The Return of Columbus (1) 1492 in world history (2) Cristoforo Colombo (3) Inter caetera (Among other works) (4) ColonizaAon as heroic birthright
MarAn Behaim Erdapfel (earth apple) Nuremberg, 1492
MarAn Behaim Erdapfel Nuremberg, 1492
Kangnido ( Map of fronaers and distances ), ca.1470 copy of 1402 version based on 14th century origin
Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of CasAle, married 1469
posthumous portrait by SebiasAano del Piomba, 1519
Title page of the 1493 Italian ediaon of Columbus lever
Title page and illustraaon from the Basel ediaons of 1493 and 1494
Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel, 4 March 1493 I come from the Indies with the armada Your Highnesses gave me, to which I traveled in thirty-three days.... I found innumerable people and very many islands, of which I took possession in Your Highnesses name, by royal crier and with Your Highnesses royal banner unfurled, and it was not contradicted. To the first I gave the name of San Salvador [in the Bahamas],... to the fifth La Juana [Cuba].... I followed its coast to the west and found it to be so large that I thought it was probably not an island but rather a mainland, and most likely the province of Cathay....
MarAn Behaim Erdapfel Nuremberg, 1492
Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel, 4 March 1493... The... islands I have found... in the Indies... are so extremely fertile, that even if I were able to express it, it would not be a marvel were it to be disbelieved. The breezes are most temperate, the trees and fruits and grasses are extremely beautiful and very different from ours; the rivers and harbours are so abundant and of such extreme excellence when compared to those of Christian lands that it is a marvel....
Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel, 4 March 1493... All these islands are densely populated with the best people under the sun; they have neither ill-will nor treachery. All of them, women and men alike, go about as naked as their mothers bore them.... They have neither iron nor weapons, except for canes on the end of which they place a thin sharp stick. Everything they make is done with stones....
Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel, 4 March 1493... And I have not learned that any one of them has private property, because while I was spending a few days with this king in the village of La Navidad, I saw that all of the people, and the women in particular, would bring him agís, which is the food they eat, and he would order them to be distributed....
Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel, 4 March 1493... Nowhere in these islands have I known the inhabitants to have a religion, or idolatry, or much diversity of language among them, but rather they all understand each other. I learned that they know that all powers reside in heaven. And, generally, in whatever lands I traveled, they believed and believe that I, together with these ships and people, came from heaven, and they greeted me with such veneration.... Upon arriving at whatever settlement, the men, women, and children go from house to house calling out, Come, come and see the people from heaven!...
Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel, 4 March 1493... This island is in a place, as I have said, signaled by the hand of Our Lord, where I hope His Majesty will give Your Highnesses as much gold as you need, spices of a certain pepper [to fill] as many ships as Your Highnesses may order to be loaded, and as much mastic as you may order to be loaded,... and as much lignum aloe as you may order to be loaded, and as much cotton as you may order to be loaded, and so many slaves that they are innumerable; and they will come from the idolaters. And I believe there is rhubarb and cinnamon....
Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel, 4 March 1493... in seven years from today I will be able to pay Your Highnesses for five thousand cavalry and fifty thousand foot soldiers for the war and conquest of Jerusalem, for which purpose this enterprise was undertaken. And in another five years, another five thousand cavalry and fifty thousand foot soldiers, which will total ten thousand cavalry and one hundred thousand foot soldiers; and all of this with very little investment now on Your Highnesses' part in this beginning of the taking of the Indies and all that they contain.
Pope Alexander VI 1431-1503
Pope Alexander VI 1431-1503 Inter caetera, 1493
Pope Alexander VI 1431-1503 Inter caetera, 1493
... Among other works well pleasing to the Divine Majesty and cherished of our heart, this assuredly ranks highest, that in our times especially the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself....
...We have indeed learned that you, who for a long time had intended to seek out and discover certain islands and mainlands remote and unknown and not hitherto discovered by others,... having been up to the present time greatly engaged in the siege and recovery of the kingdom itself of Granada were unable to accomplish this holy and praiseworthy purpose; but the said kingdom having at length been regained,...chose our beloved son, Christopher Columbus,... to make diligent quest for these remote and unknown mainlands and islands through the sea, where hitherto no one had sailed....
... these very peoples living in the said islands and countries believe in one God, the Creator in heaven, and seem sufficiently disposed to embrace the Catholic faith and be trained in good morals. And it is hoped that, were they instructed, the name of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, would easily be introduced into the said countries and islands....
... In the islands and countries already discovered are found gold, spices, and very many other precious things of divers kinds and qualities. Wherefore, as becomes Catholic kings and princes,...you have purposed with the favor of divine clemency to bring under your sway the said mainlands and islands with their residents and inhabitants and to bring them to the Catholic faith. Hence,... we... enjoin strictly, that inasmuch as with eager zeal for the true faith you design to equip and despatch this expedition, you purpose also, as is your duty, to lead the peoples dwelling in those islands and countries to embrace the Christian religion....
... we... give, grant, and assign to you and your heirs and successors... together with all their dominions, cities, camps, places, and villages, and all rights, jurisdictions, and appurtenances, all islands and mainlands found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered towards the west and south, by drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole, namely the north, to the Antarctic pole, namely the south, no matter whether the said mainlands and islands are found and to be found in the direction of India or towards any other quarter, the said line to be distant one hundred leagues towards the west and south from any of the islands commonly known as the Azores and Cape Verde.
... with this proviso however, that by this our gift, grant, and assignment no right acquired by any Christian prince, who may be in actual possession of said islands and mainlands prior to the said birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, is hereby to be understood to be withdrawn or taken away.
... we strictly forbid all persons of whatsoever rank, even imperial and royal, or of whatsoever estate, degree, order, or condition, to dare... to go for the purpose of trade or any other reason to the islands or mainlands,... apostolic constitutions and ordinances and other decrees whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding.
... Let no one, therefore, infringe, or with rash boldness contravene, this our recommendation, exhortation, requisition, gift, grant, assignment, constitution, deputation, decree, mandate, prohibition, and will. Should anyone presume to attempt this, be it known to him that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God.
Columbus Taking Possession of the New World (L. Prang & Co., Boston, 1893) John Vanderlyn, 1847