Nothing can so abundantly testify to the respect in which Vespucci was held as his relations with King Ferdinand. While he has the unique honor of being almost the only man that Columbus never quarrelled with, it is also to his credit that he acquired, and retained to the last, the respect and confidence of the king. Ferdinand was always mistrustful of Columbus, and with good reason, but never refused Vespucci a favor--if he asked one--or hesitated to give him an audience. The reason was, most probably, that, aside from his deceitfulness (which was a quality the crafty Ferdinand could tolerate in no one but himself), Columbus was constantly importuning him for further honors and emoluments; while Vespucci rarely, if ever, craved glory or riches for himself. Nothing came of Vespucci's intercession at court for Columbus, and soon the latter dropped out of sight. He died in 1506, utterly neglected by the court and king, and in such obscurity that he was unnoticed in the local annals of the day. In the mean time, Amerigo Vespucci was at the height of his career, trusted by the sovereign and honored by all with whom he came in contact. On the return of King Ferdinand to absolute power in Spain, through the death of his son-in-law Philip and the regency for his insane daughter Juana, he called Vespucci and La Cosa to court in order to consult with them respecting nautical affairs and future discoveries. In February, 1508, Vespucci, Pinzon, and Solis, who, together with La Cosa, were then the most highly honored navigators in Spanish employ, were charged with the safe conduct to the king's treasury of six thousand ducats in gold, for which service they received six thousand maravedis each.