At the forefront
of Spanish exploration was the possibility of creating wealth for this newly
unified empire. Fernando and
Isabel funded Columbus’s voyage (against the advice of their advisors) because
they wanted to catch up with their rival Portugal in scope and success of
exploration of the Atlantic[1]. This was especially attractive because,
according to Columbus, the possibility existed of a shorter route to Asia than
sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, which would again give Spain a competitive
advantage over their rival neighbors in the race for trade and empire[2].
Neither missionary activity nor
possible conquests of people were discussed in the documents leading up to
Columbus’s first voyage on behalf of the Spanish crown, which shows that
building and empire and generating wealth was the primary consideration of this
first voyage[3]. However, on the second voyage “the pope
legitimized Fernando and Isabel’s enterprise by defining it as a mission to
spread the Christian faith”[4].
…
you may freely and licitly receive and levy the tithe in this way in the said
islands
from their natives and inhabitants, after they have been acquired and
recovered,
as is stated, once a sufficient endowment has first been assigned
really
and effectively to the churches which will be erected in the said islands
by
you and your said successors, according to the ordination of the diocesan
bishops
of the places then serving, whose consciences we charge in this matter… [5]
At this point, the spreading
Christianity to these new Spanish subjects became as important as the wealth
factor (which, after the formal institution of encomienda, went hand in hand).
Columbus struck
what seemed to be a handsome deal with Fernando and Isabel before the first
voyage. He was given broad
jurisdiction over maritime affairs, along with the title of Governor of any of
the new lands he might find. He
was allowed to transfer nobility to his descendents, and also given the
opportunity to invest 1/8th of the cost of the voyage and share the
profits accordingly[6] (however, after
his inability to produce the wealth that was expected and displayed his
inability to govern effectively, the monarchy replaced him with Francisco de
Bobadilla and removed him of his titles).
Yet the most important stipulation of the deal from the viewpoint of
Fernando and Isabel was that Columbus was an official representative of the
catholic monarchs, “ensuring that any lands he might find would belong to the
Spanish crown, not to him”[7]. This clause in the deal showed that the
Spanish monarchy not only wanted to reap the riches in the lands of the new
world, but also had a desire to expand their empire in territory and subjects. Since the expulsion of the Moors
in 1492 and subsequent inquisition, expanding their rule as Catholic monarchs
was only a natural extension of the Reconquista
and the unification of their empire under a single religion.
[1] Geoffrey Symcox and Blair
Sullivan. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History
with Documents. Bedford Series in History and Culture (Boston: Bedford/St.
Martins, 2005), 13
[2]
Symcox and Sullivan, 13
[3]
Symcox and Sullivan, 13-14
[4]
Symcox and Sullivan, 19
[5]
Alexander VI, Rome, November 16, 1501, Papal
Bull Eximie Devotionis, In Italian Reports on America 1493-1522:
Letters, Dispatches, and Papal Bulls, ed. Geoffrey Symcox and Giovanna
Rabitti, trans. Peter D. Diehl, Blair Sullivan Repertorium Columbianum 10
(Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2001) 58-59 quoted in Geoffrey Symcox and Blair Sullivan,
Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise
of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents, Bedford Series in History
and Culture (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005), 153
[6]
Symcox and Sullivan, 13
[7]
Symcox and Sullivan, 13
