Beschreibung:

FERDINAND II and ISABELLA I, King and Queen of Castile and Aragon . Letter signed ("Yo el rey" and "Yo la reyna"), TO INIGO DE ARTIETA, CAPTAIN-GENERAL OF THE ARMADA OF BISCAY ["Capitan General de la Sua Armada de Vizcaya"], Barcelona, 13 November 1493. Oblong 4to, 140 x 190 mm. (5 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.), several tiny holes, minor wear at folds (partially repaired from verso), very light dampstains, matted, loosely inserted with a transcription and descriptive text in portfolio of red levant morocco, gilt-lettered spine, gilt edges, yellow watered silk doublures and endpages, by Brentanos . The text written in a clear Spanish court hand, headed at top "El Rey y la Reyna," secretarial endorsement at bottom, docketed on verso in two similar hands. DATED DURING COLUMBUS'S FIRST VOYAGE: MULEY BOABDIL, LAST MOORISH KING OF GRANADA, IS TRANSPORTED INTO EXILE (BY A CAPTAIN WHO WAS TO HAVE ACCOMPANIED COLUMBUS) A document referring to the historic exile of Abu Abdullah Muhammad (known to the Spanish as Muley Boabdil), last Moorish ruler of the ancient Islamic city-state of Granada, surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella in January 1492, which completed the Christian reconquest of present-day Spain. The King and Queen send emphatic orders to Admiral Artieta, in charge of the armada (flotilla or fleet) of Biscay: "...We command you that when you return from escorting the King Muly Boabdil and all those who went with him [into exile] you shall with the entire Biscay Armada, sail for Cadiz, and shall stay there in the Bay, without proceeding to any other place, until you see our orders in connection therewith; for we shall send you provisions there [at Cadiz] so that the said Armada shall be supplied during the period of its service and in addition that it shall be paid...." Boabdil deposed his father, Muley Abu Hassan, in 1482 to become King of Granada. He rashly invaded the neighboring Christian state of Castile and was taken prisoner in 1483. He gained his release by agreeing to make Granada a tributary state under Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1491 the Catholic rulers demanded complete control of the ancient moorish city. When Boabdil refused the city was besieged by the Christian armies and finally surrendered in January 1492. After living for some months in Andalusia, Boabdil and his followers were transported into exile to islamic North Africa by Captain Inigo de Artieta. Boabdil died in Algeria two years later. The document has very provocative links with a better-known Spanish captain, the Genoese Christopher Columbus, for de Artieta was to have accompanied Columbus on his return to Spain from the new world, but was instead ordered to remain in port at Cadiz, by the present document.