Flotas y galeones — the escorted convoy of the Carrera de Indias

The scheduled Atlantic convoy of the Indies trade: two fleets a year, each sailing in company with warships, paid for by a levy prorated over every cargo aboard — the king's own silver included — and kept in a chest with three keys. The treasurer of the Casa de la Contratación printed its founding cédulas in 1672, and on the same pages the losses the escort did not prevent.