Religion played a central role in defining exploration for the Spanish monarchs. It defined when the time was right for undertaking the journey and it defined who they choose to lead the expedition.
Columbus was first brought to the court in 1487 to propose his journey. The crown at the time turned him down. They were involved in a holy war with the Muslims and they wanted to retake Granada before they did any exploration(Simcox pg. 12). However once that was done they immediately gave approval for the voyage. The commissioning papers for the voyage do not include references to religion or missionary works(Simcox pgs. 13-14). However those tasks were on Columbus’ mind as he notes in his log that the natives “…were eager to convert to Christianity.” This shows that on some level the thought was there and since the Monarchs would read the log they would see the entry. Later voyages included clerics in the company.
The next step was to approve the commander of the expedition. Being religious themselves the Monarchs would have wanted a religious man to lead. They did allowed Columbus to lead. If they did not believe he was religious they could have taken his idea and chosen another man to command. Columbus, as de las Casas said “…there can be no doubting his Catholic faith nor that he was very devout.”(1) I can also point to a letter from Columbus to the Monarchs(2). Look at the text, how often does he invoke scripture to augment what he is saying. It shows first that he is devout as de las Casas reported, but also that he knew how devout the Monarchs were and that religion played a part in the decision they made regarding his exploits.
Finally let’s look at what happened after the first voyage. Columbus landed in Portugal. The Portuguese king protested the voyage and said the Spanish had trespassed on his turf. When did the Spanish Monarchs turn to for support, the Church, in the form of the Pope, who was brought in to help settle the matter(Simcox pg. 20). This in turn led to a treaty between the 2 Monarchs, but to turn to the Pope first showed that the Monarchs wanted religious support for their mission.
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Work Cited
Symcox, Geoffrey and Sullivan, Blair. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise
of the Indies: A brief History with Documents Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s
2005.
Documents
1) De La Casa, Bartolomé. On Columbus’s Appearance, Education and
Character. in Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the
Indies: A brief History with Documents. Symcox, Geoffrey and Sullivan Blair.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins 2005. 46-49.
2) Columbus, Christopher. Undated Letter to Fernando and Isabel. in
Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the
Indies: A brief History with Documents. Symcox, Geoffrey and Sullivan Blair.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins 2005. 51-54.
