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69-573: Inter caetera ('Among other [works]') was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on the 4 May 1493 , which granted to the Catholic Monarchs King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde islands. It remains unclear whether

138-698: A coast whose existence was not merely suspected, but already known". The line was not strictly enforced—the Spanish did not resist the Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian. However, Spain attempted to stop the Portuguese advance in Asia, by claiming the meridian line ran around the world, dividing the whole world in half rather than just the Atlantic. Portugal pushed back, seeking another papal pronouncement that limited

207-517: A fleet (an armada led by Francisco de Almeida ) to depart shortly and take possession of the new lands. The Spanish rulers replied that Spain owned the islands discovered by Columbus and warned King João not permit anyone from Portugal to go there. Finally, the rulers invited Portugal to send ambassadors to begin diplomatic negotiations aimed at settling the rights of each nation in the Atlantic. On 4 May 1493, Pope Alexander VI ( Rodrigo Borgia ), an Aragonese from Valencia by birth, decreed in

276-542: A heraldic device of the Farnese family, from which Pope Paul III descended. Since the late 18th century, the lead bulla has been replaced with a red ink stamp of Saints Peter and Paul with the reigning pope's name encircling the picture, though very formal letters, e.g. the bull of Pope John XXIII convoking the Second Vatican Council , still receive the leaden seal. Original papal bulls exist in quantity only after

345-429: A series of nonbinding expert opinions produced over the next several decades. Their computations were further complicated by remaining uncertainty about the exact equatorial circumference of the earth. As such, each proposed line can be variously computed using geographical leagues defined in terms of a degree using a ratio which applies regardless of the size of the earth or using a specifically measured league applied to

414-671: A settlement because the return route across the Pacific was unknown. King Philip II succeeded in 1565 when he sent Miguel López de Legazpi and Andrés de Urdaneta , establishing the initial Spanish trading post at Cebu and later founding Manila in 1571. Besides Brazil and the Moluccas, Portugal eventually controlled Angola , Mozambique , Portuguese Guinea , and São Tomé and Príncipe (among other territories and bases) in Africa ; several bases or territories such as Muscat , Ormus and Bahrain in

483-488: A short " datum " that mentioned the place of issuance, day of the month and year of the pope's pontificate on which issued, and signatures, near which was attached the seal. For the most solemn bulls, the pope signed the document himself, in which case he used the formula " Ego N. Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus " ("I, N., Bishop of the Catholic Church"). Following the signature in this case would be an elaborate monogram ,

552-432: A shorter beard made of dome-shaped globetti (beads in relief). Each head was surrounded by a circle of globetti , and the rim of the seal was surrounded by an additional ring of such beads, while the heads themselves were separated by a depiction of a cross. On the reverse was the name of the issuing pope in the nominative Latin form, with the letters "PP", for Pastor Pastorum ("Shepherd of Shepherds"). This disc

621-425: Is east of the Moluccas' longitude of 127°24 ′ E by 17°21 ′ , which is remarkably close by 16th-century standards to the treaty's 17° east. This longitude passes through the eastern end of the main north Japanese island of Hokkaidō and through the eastern end of New Guinea, which is where Frédéric Durand placed the demarcation line. Moriarty and Keistman placed the demarcation line at 147°E by measuring 16.4° east from

690-649: The Bulls of Donation . While these bulls purported to settle disputes between Spain and Portugal , they did not address the exploratory and colonial ambitions of other nations, which became more of an issue after the Protestant Reformation . Before Christopher Columbus received support for his voyage from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, he had first approached King John II of Portugal. The king's scholars and navigators reviewed Columbus's documentation, determined that his calculations grossly underestimated

759-615: The Canary Islands (which had been ceded to Spain). Columbus's arrival in supposedly Asiatic lands in the western Atlantic Ocean in 1492 threatened the unstable relations between Portugal and Spain. With word that King John was preparing a fleet to sail to the west, the King and Queen of Spain initiated diplomatic discussions over the rights to possess and govern the newly found lands. Spanish and Portuguese delegates met and debated from April to November 1493, without reaching an agreement. Columbus

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828-609: The Inter caetera were never successful. Inter caetera states: Among other works well pleasing to the Divine Majesty and cherished of our heart, this assuredly ranks highest, that in our times especially the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to

897-462: The obverse it depicted, originally somewhat crudely, the early Fathers of the Church of Rome , the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul , identified by the letters S anctus PA ulus and S anctus PE trus (thus, SPA •SPE or SPASPE ). St. Paul, on the left, was shown with flowing hair and a long pointed beard composed of curved lines, while St. Peter, on the right, was shown with curly hair and

966-558: The 11th century onward, when the transition from fragile papyrus to the more durable parchment was made. None survives in entirety from before 819. Some original lead bullae , however, still survive from as early as the 6th century. In terms of content, the bull is simply the format in which a decree of the pope appears. Any subject may be treated in a bull, and many were and are, including statutory decrees, episcopal appointments, dispensations , excommunications , apostolic constitutions , canonizations , and convocations . The bull

1035-466: The 1479 Treaty of Alcáçovas . The treaty had been ratified with the 1481 papal bull Aeterni regis , which confirmed previous bulls of 1452 ( Dum diversas ), 1455 ( Romanus Pontifex ), and 1456 ( Inter caetera ), recognizing Portuguese territorial claims along the West African coast. It was the King's understanding that the terms of the treaty acknowledged Portuguese claims to all territory south of

1104-582: The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, which moved the line further west to a meridian 370 leagues west of the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands, now explicitly giving Portugal all newly discovered lands east of the line. In response to Portugal's discovery of the Spice Islands in 1512, the Spanish put forward the idea, in 1518, that Pope Alexander had divided the world into two halves. By this time, however, other European powers had overwhelmingly rejected

1173-599: The Americas returned to Spain in 1499. This authorization to take non-Christian peoples' lands was cited by U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall almost 300 years later as he was developing the discovery doctrine in international law. In the 21st century, groups such as the Shawnee , Lenape , Taíno , and Kanaka Maoli organised protests and raised petitions seeking to repeal the papal bull Inter caetera , and to remind Catholic leaders of "the record of conquest, disease and slavery in

1242-412: The Americas, sometimes justified in the name of Christianity", which they say has a devastating effect on their cultures today. Papal bull Papal bulls have been in use at least since the 6th century, but the phrase was not used until around the end of the 13th century, and then only internally for unofficial administrative purposes. However, it had become official by the 15th century, when one of

1311-518: The Apostolic Grant and Donation of the Indies and dated 25 September 1493, gave all mainlands and islands, "at one time or even still belonging to India" to Spain, even if east of the line. The Portuguese King John II was not pleased with that arrangement, feeling that it gave him far too little land—it prevented him from possessing India, his near-term goal. By 1493, Portuguese explorers had reached

1380-559: The Azores and Cape Verde. The bull notes that the Isabella and Ferdinand "had intended to seek out and discover certain islands and mainlands remote and unknown" but had been otherwise engaged in the conquest of Granada. The line of demarcation divided Atlantic zones only. Spain and Portugal could pass each other toward the west or east, respectively, on the other side of the globe and still possess whatever lands they were first to discover. The bull

1449-482: The Florentine engraver Benvenuto Cellini was paid 50 scudi to recreate the metal matrix which would be used to impress the lead bullae of Pope Paul III . Cellini retained definitive iconographic items like the faces of the two apostles, but he carved them with a much greater attention to detail and artistic sensibility than had previously been in evidence. On the reverse of the seal he added several fleurs-de-lis ,

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1518-524: The Indies. Father Bernardo Buil of the Order of Minims left Cádiz for America on 25 September 1493, on the second Columbus expedition. Once on the island of Hispaniola, Buil saw the effects of the conquistadors and quarreled with Columbus over the harsh treatment of colonists and Indians. Seeing that the situation for evangelization and catechizing was impossible, Buil left for Spain, defeated, within six months on 3 December 1494. Two other friars whom he had left in

1587-500: The Junta of Badajoz to meet in an attempt to reach an agreement on the anti-meridian, which ultimately failed. It was finally agreed in the Treaty of Zaragoza (or Saragossa), signed on 22 April 1529, that Spain would relinquish its claims to the Moluccas upon the payment of 350,000 ducats of gold by Portugal to Spain. To prevent Spain from encroaching upon Portugal's Moluccas, the anti-meridian

1656-483: The Moluccas in the 1598 London edition of Linschoten , and on the 1607 world map of Petro Kærio, identified as a north–south chain of islands in the northwest Pacific, which were also called the "Islas de los Ladrones" (Islands of the Thieves) during that period. Their name was changed by Spain in 1667 to "Islas de las Marianas" ( Mariana Islands ), which include Guam at their southern end. Guam's longitude of 144°45 ′ E

1725-534: The Pacific Ocean. Although the Philippines were not named in the treaty, Spain implicitly relinquished any claim to them because they were well west of the line. Nevertheless, by 1542, Charles V decided to colonize the Philippines, judging that Portugal would not protest because the archipelago had no spices. Although a number of expeditions sent from New Spain arrived in the Philippines, they were unable to establish

1794-562: The Persian Gulf, Goa , Bombay and Daman and Diu (among other coastal cities) in India ; Ceylon , and Malacca , bases in present-day Indonesia as Makassar , Solor , Ambon , and Portuguese Timor , the entrepôt -base of Macau and the entrepôt-enclave of Dejima ( Nagasaki ) in the Far East. Spain, on the other hand, would control vast western regions in the Americas, in areas ranging from

1863-602: The Portuguese King sent a threatening letter to the Catholic Monarchs , King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella , stating that by the Treaty of Alcáçovas signed in 1479 and by the 1481 papal bull Aeterni regis that granted all lands south of the Canary Islands to Portugal, all of the lands discovered by Columbus belonged, in fact, to Portugal. The Portuguese king also stated that he was already making arrangements for

1932-620: The Portuguese already knew of the South American bulge that makes up most of Brazil before this time, so his landing in Brazil was not an accident. One scholar points to Cabral's landing on the Brazilian coast 12 degrees farther south than the expected Cape São Roque , such that "the likelihood of making such a landfall as a result of freak weather or a navigational error was remote; and it is highly probable that Cabral had been instructed to investigate

2001-717: The Treaty of Tordesillas. Portugal and Spain largely respected the treaties, while the indigenous peoples of the Americas did not acknowledge them. The treaty was included by UNESCO in 2007 in its Memory of the World Programme . Originals of both treaties are kept at the General Archive of the Indies in Spain and at the Torre do Tombo National Archive in Portugal. The Treaty of Tordesillas

2070-481: The Treaty of Zaragoza. This north–south chain occupies two degrees of latitude bisected by the equator at about 127°24 ′ E, with Ternate, Tidore, Moti, and Makian north of the equator and Bacan south of it. Although the treaty's Santo Thome island has not been identified, its "Islas de las Velas" (Islands of the Sails) appear in a 1585 Spanish history of China, on the 1594 world map of Petrus Plancius , on an anonymous map of

2139-401: The actual equatorial circumference of the earth, with allowances necessary for the imperfect Portuguese and Spanish knowledge of its true dimensions. Initially, the line of demarcation did not encircle the earth. Instead, Spain and Portugal could conquer any new lands they were the first to discover, Spain to the west and Portugal to the east, even if they passed each other on the other side of

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2208-515: The bull Inter caetera that all lands west of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands should belong to Castile, although territory under Christian rule as of Christmas 1492 would remain untouched. The bull did not mention Portugal or its lands, so Portugal could not claim newly discovered lands even if they were east of the line. Another bull, Dudum siquidem , entitled Extension of

2277-618: The bull is the only written communication in which the pope will refer to himself as " Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei " ("Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God"). While papal bulls always used to bear a metal seal, they now do so only on the most solemn occasions. A papal bull is today the most formal type of public decree or letters patent issued by the Vatican Chancery in the name of the pope. A bull's format formerly began with one line in tall, elongated letters containing three elements:

2346-517: The diameter of the Earth and thus the length of the voyage, and recommended against subsidizing the expedition. Upon Columbus's return from his first voyage to the Americas, his first landing was made in the Portuguese Azores ; a subsequent storm drove his ship to Lisbon on 4 March 1493. Hearing of Columbus's discoveries, the Portuguese king informed him that he believed the voyage to be in violation of

2415-516: The division of the world between only two Catholic nations brokered by the pope. The Treaty of Tordesillas only specified the line of demarcation in leagues from the Cape Verde Islands. It did not specify the length of the league, its equivalent in equatorial degrees, or which of the Cape Verde islands was intended. Instead, the treaty provided that these matters were to be settled by a joint voyage. This voyage never occurred, and instead there were only

2484-525: The earth into unequal hemispheres. Portugal's portion was roughly 191° whereas Spain's portion was roughly 169°. Both portions have a large uncertainty of ±4° because of the wide variation in the opinions regarding the location of the Tordesillas line. Portugal gained control of all lands and seas west of the Zaragoza line, including all of Asia and its neighboring islands so far discovered, leaving Spain most of

2553-402: The east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Castile, modifying an earlier bull by Pope Alexander VI . The treaty was signed by Spain on 2 July 1494 , and by Portugal on 5 September 1494 . The other side of the world was divided a few decades later by the Treaty of Zaragoza , signed on 22 April 1529 , which specified the antimeridian to the line of demarcation specified in

2622-410: The eleventh century, after which it was rapidly superseded by a rough kind of parchment . Modern scholars have retroactively used the word "bull" to describe any elaborate papal document issued in the form of a decree or privilege , solemn or simple, and to some less elaborate ones issued in the form of a letter. Popularly, the name is used for any papal document that contains a metal seal. Today,

2691-412: The faith itself. ...[W]e ... assign to you and your heirs and successors, kings of Castile and Leon, ... all 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 north, ...to ...the south, ... the said line to be distant one hundred leagues towards the west and south from any of the islands commonly known as

2760-411: The first two. A final edict, Dudum siquidem of 26 September 1493 , supplemented the Inter caetera . The Inter caetera and the following Treaty of Tordesillas defined and delineated a zone of Spanish rights exclusive of Portugal. In relation to other states the agreement was legally ineffective ( res inter alios acta ). Spain's attempts to persuade other European powers on the legal validity of

2829-424: The globe. But Portugal's discovery of the highly valued Moluccas in 1512 caused Spain to argue in 1518 that the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the earth into two equal hemispheres. After the surviving ships of Magellan 's fleet visited the Moluccas in 1521, Spain claimed that those islands were within its western hemisphere. The Treaty of Vitoria, negotiated between Spain and Portugal on 19 February 1524, called for

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2898-410: The heads of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul on one side and the pope's name on the other. Papal bulls were originally issued by the pope for many kinds of communication of a public nature, but by the 13th century, papal bulls were only used for the most formal or solemn of occasions. Papyrus seems to have been used almost uniformly as the material for these documents until the early years of

2967-489: The large modern Indonesian archipelago of the Maluku Islands , to 16th-century Europeans the Moluccas were a small chain of islands, the only place on earth where cloves grew, just west of the large north Malukan island of Halmahera (called Gilolo at the time). Cloves were so prized by Europeans for the medicinal uses that they were worth their weight in gold. 16th- and 17th-century maps and descriptions indicate that

3036-530: The line of demarcation to the Atlantic. This was given by Pope Leo X , who was friendly toward Portugal and its discoveries, in 1514 in the bull Praecelsae devotionis . The divided possessions sanctioned by the treaty continued, even when Spain and Portugal were united under a single king between 1580 and 1640, until the treaty was superseded by the 1750 Treaty of Madrid . Emerging Protestant maritime powers, particularly England and The Netherlands, and other third parties such as Catholic France, did not recognize

3105-449: The main islands were Ternate , Tidore , Moti , Makian and Bacan , although the last was often ignored even though it was by far the largest island. The principal island was Ternate at the chain's northern end (0°47 ′ N, only 11 kilometres (7 mi) in diameter) on whose southwest coast the Portuguese built a stone fort ( Forte de São João Baptista de Ternate ) during 1522–23, which could only be repaired, not modified, according to

3174-569: The newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile , along a meridian 370 miles west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. That line of demarcation was about halfway between Cape Verde (already Portuguese) and the islands visited by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage (claimed for Castile and León), named in the treaty as Cipangu and Antillia ( Cuba and Hispaniola ). The lands to

3243-692: The notion that the Pope had the right to convey sovereignty of regions as vast as the New World. Even within Spain, influential voices such as Francisco de Vitoria had denounced the validity of the Inter caetera . While Spain never gave up its claims based on papal bulls, neither did the Spanish crown seek papal sanctions over the Atlantic Ocean line of demarcation. Rather, Spain negotiated directly with Portugal. On 25 June 1493, King Ferdinand secured another papal bull, Piis fidelium , appointing him apostolic vicar in

3312-494: The offices of the Apostolic Chancery was named the "register of bulls" (" registrum bullarum "). By the accession of Pope Leo IX in 1048, a clear distinction developed between two classes of bulls of greater and less solemnity. The majority of the "great bulls" now in existence are in the nature of confirmations of property or charters of protection accorded to monasteries and religious institutions. In an era when there

3381-521: The other was deceived", concluding that it was a "diplomatic triumph for Portugal, confirming to the Portuguese not only the true route to India, but most of the South Atlantic". The treaty was negotiated without consulting Pope Alexander VI and effectively countered his bulls. However, it was subsequently sanctioned by his successor Pope Julius II by means of the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis of 24 January 1506 and therefore some sources call

3450-520: The pope intended a "donation" of sovereignty or an infeudation or investiture . Differing interpretations have been argued since the bull was issued, with some arguing that it was only meant to transform the possession and occupation of land into lawful sovereignty. Others, including the Spanish crown and the conquistadors , interpreted it in the widest possible sense, deducing that it gave Spain full political sovereignty. Inter caetera and its supplement Dudum siquidem (September 1493) are two of

3519-439: The pope's name, the papal title " Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei " ("Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God "), and its incipit , i.e., the first few Latin words from which the bull took its title for record-keeping purposes, but which might not be directly indicative of the bull's purpose. The body of the text was often very simple in layout, and it had no specific conventions for its formatting. The closing section consisted of

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3588-462: The present-day United States to present-day Argentina, an empire that would extend to the Philippines, and bases in Ternate and Formosa (17th century). The attitude towards the treaty that other governments had was expressed by France's Francis I , who declared, "The sun shines for me as it does for others. I would very much like to see the clause of Adam 's will by which I should be denied my share of

3657-435: The resulting line the "Papal Line of Demarcation". Very little of the newly divided area had actually been seen by Europeans, as it was only divided via the treaty. Castile gained lands including most of the Americas, which in 1494 had little proven wealth. The easternmost part of current Brazil was granted to Portugal when in 1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral landed there while he was en route to India. Some historians contend that

3726-571: The signatures of any witnesses, and then the seal. In modern times, a member of the Roman Curia signs the document on behalf of the pope, usually the Cardinal Secretary of State , and thus the monogram is omitted. The most distinctive characteristic of a bull was the metal seal ( bulla ), which was usually made of lead , but on very solemn occasions was made of gold , as those on Byzantine imperial instruments often were (see Golden Bull ). On

3795-547: The southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope . The Portuguese were unlikely to go to war over the islands encountered by Columbus, but the explicit mention of India was a major issue. As the Pope had not made changes, the Portuguese king opened direct negotiations with the Catholic Monarchs to move the line to the west and allow him to claim newly discovered lands east of the line. In the bargain, John accepted Inter caetera as

3864-403: The starting point of discussion with Ferdinand and Isabella but had the boundary line moved 270 leagues west, protecting the Portuguese route down the coast of Africa and giving the Portuguese rights to lands that now constitute the eastern quarter of Brazil. As one scholar assessed the results, "both sides must have known that so vague a boundary could not be accurately fixed, and each thought that

3933-719: The territory of the Amazon River basin. Portugal would relinquish the colony of Sacramento , on the left bank of the River Plata in modern-day Uruguay, while getting the territory of the Seven Missions . Following the Guarani War , the treaty was annulled by Spain and Portugal in the Treaty of El Pardo (1761) . The border was eventually settled in the First Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777, with Spain acquiring territories east of

4002-487: The time being, the question was in abeyance. An important but unanticipated effect of this papal bull and the Treaty of Tordesillas was that nearly all the Pacific Ocean and the west coast of North America were given to Spain. King John II naturally declined to enter into a hopeless competition at Rome, and simply ignored the bulls, thus neither admitting their authority nor defying the Church. According to Oskar Spate , if Rome

4071-415: The western end of New Guinea (or 17° east of 130°E). Despite the treaty's clear statement that the demarcation line passes 17° east of the Moluccas, some sources place the line just east of the Moluccas. The Treaty of Zaragoza did not modify or clarify the line of demarcation provided by the Treaty of Tordesillas, nor did it validate Spain's claim to equal hemispheres (180° each), so the two lines divided

4140-420: The world." On January 13, 1750, King John V of Portugal and Ferdinand VI of Spain signed the Treaty of Madrid, in which both parties sought to establish the borders between Brazil and Spanish America, admitting that the Treaty of Tordesillas, as it had been envisioned in 1494, had been superseded, and was considered void. Spanish sovereignty was acknowledged over the Philippines, while Portugal would get

4209-511: Was amicable to any requests of Isabella and Ferdinand, to the extent that they could write to Columbus saying that if he thought it necessary, one of the bulls would be modified. They were at Barcelona, in close touch with Rome. The camera apostolica became almost an extension of the Spanish Court, which secured a rapid succession of bulls virtually liquidating Portuguese claims. The Pope issued edicts dated 3 and 4 May 1493 . The third superseded

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4278-567: Was in Ferdinand's pocket, highly placed personages at the Spanish Court were in King John's, and kept him well informed of its moves. Controlling the sea lanes from Spain to the Antilles and in possession of bases in the Azores and Madeira , Portugal occupied a strategic naval position and he chose to pursue negotiations. Neither side paid any attention to Pope Alexander's bulls. Instead, they negotiated

4347-509: Was intended to solve the dispute that arose following the return of Christopher Columbus and his crew, who had sailed under the Crown of Castile. On his way back to Spain , he first stopped at Lisbon, where he requested another meeting with King John II to prove to him that there were more islands to the southwest of the Canary Islands. After learning of the Castilian-sponsored voyage,

4416-399: Was much fabrication of such documents, those who procured bulls from Rome wished to ensure that the authenticity of their bull was above suspicion. A papal confirmation, under certain conditions, could be pleaded as itself constituting sufficient evidence of title in cases where the original deed had been lost or destroyed. Since the 12th century, papal bulls have carried a leaden seal with

4485-405: Was silent regarding whether lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal, which had only recently reached the southern tip of Africa (1488) and had not yet reached India (1498). These lands yet "to be discovered" lay beyond those along the west coast of Africa as far as Guinea , and were given to Portugal via the 1481 bull Aeterni regis , which had ratified the Treaty of Alcáçovas . For

4554-542: Was still in Lisbon when he sent a report of his success to the Spanish monarchs. On 11 April, the Spanish ambassador conveyed the news to Pope Alexander VI , a Spaniard and the former Administrator of Valencia , and urged him to issue a new bull favorable to Spain. At the time, Pope Alexander, as ruler of the Papal States , was embroiled in a territorial dispute with Ferdinand's first cousin, Ferdinand I, King of Naples , hence he

4623-683: Was the exclusive letter format from the Vatican until the 14th century, when the papal brief appeared. The brief is the less formal form of papal communication and was authenticated with a wax impression, now a red ink impression, of the Ring of the Fisherman . Treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas , signed in Tordesillas , Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal , Portugal, divided

4692-504: Was then attached to the document either by cords of hemp , in the case of letters of justice and executory letters, or by red and yellow silk , in the case of letters of grace, that was looped through slits in the vellum of the document. The term " bulla " derives from the Latin " bullire " ("to boil"), and alludes to the fact that, whether of wax, lead, or gold, the material making the seal had to be melted to soften it for impression. In 1535,

4761-470: Was to be 297 + 1 ⁄ 2 leagues or 17° to the east of the Moluccas, passing through the islands of Las Velas and Santo Thome. This distance is slightly smaller than the 300 leagues determined by Magellan as the westward distance from los Ladrones to the Philippine island of Samar , which is just west of due north of the Moluccas. The Moluccas are a group of islands west of New Guinea. However, unlike

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