Such is the glory of the sovereigns of the Spains, which no other of the rulers of the world has ever won. To whom else than the sovereigns of the Spains, I ask, has it been given, along with the domain of the world, to perform an angel’s task, and to wear as king a diadem that has been adorned with the charge, ennobled with the dignity, and accompanied with the authority of an apostle? Should one view the temporal power of our sovereigns he will observe that they hold the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, and Bœtia [i.e., Andalusia] by hereditary right; those of Aragon, Flanders, Austria by the right of succession; and those of Sicily and Naples by the right of war. But as to the other kingdoms and provinces whereof the number is so great that one could never count them, these they hold through the free will of God and from the grant of holy Roman Church.
For should you travel from the land styled Labrador, [in the MS.: “terra quæ laboris”], which faces the north, through the land of Florida, New Spain, Tierra Firma, to the river Orellana [i.e., Amazon], and thence towards the south to the Straits of Magellan, then through the region of Chile and the kingdoms of Peru, how many thousands of leagues would you not have to cover, and of how many races of men would you not have to study diverse customs, besides languages beyond count? Moreover should you embrace the countries, which, hitherto the property of the kings of Lusitania [i.e., Portugal], now by right of succession have fallen to the crown of Castile (to our invincible monarch Philip) you would style king Philip master of the world rather than by any other title. For if, after his victory over Darius and certain other kings of Asia, Alexander of Macedon claimed to be master of the world; if the Romans who however planted not their banners on the farthest shores of Europe, or Africa, nor could subdue the whole of Asia, albeit they too styled themselves conquerors and masters of the world: by how much stronger right may not the kings of Spain be entitled, as in fact they are, the masters of the world, when under their rule and sway have fallen kingdoms without number, of boundless extent, whose very names were unknown to Alexander or to Roman ear. Lest however our words bear us farther away from our purpose, return we thither.