Christian church, in which those peoples now live, governed in civil
and political matters with peace and justice, under the shelter and
protection of the royal arm and power, which were wanting to them
when weighed down by blind tyrannies and barbarous cruelties, on
which the enemy of the human race had so long reared them for himself.

For this reason the crown and scepter of Espana have extended
themselves wherever the sun sheds its light, from its rising to its
setting, with the glory and splendor of their power and majesty, and
the Spanish monarchs have excelled the other princes of the earth by
having gained innumerable souls for heaven, which has been Espana's
principal intention and its wealth. These, together with the great
riches and treasures which Espana enjoys, and the famous deeds and
victories which it has won, cause the whole world to magnify and
extol its lofty name and the energy and valor of its subjects, who
in accomplishing these deeds have lavished their blood.

Having won America, the fourth part of the earth, of which the
ancients knew naught, they sailed in the course of the sun until
they discovered an archipelago of many islands in the eastern
ocean, adjacent to farther Asia, inhabited by various peoples,
and abounding in rich metals, precious stones, and pearls, and all
manner of fruit. There raising the standard of the Faith, they freed
those peoples from the yoke and power of the demon, and placed them
under the command and government of the Faith. Consequently they may
justly raise in those islands the pillars and trophies of Non plus
ultra which the famous Hercules left on the shore of the Cadiz Sea,
which were afterward cast down by the strong arm of Carlos V, [4]
our sovereign, who surpassed Hercules in great deeds and enterprises.