Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/756

 718 A History of th€ Knights of Malta. and support, and observe, and shall cause to be inviolably held and observed by others, these our concessions and grants, one and all, as contained above; also, our aforesaid viceroy himself, or by mtans of a commissioner or commissioners whom he may choose to nominate in our name for that purpose, shall cause to be handed over and transferred, in actual and tangibk possession as vacant and free, all, as is aforesaid, which we have conceded to the said Grand-Master and Convent, to himself, or to a procurator named in his place, to whom in every way, in order that, on their side, they complete and carry out the stipulation and agreement with the said Grand-Master and Convent, we confer power, and commit our plenary authority; and after possession shall have been duly handed over, they shall support the said Grand-Master and Convent in that power, and shall protect them vigorously against every one; nor shall they cease to be paid rents, import or export duties, or any other taxes or rights, by either of the aforesaid, to whom we have granted this feudal tenure. We also, in order to give effect to this deed, in case it should be necessary, supply all defects, nullities, faults, or omissions, if any shall chance to be included, or shall arise, or be in any manner alleged, from which in the plenitude of our royal authority, we grant a dispensation. For which purpose we have ordered the present deed to be drawn out and furnished with our official seal for the affairs of Sicily attached to it. Given at Castellum Francum, on the 23rd day of the month of March, in the year of our Lord 1530; in that of our reign as emperor the tenth year; as king of Castile, Granada, etc., the twenty-seventh; of Navarre, the sixteenth; of Aragon, both Sicilies, Jerusalem, and elsewhere, the fifteenth; and of all our realms the fifteenth. In order that the aforesaid grant and all contained therein may remain intact, and may be preserved for ever, we have drawn out three deeds, which include the provisions of the said grant, in which deeds they appear, and stand more widely specified; given under our common leaden seal on the 25th day of April last past; which deeds for their more perpetual and firmer efficacy, have been app’oved and confirmed by the Apostolic see, as also may be seen more at large in certain apostolical letters lawfully promulgated for that purpose in the usual manner, under dates of Rome, the seventh day of the kalends of May, in the year of our Lord 1530, and in the sixth year of the pontificate of our most holy lord, Clement. Hence it is that we, the Master, bailiffs, priors, preeeptors, and brothers, holding, in complete council, th powers of a lawful chapter-general, desirous, according to the design of his before-mentioned imperial majesty, and the tenor of his grant, to have and to obtain possession of the said places, as specified in that grant, and to take the steps necessary and proper for that purpose, being confident in the probity of your good faith, with the most precise sedulity, care, and authority which we possess; after the most mature and deliberate council, of our certain knowledge, in the most sure way, * The original act of donation ends here, and is signed in the handwriting of Cliarlcs V., in the following manner—Vo ci Rey.