After the death of Prince Juan, on October the fourth, 1497, Oviedo visited Italy, where the art and literature of that country exerted a powerful influence on his intellectual development. In 1500, after three years of varied service, he appeared at Rome, claiming the jubilee indulgence granted to the faithful by the Pope. Subsequently he entered the service of the King of Naples, but in 1501 he left Naples in the train of Queen Juana for Palermo, and in May, 1502, he left Palermo for Valencia, where he took leave of the Queen’s service and went to Madrid. In Madrid he married Margarita de Vergara, who died ten months later. Under the impression of this loss, he turned to service in the army, but he soon abandoned his plans for a military career, and became again attached to the court. Shortly after Oviedo’s return to the court, preparations were made for the expedition of Pedrarias Dávila to Castilla de Oro, and he was appointed to inspect the production of gold in Tierra Firme. [Sidenote: Las Casas and Oviedo as reformers] The fleet sailed from San Lucar on April 11, 1514, and arrived at Santa Marta on the following 12th of June. At the end of June the company reached the gulf of Urabá, and proceeded to Santa María del Antigua, where they found the colony overwhelmed in misfortune, now rendered more distressing by the tyranny and cruelty of Pedrarias. Oviedo, out of favour with the authorities, returned to Spain to seek a remedy for the state of things he had observed. After years of waiting to have his memorial considered by the court, he encountered at Barcelona Bartolomé de las Casas, who was present on a somewhat similar mission. They both sought reform in the Indies, but with divergent views. Oviedo contemplated a reform in Darien through the efforts of a wise and just governor and a bishop devoid of covetousness, who would aim effectively at holding the clergy under proper regulations. Las Casas, on the other hand, a religious anarchist, advocated removing the governors, the captains, and the soldiers from the Indies, agreeing to maintain the territory of Cumaná in the power of the crown without other instrumentalities than a few hundred simple labourers and fifty knights of the cross.