of an Andalusian vessel which, together with others also belonging to the citizens of Seville and Cadiz, had arrived within a league of Cadiz on its return from a trading voyage to Guinea.[1] The King of Castile, or rather the two ecclesiastics who a few months before had begun their energetic management of his affairs,[2] demanded the restitution of the captured subjects of the Castilian crown and of the caravel and her cargo of Guinea merchandise. At the same time[3] these virtual rulers of Castile sent ambassadors to the King of Portugal to threaten war unless he should desist from the "conquest" of Barbary and of Guinea, which belonged to Castile. The King of Portugal, although greatly vexed, replied with much moderation that it was certain that that "conquest" belonged to him and to the kingdom of Portugal, and urged that the peace should not be broken until the truth as to the proprietorship were ascertained. Before this reply had reached the King of Castile he had fallen ill and he died in July of this year.[4] His successor, Henry IV., a king of weak character, was little fitted to oppose the pretensions of Portugal. Moreover, by August, 1454, he was already engaged in negotiating a marriage with the sister of the Portuguese king.[5]
It is probable that King Alfonso deemed the time especially propitious for a settlement of the dispute over the proprietorship of Morocco, Guinea, and the Guinea trade. In attempting to establish his claims, he would naturally seek aid from the Pope, for that potentate's independent position made him the arbitrator between nations, while his spiritual authority, in particular his powers of excommunication and interdict, gave weight to his decisions.[6] Moreover, as spiritual fathers of all the peoples of the earth, the Popes had long undertaken to regulate the relations--including the commercial relations--between Christians and unbelievers. The Lateran Council of 1179 prohibited the sale to the Saracens of arms, iron, wood to be used in construction, and anything else useful for warfare. Certain later popes prohibited all commerce with the infidels.[7] These prohibitions were, however, tempered by papal licenses to trade, which were on occasion granted to monarchs, communities, or individuals, or by the absolutions sometimes purchased by re
- ↑ "La tierra que llaman Guinea, que es de nuestra conquista." Las Casas, op. cit., I. 150.
- ↑ Nunes de Leão (do Liam), Cronicas, p. 221.
- ↑ Nunes do Liam does not give the precise date of the sending of the embassy but places it after the beginning of the year 1454 and before June of that year. He names Juan de Guzman and Fernando Lopez of Burgos as the ambassadors, whereas the letter of Apr. 10, 1454, names Juan de Guzman and Juan Alfonso of Burgos as the am bassadors who will bear the letter to the King of Portugal. Fernando Lopez was sent by Henry IV. as ambassador to Portugal in Aug., 1454. Santarem, Quadro Elementar, I. 354.
- ↑ Nunes do Liam, Cronicas, p. 222.
- ↑ Santarem, Quadro Elementar, I. 353, 354.
- ↑ On the papacy as an international power, see R. de Maulde-la-Clavière, La Diplo matie au Temps de Machiavel ( 1892), tom. I., ch. 2.
- ↑ The canon law on the subject is in Decretal. Gregor. IX., lib. V., tit. VI., cc. 6, 11, 12, and 17; Extravag. Joann. XXII., tit. VIII., c. 1; Extravag. Commun., lib. V., tit. II., c. 1.
