1492
The register of the Capitulations of Santa Fe, kept in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona.Image: XpoferenS · Public domainworld · Europe
Columbus gets his contract
On 17 April 1492, in the royal camp of Santa Fe outside newly conquered Granada, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon agreed terms with Christopher Columbus. The Capitulations of Santa Fe promised him the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor of any lands he found, plus a tenth of the wealth they produced. Within four months he sailed west. The original register entry survives in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona and is listed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World.
Source: UNESCO Memory of the World: Santa Fe Capitulations ↗
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