De Orbe Novo (Decades of the New World)
Letters on the Spanish discoveries written from the court of Spain by an Italian humanist who questioned the returning voyagers. The first two books of the first decade were written in 1493 and 1494, within months of the events.
Peter Martyr wrote from the Spanish court. He calls Christopher Columbus his friend and says that he sets down what he could gather from those who came back. The second book of the first decade, addressed to an Italian prince of the church, is dated from the court on 29 April 1494 and reports the second voyage on the word of men who had returned with the first ships.
He is cited in Christianity Crosses the Atlantic for the building of a church at the new settlement and the mass said there at Epiphany 1494. His figure of thirteen priests is doubted by his translator, who thinks it counts everyone who served at the altar.
Cited in
- 1493, firm date