Although the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, 1492-1493, was meant purely as an enterprise to gain land and wealth, the second voyage begun to add the ability of bringing Christendom to the inhabitants of the new found lands. The intent of adding the need to move inhabitants to Christianity was based on gaining favor from Rome and the pope. This change of demeanor from enterprise to faith teaching could be seen through Alexander VI’s Papal Bull “Piis Fidelium” of 1493 which directed the voyaging Franciscan monk Bernado Buil and his charges to begin converting the local inhabitants to Christianity.
…so that you might preach and sow the word of God there by yourself and through other secular or religious priests suited to the purpose and to be deputed by you, and that you should lead the natives and inhabitants of the said islands and lands, who do not have a knowledge of our faith, to that faith and the Christian religion, and that you should teach and instruct them to walk in the mandates of the Lord. 1
The following third and fourth voyages brought religion to the forefront as a primary reason for the voyage as seen in the instructions from the Spanish Crown to Columbus, 1497, for his third voyage.
When, God willing, you are in the Indies you shall endeavor with all diligence to encourage and lead natives of the Indies to serve us and remain benignly under our sovereignty and subjection in peace and order, and especially to convert them to our holy Catholic faith. 2
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella promised before the first voyage, that if Christopher Columbus succeeded he would be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands he could claim for Spain. He would also be entitled to 10% of all the revenues from the new lands and the option of buying one-eighth interest in any commercial venture with the new lands and receive one-eighth of the profits. This was promise was documented in “Capitulations of Santa Fe.” 3
End Notes
1. Alexander VI Papal Bull "Piis Fidelium", Rome, June 25, 1493, in Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents, Document 24, Geoffrey Symcox and Blair Sullivan. (Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005), 145.
2. Instructions of Frenando and Isabel to Columbus for Colonization of the Indies, Burgos, April 23, 1497, in Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents, Document 17, Geoffrey Symcox and Blair Sullivan. (Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005), 102-103.
3. Fernando and Isabel to Columbus "Santa Fe Capitulations", Santa Fe, April 17, 1492, in Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents, Document 10, Geoffrey Symcox and Blair Sullivan. (Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005), 60-62.
Hello Dean. I liked your post very much and I also noticed that the Spanish monarch became more vocal of Christianity being at the forefront of their enterprise once they had Pope Alexander VI's support - perhaps to please the Vatican, but also to legitimize their soon to be empire to the Christian world. The only suggestion I have for your post is that I believe you should have mentioned a few things about Columbus and the effect that Christianity personally had on the outlook of his exploration such as Document 3, "Let us give thanks to the Lord, who deemed us worthy to make such great discoveries" (pg. 48). Also, Document 5, "Our Lord has favored my occupation and has given me an intelligent mind. He has endowed me with a great talent. . ." (pg. 51). Overall, great job.
ReplyDeleteHi Dean,
ReplyDeleteYou made good use of the documents to make your case, particularly Pii Fidelium, as this was written to establish the first church in the "Indies." If you had also included documents 3 and 4, it would have further strengthened your case, as they show the character of Columbus, particularly how religious he was. Also, document 23, the Papal Bull Inter Cetera II is important because it settles the dispute between Spain and Portugal, giving Spain the authority to rule over the new lands. This was important as the Spanish Reconqista and Inquisition were taking place, new subjects (Native Americans) would also be expected to convert to Catholicism. Overall, I enjoyed your post and thought you made some good points.
Jaime
FYI, if you were having problems with the footnote formatting...
If you use Word and the insert footnote feature, you are then able to cut and past the body of your essay (don't try to cut and paste the footnotes), and Word will automatically bring the footnotes formatted correctly to your post.I hope that helps. :)
Hi Dean. I enjoyed reading your post. You mention how the Church wished to establish itself in the New World, as demonstrated in Alexander VI’s Papal Bull “Piis Fidelium” of 1493, but to strengthen your argument, I would add in more about Spain’s historic religious commitments. In the module’s lectures, Professor Stoner talks about how the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1469 united the previously divided Spain, and how they joined the new nation-state under Catholicism, which was to be the official, and only, religion. Spain went from a place of considerable religious tolerance to a place where all inhabitants, including Jews and Muslims, were expected to convert sincerely or leave. This established, strong relationship between the Crown and Church allowed religion to take a central role in defining New World exploration. Additionally, you could quote information from Instructions to Columbus for Colonization of the Indies (from Symcox and Sullivan), noting how the Crown instructed Columbus to convert the natives to Catholicism which could help build Spain’s envisioned Catholic empire.
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