Columbus

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 1/8^th 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