Pope Alexander VI issued the papal bull Dudum siquidem, one of the Bulls of Donation, marking the beginning of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

Pope Alexander VI

Bishop of Rome from 1492 to 1503

Pope Alexander VI was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503.

Papal bull

Type of decree by the Catholic pope

A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal (bulla) traditionally appended to authenticate it.

Dudum siquidem

Papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI

Dudum siquidem was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 26 September 1493, one of the Bulls of Donation addressed to the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon which supplemented the bull Inter caetera and purported to grant to them "all…

Bulls of Donation

1493 papal bulls granting territories to Spain and Portugal

The Bulls of Donation, also called the Alexandrine Bulls, and the Papal donations of 1493, are three papal bulls of Pope Alexander VI delivered in 1493 which granted overseas territories to Portugal and the Catholic Monarchs of Spain.

Spanish colonization of the Americas

The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella I of Castile. These overseas territories of the Spanish Empire were under the…