They confirmed the pope's appointment of Cortes as governor of New Spain; every division of land which he had made should stand good, and further power should be granted to him to distribute the lands in future, according to the best of his judgment; as it was quite evident that in everything he had done up to the present moment he had strove to promote the service of God, and the best interests of his majesty; and it was therefore to be supposed he would continue to do so in future.
With respect to the accusations brought against Cortes concerning Garay's death, the commissioners could not pronounce judgment at present, but would thoroughly investigate this matter on some future occasion: neither could they at present come to any decision with regard to Narvaez's charge that his papers had been taken away from him, as the defendant Alonso de Avila was then a prisoner in France; but they would apply to the French king for his release in order to examine him. With respect to the pilot Umbria and the soldier Cardenas, the commissioners would petition his majesty to grant them each a commendary in New Spain that would produce them an annual rent of 1000 pesos.
With regard to the Conquistadores themselves, they would propose that lucrative commendaries should be bestowed upon them all, and that they should take precedence in the churches and in all other places.
These several decisions were then drawn up in proper form, and despatched to the royal court at Valladolid to receive his majesty's confirmation.
His majesty not only confirmed the decision to which the commissioners had come, but issued other royal letters by which Cortes was empowered to banish from New Spain all deserters and those Spaniards who strolled about the country like vagabonds, as they obstructed the conversion of the Indians to Christianity. Further, all lawyers were forbidden to settle in New Spain for a certain number of years to come, for they only created lawsuits, quarrels, and dissensions among the inhabitants.