May 1, 1486

.On May 1, 1486, permission having been granted, I presented my plans to Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a committee. After the passing of much time, these savants of Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, reported back that I had judged the distance to Asia much too short. They pronounced the idea impractical, and advised their Royal Highnesses to pass on the proposed venture.

However, to keep me from taking my ideas elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their options open, the King and Queen of Spain gave me an annual allowance of 12,000 maravedis and in 1489 furnished me with a letter ordering all Spanish cities and towns to provide me food and lodging at no cost.Which was pretty sweet.

After continually lobbying at the Spanish court and two years of negotiations, I finally had success in 1492. Ferdinand and Isabella had just conquered Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian peninsula, and they received me in Córdoba, in the Alcázar castle. Isabella turned me down on the advice of her confessor, and I was leaving town by mule in despair, when Ferdinand intervened. Isabella then sent a royal guard to fetch me and Ferdinand later claimed credit for being "the principal cause why those islands were discovered".

About half of the financing was to come from private Italian investors, yours truly had already lined up. Financially broke after the Granada campaign, the monarchs left it to the royal treasurer to shift funds among various royal accounts on behalf of the enterprise. I was to be made "Admiral of the Seas" and would receive a portion of all profits. The terms were unusually generous, but as my son later wrote, the monarchs did not really expect him to return.

According to the contract that I had made with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, if Myself discovered any new islands or mainland, I would receive many high rewards. In terms of power, he would be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands. I had the right to nominate three persons, from whom the sovereigns would choose one, for any office in the new lands. I would be entitled to 10 percent of all the revenues from the new lands in perpetuity; this part was denied to me in the contract, although it was one of my most-wanted demands. Additionally, I would also have the option of buying one-eighth interest in any commercial venture with the new lands and receive one-eighth of the profits.