Atlantic slave trade

18 August 1518

Charles I of Spain granted his courtier Laurent de Gorrevod, governor of Bresse, permission on 18 August 1518 to transport as many as 4,000 enslaved Africans, male and female, to Spanish islands and mainland territories in the Americas.

The grant allowed Gorrevod or his assigns to arrange shipments directly from Guinea or other customary African supply regions, rather than first bringing the captives through Iberia.

A near-monopoly, with paperwork

Until the quota was exhausted, the charter barred further licences except permissions already issued.

It required records of how many captives reached each destination, proof of customs payment, and proof of Christianisation after arrival.

Gorrevod subsequently sold or assigned the grant to merchants including Adán de Vivaldi and Tomás de Fornari.

What the document did and did not do

The charter created legal capacity. It does not show that 4,000 people were transported that day or in any single shipment.

This was not the first arrival of Africans in the Americas: Spanish monarchs had authorised imports from Iberia in 1501, and Africans were already present in Spanish colonies.

Calling it the first asiento can mislead. Recent scholarship generally describes it as a large royal licence or concession rather than a mature later asiento contract.