What Role Did the Royal Chancery Play in Columbus’ Discovery of America?
The Santa Fe Capitulations were issued via the Royal Chancery, which secured Christopher Columbus’ voyage, resulting in the discovery of America in the 15th century.
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What Is a Royal Chancery?
A Royal Chancery is a medieval writing office responsible for the production of official documents.
Letters and Orders
The practice of noting in books the most important letters and orders stamped and issued by the Royal Chancery became favored due to the extended use of paper. The preliminary registration of royal documents became a procedure as mandatory as the stamp itself.
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Royal Influence in Life
No area of life was free from royal influence and no part of reality was left out of the registers of the Royal Chancery. From the smallest enterprise to those the most lasting consequences for humanity, everything was registered in the volumes of the Royal Archive.
Royal Chancery and Royal Subjects
The Royal Chancery register displayed the monarch’s rights and prerogatives, which affected the his subjects. Subjects had to pay to obtain exclusive rights for anything from the operation of mines to the legitimization of natural children.
Ferdinand II (1600/1643) by Pieter van Sompel after Pieter Claesz SoutmanNational Gallery of Art, Washington DC
The Crown of Aragon
In the volumes which comprised the Royal Chancery of the Crown of Aragon, the guardians of Ferdinand II of Aragon’s secret stamp entered all the documents issued by the royal power.
Capitulations of Admiral Don Cristóbal Colón or "de Santa Fe" 1 (15th century) by King of AragonUNESCO Memory of the World
Santa Fe Capitulations
The Santa Fe Capitulations is a Royal Chancery document containing the capitulations Christopher Columbus signed with the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in Santa Fe de la Vega on 17 April 1492, a few months after the capture of Granada.
Columbus' Flagship "Santa Maria," Columbus Naval Parade, New York Harbor, U.S.A. Columbus' Flagship "Santa Maria," Columbus Naval Parade, New York Harbor, U.S.A. (1893) by John F. JarvisThe J. Paul Getty Museum
What Did the Santa Fe Capitulations Result In?
The Capitulations reached between the Crown secured Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the West Indies resulting in an unprecedented extension of the world horizon.
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Discovery of America
Christopher Columbus’ expedition led to the discovery, conquest, and colonization of the West Indies and the discovery of America in the same year.
Columbus With King & Queen Of SpainLIFE Photo Collection
Further Significance of the Santa Fe Capitulations
The Capitulations is a unique document that represents the Chancery Registers in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon regarding the culture, society, institutions, and proceedings of 15th-century Europe.
Santa Fe Capitulations (15th century) by King of AragonUNESCO Memory of the World
