The Queen: Whereas you, Captain Francisco Pizarro, citizen of Tierra Firme, called Castilla del Oro, in your own behalf and in the name of the venerable father Don Fernando de Luque, schoolmaster and vicar general of the church of Darien, sede vacante, which is situated in the said Castilla del Oro, and Captain Diego de Almagro, citizen of the city of Panama, have related to us how you and your above mentioned associates, with the desire of serving us and to promote the welfare of and to augment our royal crown, about five years ago, more or less, with the permission and upon the advice of Pedrarias Davila, our governor and Captain General of the said Tierra Firme, undertook an expedition from the said Tierra Firme to conquer, explore, subdue, and colonize the seacoast to the south, and whatever else you might be able to accomplish, all at the expense of yourself and your above mentioned associates, and have made for that purpose two ships and a brigantine on the said coast, in which to transport the rigging and equipment necessary for the said voyage and fleet from Nombre de Dios which is on the north coast to the southern coast, as well as the men and other requirements for the said voyage, returning with the said fleet for repairs. You spent a considerable sum of gold pesos and you set out to make and did make the said discovery in which you suffered many dangers and trials, during which you were left by all your crew which came with you on an uninhabited island with only thirteen men who had refused to desert you, and with these men, and with the help from the ships and men of the said Diego de Almagro, you proceeded from the said island and discovered the lands and provinces of Peru and the city of Tumbes, in which you and your said associates have spent more than 30,000 gold pesos. Entertaining a desire to serve us further you wished to continue the said conquest and colonization at your own expense and of your own volition, without obliging us at any time to reimburse you or to pay the expenses which you might incur therein other than as may be authorized herein, and you petitioned us to charge you with the conquest of these said lands, and to concede and authorize these favors upon the conditions hereinafter contained, covering which we have ordered the following agreement and capitulation to be drawn:

Firstly, I give license and authority to you, the said Captain Francisco Pizarro, to continue for us and in our name and in the name of the Royal Crown of Castile, the said discovery, conquest, and colonization of the said province of Peru, up to 200 leagues along the coast, which said leagues are to be measured from the town called, in Indian language, Tenumpuela, renamed by you Santiago, as far as the town of Chincha, which distance is approximately the said 200 leagues.

Item: In recognition of your services to God and to us, and to honor and reward you, we agree to appoint you governor and captain general of all the said province of Peru, and of all the lands and villages which now are, or hereafter may be, in all the said 200 leagues, during all the days of your life, with a salary of seven hundred twenty-five thousand maravedis per year, counting from the day you set sail from these our realms to continue the said colonization and conquest, which amount is to be paid you out of the rentals and revenues pertaining to us in the said land which you are to colonize; from this salary you will have to pay each year the salaries of an alcalde mayor, ten shield-bearers, thirty foot soldiers, a physician, and apothecary. Your salary is to be paid to you by the officers of the Crown in that territory.

Moreover: We bestow upon you the title of Adelantado of the said province of Peru, and likewise the title of aguacil mayor of the said province, both for the term of your life.

Moreover: We empower you to construct in the said lands and provinces of Peru, with the approval and accord of our officers, no more than four fortresses in the parts and places which may be most suitable, seeming to you and our said officers to be necessary to guard and subdue the said territory, and you shall have possession of them for yourself, your heirs and assigns, successively, with a salary of seventy-five thousand maravedis per year for each of the fortresses which you are to build at your own expense, without obliging us or the sovereigns who shall succeed us to pay you at any time what you have so spent, but within five years after the completion of each fortress we shall pay you yearly during that interval the one fifth of the total amount out of the revenues of the said lands. ...

Moreover: Of the gold mined during the next six years, counting from the date of this document, by those who shall go to colonize the said land, we shall be paid one tenth; the seventh year one ninth, and so on, increasing each year until our share is the one fifth part. But of the gold and other things received as ransoms or booty or in any other way, from this date we shall be paid one fifth of all of it.

Moreover: To the citizens of the said land, for the said six years and for as much longer as we may see fit, we grant exemption from duty on all which they may import for the equipment and provision of their homes, provided it is not to be sold, and on that which they themselves, or any other persons, merchants, or traders may sell, we shall likewise grant exemption from duty for two years at the most.

Moreover: We promise that, for a period of ten years, and thereafter until we shall give orders to the contrary, we will not impose any taxes or any other tribute on the citizens of the said land.

Moreover: We grant to the said inhabitants and colonists that they shall be given by you groundplots and lands suitable to them, in accordance with what has been done and is being done in the island of Hispaniola. Likewise we shall give you power–in our name and during your term as governor–to grant the Indians in those lands in encomienda, following the instructions and ordinances which shall be given to you. ...

Moreover: We make you a present of twenty-five mares and as many horses from those which we have on the island of Jamaica, and should there be none when you ask for them, we are not to be held for the price of them nor for anything else on account of them.

Moreover: We reimburse you for the three hundred thousand maravedis paid out by you in Castilla del Oro for the artillery and munitions which you had to bring to the said province of Peru, taking the word of our officials in the House of the Indies at Sevilla as to the things which you bought and the cost of them, counting interest and exchange. We also reimburse you for an additional two hundred ducats paid out by you in Castilla del Oro for the transportation of the said artillery and munitions and other things from Nombre de Dios to the southern seacoast.

Moreover: We permit you to transport from these our kingdoms and from the kingdom of Portugal and from Cape Verde Islands and wherever you may desire, to the said land of your governorship, fifty negro slaves, of which number at least one third shall be females. These slaves are to pass free of all duties pertaining to us, with the provision that, if you abandon them or any part of them on the island of Espanola, San Juan, Cuba, Santiago, or in Castilla del Oro, or in any other place, those abandoned shall be lost to you and shall, by the provision of this document, revert to our exchequer and treasury. ...

All the provisions herein-before-stated we concede to you provided that you, the said Captain Pizarro, go out from these kingdoms with the ships, equipment, supplies and other things necessary for the said voyage and colonization, and with two hundred and fifty men, one hundred and fifty of them from our kingdoms and other sections not prohibited, and that the other hundred men may be taken from the islands and the mainland of the great Main, provided that from the mainland known as Castilla del Oro you shall not take more than twenty men, but those who made the first and second voyages to Peru with you we give permission to go with you this time also. You must comply with all these provisions within six months of the date of this document: having arrived at the said Castilla del Oro and at Panama you shall be required to continue the said voyage and make the said discovery and colonization within another six months thereafter.

Moreover: We shall require that when you go out from these kingdoms and proceed to the said provinces of Peru you shall take with you such officials of our exchequer as we shall select; and also such religious and ecclesiastical persons as we shall appoint for instructing the Indians and natives of that province in our Holy Catholic Faith, with whose counsel, and not without it, you are to make this conquest, discovery, and colonization. You are to give and pay the traveling and other expenses necessary for the proper maintenance of these clerics, for which you shall take nothing from them during the said journey; we especially ask you to do this as a service to God and to us, otherwise we shall deem you ungrateful.

Moreover: We shall require that in the said subjugation, conquest, and treatment of the said Indians as to their persons and properties, you shall follow the ordinances and instruction which we have made or may make for this purpose, and which shall be given to you in our letter and writ which we shall issue for the protection of the said Indians. If you, the said Captain Francisco Pizarro keep and fulfill all the provisions of this capitulation which concerns you, we promise and assure you on our royal word that from now on we shall order to be kept and there shall be kept all that we herein concede and grant to you and to the settlers and traders of the said land; and for the execution and fulfillment of which we shall send the necessary letters and writs, first requiring you, the said Captain Francisco Pizarro, to swear before a notary public that you will keep and fulfill the provisions which concern you in this capitulation.