Initially Ayala could not get help in Spain, but when news of the English siege of Saint Augustine reached Madrid late in 1702, his pleas took on a new significance. AN287 In January, 1703, the Spanish Junta de Guerra [Note: The Junta de Guerra (after 1600) was a Council composed of a president, three members of the Council of the Indies, and four members of the Council of War of Castile. It dealt almost solely with military and naval affairs.] declared that the House of Trade (Casa de Contratacion) should fill Zuniga’s requests without delay, [Note: Junta 1/31/1703] and within two months the Council of the Indies had awarded Ayala a ship of 150 nautical tons and 4,000 pesos for supplies. [Note: Consejo 3/26/1703] Philip V lent his assistance by ordering the viceroy of New Spain to send 50 soldiers to Saint Augustine and by commanding the governor of Cuba to dispatch four engineers and a surgeon to the province. Twice the Spanish monarch issued orders to the viceroy and the governor in Havana to furnish Zuniga with gunpowder. Most significant, however, was a royal cedula requiring the viceroy to release 20,000 pesos from the vacant bishoprics of Puebla, Guadalajara, and Guatemala for rebuilding the church, convent, and other buildings of Saint Augustine, devastated during the siege. To this amount he added 6,000 pesos for the care of the indigent. (Tepaske GSF)