Editing Amerigo Vespucci (section)

===Seville===
In 1488, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco became dissatisfied with his Seville business agent, Tomasso Capponi. He dispatched Vespucci to investigate the situation and provide an assessment of a suggested replacement, Florentine merchant Gianotto Berardi. Vespucci's findings have been lost but Capponi returned to Florence around this time and Berardi took over the Medici business in Seville.{{sfn|Arciniegas|1955}}{{page needed|date=March 2022}} In addition to managing Medici's trade in Seville, Berardi had his own business in African slavery and [[ship chandler]]y.{{sfn|Fernández-Armesto|2007|pp=52–55}}

By 1492, Vespucci had settled permanently in Seville. His motivations for leaving Florence are unclear; he continued to transact some business on behalf of his Medici patrons but more and more he became involved with Berardi's other activities, most notably his support of [[Christopher Columbus]]'s voyages. Berardi invested half a million ''maravedis'' in Columbus's first voyage, and he won a potentially lucrative contract to provision Columbus's large second fleet. However, profits proved to be elusive. In 1495, Berardi signed a contract with the crown to send 12 resupply ships to Hispaniola but then died unexpectedly in December without completing the terms of the contract.{{sfn|Fernández-Armesto|2007|pp=47–57}}{{sfn|Brinkbaumer|Hoges|2004|pp=104–109}}

Vespucci was the executor of Berardi's will, collecting debts and paying outstanding obligations for the firm. Afterwards he was left owing 140,000 ''maravedis''. He continued to provision ships bound for the West Indies, but his opportunities were diminishing; Columbus's expeditions were not providing the hoped-for profits, and his patron, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco Medici, was using other Florentine agents for his business in Seville.{{sfn|Fernández-Armesto|2007|pp=56–58}}{{sfn|Markham|1894|loc="Introduction"}}

Sometime after he settled in Seville, Vespucci married a Spanish woman, Maria Cerezo. Very little is known about her; Vespucci's will refers to her as the daughter of celebrated military leader [[Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba]]. Historian Fernández-Armesto speculates that she may have been Gonzalo's illegitimate offspring and a connection that would have been very useful to Vespucci. She was an active participant in his business and held power of attorney for Vespucci when he was away.{{sfn|Fernández-Armesto|2007|pp=51–52}}