that is set forth in this section about the deposit of the spices or drugs, shall not be understood to refer to the spices or drugs which may come to any places whatsoever for the said King of Portugal.
Item: It is covenanted and agreed, that, in all the islands, lands, and seas within the said line, the vessels and people of the said emperor and king of Castilla or of his subjects, vassals or natives of his kingdom, or any others (although these latter be not his subjects, vassals, or natives of his kingdoms) shall not, with or without his command, consent, favor, and aid, enter, navigate, barter, traffic, or take on board anything whatsoever that may be in said islands, lands, or seas. Whosoever shall henceforth violate any of the aforesaid provisions, or who shall be found within said line, shall be seized by any captain, captains, or people of the said King of Portugal and shall be tried, chastised and punished by the said captains, as privateers and violators of the peace. Should they not be found inside of said line by the said captains or people of the said King of Portugal and should come to any port, land, or seigniory whatsoever of the said emperor and king of Castilla, the said emperor and king of Castilla, by his justices in that place, shall be obliged and bound to take and hold them. In the meantime the warrants and examinations proving their guilt in each of the abovesaid things, shall be sent by the said King of Portugal, or by his justices, and they shall be punished and chastised exactly as evil-doers and violators of the peace and faith.
Item: It is covenanted and agreed by said deputies that the said emperor and king of Castilla shall not, personally or through an agent, send the natives of his kingdoms, his vassals, subjects, or aliens (and although these latter be not natives of his kingdoms, or his vassals or subjects), to the said islands, lands, and seas within said line, nor shall he consent nor give them aid or favor or permit them to go there, contrary to the form and determination of this contract. Rather he shall be obliged to forbid, suppress, and prevent it as much as possible. Should the said emperor and king of Castilla, personally or through an agent, send natives of his kingdoms, or his vassals, subjects or aliens (although these latter be not natives of his kingdoms, or his vassals or subjects), to the said islands, lands, or seas within the said line or consent to such a thing, giving them aid, or favor, or permitting them to go contrary to the form and determination of this contract; and should he not forbid, suppress, or prevent it, as much as possible, the said agreement of retro vedendo becomes null and void; and the said King of Portugal shall no longer be obliged to receive the said sum, nor to sell back the rights and dominion which the said emperor and king of Castilla might have therein in any manner whatsoever, but which he has sold, renounced and delivered to the said King of Portugal by virtue of this contract, by this very act, the said sale shall remain complete and valid forever, as if at first it were made without condition and agreement to sell back. However, since it may happen that, when the aforesaid subjects, natives, or vassals of the said emperor and king of Castilla navigating as aforesaid in the southern seas, should meet with winds so tempestuous or contrary that they would be constrained by necessity to continue their course and navigation within the said line, they shall in such case incur no penalty whatever. On the contrary, when, in such circumstances, they shall come to and anchor at any land included within the said line, pertaining by virtue of this contract to the said King of Portugal, they shall be treated by his subjects, vassals, and inhabitants of said land as the vassals of his brother, as in the same manner the emperor and king of Castilla would command the Portuguese subjects to be treated who should in like manner arrive at ports in his lands of Nueva España or in any other of his ports. It is understood, however, that, when such necessity ceases, they shall immediately set sail and return to their part of the southern seas. Should the aforesaid subjects cross said line through ignorance, it is herein covenanted and agreed that they shall incur on that account no penalty whatsoever, and as long as it is not fully evident that they know themselves to be within the said line, they shall not turn about and go outside of it, as is covenanted and agreed in case of entering on account of tempestuous and contrary winds or necessity. But, when such a fact is quite evident, if it shall be proved that they have entered the line maliciously, they shall be punished and dealt with as those who shall enter the line as aforesaid and as is set forth in this contract. Should the aforesaid discover any islands or lands, while navigating within the said line, such islands or lands shall belong freely and actually to the said King of Portugal and his successors, as if they were discovered, found, and taken possession of by his own captains and vassals, at such time. It is covenanted and agreed by said deputies that the ships and vessels of the said emperor and king of Castilla and those of his subjects, vassals, and the natives of his kingdoms, may navigate and pass through the seas of the said King of Portugal, whence his fleets sail for India, only as much as may be necessary to take a due course toward the strait of Magalhanes. And if they violate the abovesaid, and sail farther over the said seas of the said King of Portugal than is mentioned above, both the said emperor and king of Castilla, if it is proved that they did it by his order, countenance, aid, or consent, and those sailing in this manner and violating the abovesaid, shall incur the above penalties, in the completeness set forth above in this contract.
Item: It was covenanted and agreed that if any of the subjects of the said emperor and king of Castilla or any others shall henceforth be seized and found within the said limits above declared, they shall be imprisoned by any captain, captains, or subjects whatsoever of the said King of Portugal and shall be tried, chastised, and punished as privateers, violators, and disturbers of the peace by the said captains. Should they not be discovered within the said line, and should afterwards come to any port whatever of the said emperor and king of Castilla, his majesty and his justices shall be obliged to seize and imprison them, until the warrants and testimonies sent by the said King of Portugal, or his justices, shall have been presented. If proved guilty of the aforesaid offenses they shall be punished and chastised to the limit as evil-doers and violators of the faith and peace, and of everything else set forth in this contract in regard to the crossing of said line by any subjects of the said emperor and king of Castilla, or any others by his command, consent, favor, or aid. It is understood that these penalties shall apply from the day when the subjects and people of the said Emperor now in and navigating those seas and regions shall be notified. Before such notification they shall not incur said penalties. It is to be understood, however, that the aforesaid refers to the people of the fleets of the said Emperor, which have until now gone to those parts and that no others be sent without incurring said penalties from the day of the signing of this contract, and henceforth during the time that the said sale be not canceled in the aforesaid manner.
Item: It was covenanted and agreed by the said deputies that the said King of Portugal shall not build nor order built for himself, or any other, any new fortress whatever in Maluco, nor within twenty leagues of it, nor any nearer Maluco than the line which is to be drawn according to this contract. It is covenanted unanimously by the said deputies of both sides that this provision shall take effect, namely, from the time that the said King of Portugal can send there a notification to make no new fortress whatever; that is to say, in the first fleet which shall sail for India from the said kingdom of Portugal, after this contract shall have been confirmed and approved by the said constituents, and sealed with their seals. There shall be no new work whatsoever undertaken on the fortress which is already built at Maluquo, from the said time henceforth; it shall only be repaired and kept in the same condition in which it may be at the aforesaid time, if the said King of Portugal so desires; to the above he shall swear and promise full compliance.
Item: It was covenanted and agreed that the fleets, which heretofore have been despatched to those regions by the said emperor and king of Castilla, be well treated in every way, by the said King of Portugal and his people; and that no embargo or obstacle to their navigation or traffic be imposed upon them. If there should be any damage, which is not looked for however, which they shall have received or shall receive from his captains or people, or shall anything have been seized from them, the said King of Portugal shall be obliged to give satisfaction, restore, make good and pay immediately all such damages suffered by the said emperor and king of Castilla, and his subjects and fleets; he shall order the offenders to be punished and chastised and he shall allow the fleets and people of the said emperor and king of Castilla to come and go as they please, freely without any obstacle whatever.
Item: It is covenanted that the said emperor and king of Castilla command letters and instructions to be given immediately to his captains and subjects who are in the said islands that they do no more trading henceforth and return at once, provided that they be allowed to bring freely whatever goods they shall have already bartered, traded, and taken on board.
Item: It is covenanted, agreed, and provided that in the instructions and letters relating to this covenant and contract, which are to be given and despatched by the said emperor and king of Castilla, it shall declare that this statement, instruction, and contract as above made is as binding as though it were made and passed in the general courts, with the express consent of the attorneys thereof; and to make it valid by his royal and absolute power, which, as king and natural lord, recognizing no temporal superior, he may exercise and shall exercise, abrogate, abolish, repeal, and annul the supplication made by the attorneys of the cities and towns of these kingdoms at the court held in the city of Toledo, in the past year, five hundred and twenty-five, concerning the trade of the said islands and lands, the reply given to it, and any law that was made on this subject in the said courts or in any others that may conflict with this.
Item: It is hereby covenanted that the said King of Portugal promises to command manifest, sincere, and summary justice to be executed, because certain subjects of the said emperor and king of Castilla and other aliens of his kingdoms who entered his service complain that their possessions have been seized by his House of Trade in India and in his kingdoms, without any respect to the annoyance caused them thereby, because they have entered the service and did serve the said Emperor.
Item: It was covenanted and agreed by the said deputies in the names of their said constituents that the treaties negotiated between the said Catholic sovereigns, Don Fernando and Doña Ysabel and the King Dom Joam the Second of Portugual in regard to the demarcation of the Ocean Sea shall remain valid and binding in toto and in every particular, as is therein contained and declared, excepting those things which are otherwise covenanted and agreed upon in this contract. In case the said emperor and king of Castilla returns the sum which according to this contract is to be given in the manner aforesaid, thus canceling the sale, the said treaties negotiated between the said Catholic sovereigns Don Fernando and Doña Ysabel and the said King Dom Joam the Second of Portugal, shall remain in full force and power, as if this contract were not made; and the said constituents shall be obliged to comply with it in every respect, as is therein stated.
Item: It is covenanted and agreed by the said attorneys that although the rights and dominion which the said emperor and king of Castilla claims to possess in the said lands, districts, seas, and islands and which he sells to the said King of Portugal in the manner abovesaid are worth more than half of the just price given, and the said emperor and king of Castilla has certain definite knowledge through exact information of persons who are experts on the subject, and who have investigated and ascertained definitely, that said rights are of much greater value and worth, more than half of the just price that the said King of Portugal gives to the said emperor and king of Castilla he is pleased to make him a gift of it, as he does in fact, which from the said day henceforth shall be valid between the living, of the said excess in value above the half of the just price, however great that excess may be. This excess in value above the half of the just price, the said emperor and king of Castilla relinquishes for himself and his successors, and disunites the same from the royal crown of his kingdoms forever, and delivers it entire to the said King of Portugal, to him and to his successors and crown of his kingdoms, really and effectually, in the aforesaid manner, and during the time of this contract.
[The treaty provides further that he who may violate its provisions in any way, shall lose all his rights therein, and shall in addition pay a fine of two hundred thousand ducats to the other. The Pope is to be asked to confirm it by a bull, imposing the penalty of excommunication for its violation. The deputies promise most fully and under oath that their respective constituents shall observe all the provisions.]
- ↑ García de Loaisa, a noted Spanish prelate, was born at Talavera (Toledo) in 1479; at the age of sixteen, he entered the Dominican order, of which he became provincial for Spain (1518), and finally general of the order. He was greatly esteemed by the emperor Charles V, who chose Loasia as his confessor; and he soon afterward became bishop of Osma, and president of the Council of the Indies. Later, he was made a cardinal, and elevated to the archbishopric of Seville. He acted as Charles's representative at the court of Rome, and was, less than a year before his death, appointed general of the Inquisition; even in that short time one hundred and twenty persons were burned at the stake, and six hundred more punished in various ways. Loaisa died April 21, 1546.
- ↑ The military order of Calatrava was formed to hold the town of that name against the Moors, and was organized in 1164; it was annexed to the Castilian crown during the reign of Cárlos I.
- ↑ It is said that this fair at Medina del Campo is still held (in May and October of each year); and that money was lent by the crown to persons who desired loans—hence the allusion in the text.