Colección de Documentos Inéditos Relativos al Descubrimiento, Conquista y Organización de las Antiguas Posesiones Españolas de Ultramar. Tomo 8, De Los Pleitos de Colón, II

This volume opens a window onto the tangled legal world that surrounded Christopher Columbus after his voyages. Inside, listeners will hear the very words of 15th‑century officials, lawyers, and the explorer himself as they grapple with the promises made by the Catholic Monarchs. The collection gathers unpublished papers—privilege grants, royal capitulations, and detailed accounting formulas—that reveal how the Crown tried to define the Admiral’s share of the newfound wealth.

The documents also include early correspondence that sparked the long‑running lawsuits between Columbus’s family and the Spanish Crown. Through careful readings of letters, petitions, and a consultant’s legal opinion, the listener can follow the initial arguments over thirds, tenths and eighths of profits, and the personal grievances that turned into formal disputes. By the end of the first act, the stakes of the conflict are clear, offering a vivid sense of the political and financial pressures that shaped the early years of Spain’s overseas empire.