Padrón Real

The Padrón Real (Spanish pronunciation: [paˈðɾon reˈal], Royal Register), known after 2 August 1527 as the Padrón General (Spanish: [paˈðɾon xeneˈɾal], General Register), was the official and secret Spanish master map used as a template for the maps present on all Spanish ships during the 16th century. It was kept in Seville, Spain by the Casa de Contratación. Ship pilots were required to use a copy of the official government chart, or risk the penalty of a 50 doblas fine. The map probably included a large-scale chart that hung on the wall of the old Alcazar in Seville. Well known official cartographers and pilots who contributed to and used the map included Amerigo Vespucci, Diogo Ribeiro, Sebastian Cabot, Alonzo de Santa Cruz, and Juan Lopez de Velasco.

The Padrón Real was constantly improved from its first version in 1507/08. It was produced by the Seville-based Spanish organization, the Casa de Contratación, established in 1503. All returning ships had to report any details of new lands or discoveries they had made to the Casa de Contratación, together with latitudes and longitudes. The ship's officers were put under oath before they testified. The pilots at the Casa de Contratación then plotted this information on their maps. When a new ship was setting out, they would then be given charts which were copied from the master map, the Padrón Real, which was later called the Padrón General.

Diego Ribeiro, who entered Spanish service in 1518, prepared several versions of the chart, during 1525 to 1532, after Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe or after Spanish explorations in North America. Other revisions to the royal chart were directed by royal chartmakers Alonso de Chaves during 1536 and by Alonzo de Santa Cruz in 1542.

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