om the biographers
of Columbus were so deeply indebted. The date of the first of these
papers is July, 1494, and relates to payments made to Berardi, as
outfitter of the ships for the voyages of Columbus. By royal decree,
April 11, 1505, the queen's treasurer is commanded to pay to Vespucci
twelve thousand maravedis. Another decree, of March 22, 1508, grants
Vespucci, as chief pilot of the kingdom, a salary of fifty thousand
maravedis, subsequently increased to seventy-five thousand. Then
follows the royal declaration (from which we have quoted), setting
forth the duties of the pilot-major, which was issued during the
regency of the crazy queen, Juana, and addressed to "Amerigo
Despuchi."

There is no reference to the date and place of Vespucci's death; but
this is not considered singular, in view of the fact that the demise
of Columbus was officially unnoticed at the time. There is, rather, no
direct reference; though confirmation of that event occurs in the
continuation of his accounts to the day of his death, and after, one
of which relates to the payment of ten thousand nine hundred and
thirty-seven maravedis to Manuel Catano, a canon of Seville, as the
executor of Vespucci's will, "that amount being the balance of his
salary due at the date of his death."

One of the very few references to the wife of Vespucci is contained in
a royal decree of May 22, 1512, which grants a pension for life to his
widow, Maria Cerezo, of ten thousand maravedis per annum. By a later
decree, this pension is declared a fixed charge against the salary of
the chief pilot and his successors. These were, in order of
succession, Juan Diaz de Solis and Sebastian Cabot, after whom came
others not so famous as these great navigators.

These papers are cited to show that Amerigo Vespucci was not looked
upon as an adventurer by the dignitaries of Spain; that, on the
contrary, he was held in great esteem, honored with the highest office
in the gift of the king, in which his great accomplishments could have
full scope. He filled that office with eminent ability, to the
complete satisfaction of King Ferdinand, and when he died, on February
22, 1512, he left behind a name untarnished, a reputation for probity
unsullied. Despite the honors accorded him by the kings of Spain and
Portugal, however, and the high positions he occupied, he left no
fortune for his heirs. His valuable papers were bequeathed to his
nephew, Juan Vespucci, whom he loved lik