Although a resounding force behind King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s willingness to send Columbus to find a shorter route to Asia, religion was not the driving force behind the approval for Columbus’s journey to the New World; in fact, it was not Columbus’s main objective either, who had many other intentions for the voyage. 1 By his second voyage though, the spread of Christianity became increasingly important for all, and the King and Queen of Spain even enlisted the help of Pope Alexander VI, further expanding their part as true Catholic Monarchs.
According to both the Granada and Santa Fe Capitulations, negotiated prior to Columbus’s first voyage, the spread of Christianity was not as important as establishing a successful trade route to Asia. No acknowledgment of Christianity is even mentioned in these documents negating Columbus’s responsibilities once he reached his destination..2 Columbus also had his own agenda for the voyage, which had little to do with the spreading of Christianity. Some of these requirements of Columbus’s included, as stated in the Santa Fe Capitulations: allowing all titles bestowed upon Columbus to be passed down to his heirs, and giving him a share in profits.3
Prior to Columbus’s second voyage, however, an obvious intent for the spreading of Christianity is clear. The Catholic monarchs recruited Pope Alexander VI, who initiated a program to send clerics to the New World. Under his papal bull, Piis Fidelium, the pope appointed Bishop Bernardo Buil and his ecclesiastics, in the name of the King and Queen, to “preach and sow the word of God…” and to, “lead them [the natives] to that faith and Christian religion.”4 Pope Alexander VI then reaffirmed this with another bull, Eximie Devotionis, where he also refers to the desires of the King and Queen, stating that in a previous petition the monarchs wished, “most of all for the exaltation of the Catholic faith…” in the “…islands or regions of the indies…[that] the Highest may be worshipped and venerated.”5
Initially the desire to spread religion to the Indies was not the top priority of the Spanish monarchs or of Columbus himself, but soon after the discovery, the Catholic monarchs quickly began seeking ways to spread the word of God to the New World. By the end of Columbus’s life, Christianity was well established in the Americas and had taken a strong hold in the lives of the natives.
[1] Geoffrey Symcox and Blair Sullivan. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005), 13.
[2} Geoffrey Symcox and Blair Sullivan. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005), 60.
[3] Juan de Caloma, Santa Fe Capitulations (1492), in Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents, ed. Geoffrey Sullivan, Blair Symcox (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005) 61
[4] Alexander VI, Papal Bull ‘Piis Fidelium’ (1493), in Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents, ed. Geoffrey Sullivan, Blair Symcox (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005) 145.
[5] Alexander VI, Papal Bull “Dudum Siquidem’’ (1493), in Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents, ed. Geoffrey Sullivan, Blair Symcox (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005) 148-149.
Hey Toni,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for posting late, but the great outage we had didn't allow me in to MyASU until today and I couldn't get to the other blog links. Lol! Your post was excellent! You made valid points and you defended them with great documents. I really can't see any place that you could have utilized another document. The only page in the book, I couldn't find a document, that may have helped your argument would have been page 18. Symcox and Sullivan discuss what brought Isabel and Ferdinand to seek Pope Alexander VI's help. They state that they sought his help due to the fact that King Joao of Portugal was angry due to the fact that he believed Columbus had breached Portugal's territory (page 18). I think this may have helped spell out why Spain really seemed to turn to the idea of spreading Christianity in the new regions, to win the Pope's favor. This is a speculation though. This is really the only thing that could have helped your argument, I really had a hard time finding anything that would have helped your argument anymore. Excellent post! Great argument!
Kristina
Toni, I found your response to very well stated. When reading your words I came to think about the voyages as being like a great big scientific experiment overall (I wish I would of thought of this earlier when writing my assignment). They had all their reasons or hypothesis-- expansion, trade routes to the Indies, gold and riches, spreading Christianity and so on—but in reality, they really did not know what existed on the other side of the great ocean. In document 13, Warrant to Christopher Columbus and Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca Commissioning Them to Outfit the Second Voyage, the Spanish Crown assumes, as well as Columbus, that the East Indies is what they had found and they formulated many of their ideas around that hypothesis.1 The many descriptions of the new world are just that…descriptions and perceptions of what they have found in this new world that are reported back to Spain. In Columbus’ entry log he, in great detail, reports his findings; from naked peoples, their food and culture to the plants and land features.2 So when it comes to religion playing a role in Spanish Exploration, I now believe that it was a great deal of curiosity to learn of the great unknown.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the tangent. I thought you did really well at paraphrasing verses rather than over-quoting the texts. The only thing that really stuck out at me, was that you used the contract prior to the second voyage rather than the one prior to the third voyage in paragraph three where you wrote, “Prior to Columbus’s second voyage, however, ….” When using the warrant prior to the second voyage in my response, I found no reference to religious pursuit. The writ prior to the third voyage, however, does open the door for religion to be spread in the new world. I don’t know if this was just a technical mistake or if I am mission something.3
1. Geoffrey Symcox & Blair Sullivan, Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents, Document 13 (Boston/New York, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005), pg. 84.
2. Symcox and Sullivan, Document 12, pgs. 65-83.
3. Symcox and Sullivan, Document 13, pgs. 84-86