The Padrón Real, known after 2 August 1527 as the Padrón General, 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 Alcázar of 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 Salviati Planisphere (c. 1525), marking the Tordesillas Line and its supposed antimeridian. Made by Nuño García de Toreno, it was given by Charles V to the cardinal Giovanni Salviati, who officiated his wedding to Isabella of Portugal at Seville in 1526.
The Casa de Contratación or Casa de la Contratación de las Indias was established by the Crown of Castile, in 1503 in the port of Seville as a crown agency for the Spanish Empire. It functioned until 1790, when it was abolished in a government reorganization.
Although the Casa de Contratación was not located in a specific building, its documents can now be seen in the Archive of the Indies in Seville.
