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of holy obedience that, employing all due diligence in the premises, as you promise, nor do we doubt your compliance therein to the best of your loyalty and royal greatness of spirit, you send to the aforesaid main-lands and islands worthy, God-fearing, learned, skilled, and experienced men, in order to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and dwellers therein in the Catholic faith and train them in good morals. Besides under penalty of excommunication late sententie to be incurred ipso facto, should any one thus contravene, we strictly forbid all persons of whatsoever rank, even imperial and royal, or of whatsoever estate, degree, order, or condition, to dare, without your special permit or that of your aforesaid heirs and successors, to go, as charged, for the purpose of trade or any other reason to the islands and mainlands found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered, towards the west and south, by drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole to the Antarctic pole, no matter whether the mainlands and islands found and to be found lie in the direction of India or towards any other quarter whatsoever, the said line to the west and south to be distant one hundred leagues from any of the islands commonly known as the Azores and Cabo Verde, the apostolic constitutions and ordinances and other decrees whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. We trust in him from whom derive empires and governments and everything good, that with his guidance, should you pursue this saintly and praiseworthy undertaking, in a short while your hardships and endeavors will result in the utmost success, to the happiness and glory of all Christendom. But inasmuch as it would be difficult to have these present letters sent to all