Tordesillas, in the beginning of March.[1] The king was not a little pleased with the reports, gilded as they were with the richest presents that had as yet reached him from his American possessions,[2] but he was unfortunately too absorbed with the imperial crown and the preparations for departure to give more than a passing attention to the subject, and still less would he enter into the merits of the claims presented. Finding, however, that Fonseca had not been impartial in the matter, he was prevailed on to refer it to Cardinal Adrian, and the junta of prelates and ministers governing the kingdom during the royal absence, before whom the Council of the Indies had also to lay its reports. The messengers were meanwhile allowed under bond to receive from the seized funds what was needed for their support.[3] The powerful Fonseca managed, however, by misrepresentation and other means, to delay the case, and for about two years it dragged its weary length. And yet, where a man is strong enough to carve out his own fortune, particularly where the administration of strict justice might send his neck to the halter, the law's delay and its susceptibility to perversion may be most fortunate.
- ↑ Sandoval, Hist. Carlos V., i. 203. Viniéronse con la corte hasta llegar á la Coruña, y en este camino los cognoscí yo.' Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 499; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. ix. cap. vii.
- ↑ In the Manual de la Casa de Contratacion de la Indias is noted that the Cempoala natives were presented to the king, at Tordesillas, in February, or March, 1520, and the presents at Valladolid in April. The Indians were sent to Cuba at the close of March, 1521, except one who had died. Cortés, Cartas, 34; Alaman, Disert., i. 91-104.
- ↑ According to Bernal Diaz the bishop of Búrgos retained not only the original letters of the king, but a portion of the presents, which produced a sharp letter from Charles. The duplicate letters reached him, however. Hist. Verdad., 38-9. This author is not well informed about the movements of the procuradores. He lets the king reach Flanders before they arrive, and there receive only the reports.
