The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

II. Voyages Influenced by Deep Religious Convictions

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, or Cristobal Colon (1451-1506), discoverer, writer on prophecy, and believer in the approaching end of the world, was born at Genoa, Italy. He was the son of a master weaver. Obtaining a good knowledge of arithmetic, drawing, and painting, he early developed a fondness for geography. With strong attachment for the sea and the mysterious regions beyond its horizons, he engaged intermittently in the Syrian trade, and voyaged probably to Ireland and the northern seas. PFF2 162.1

Columbus was a skilled chartmaker, and when not at sea employed his time making maps and charts for sale. In Portugal, probably in 1478, he married the daughter of a distinguished navigator. Fortunately, Columbus became the possessor of his deceased father-in-law’s journals, charts, and memoranda. ⁷ In Lisbon he read Ptolemy and the Greek philosophers and geographers, and studied Marco Polo and particularly the Imago Munds of Pierre d’Ailly. ⁸ Through these works he came to believe that the sea is navigable everywhere, that the earth is round, and from the Scriptures concluded that there must be other inhabited lands, since God’s command at the Flood was to replenish the earth. ⁹ He came to believe that he had a lofty mission to perform—a task to which he held with singular firmness. ¹⁰ PFF2 162.2

1. PROJECT A MATTER OF CONVICTION, NOT OPINION

The shortest route to India had hitherto been the land route along the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf, now largely cut off by the Moslems, who were at war with European Christendom. Columbus had entered into correspondence with Toscanelli, the Florentine astronomer, who likewise held that the Indies could be reached by sailing west, and who sent him a map, or chart, constructed largely on the travels of Marco Polo (c. 1254-1324). During his years of entreaty Columbus was ridiculed and disparaged. But he was unmoved, for with him it was not a mere matter of opinion or simply of belief; he felt a profound conviction—India could be reached by sailing west. Moreover, he believed himself to be the destined messenger of the Most High. It is plain, from his letter describing his fourth voyage, that he was convinced that he was under the personal guidance and direct protection of God, and felt that he had a divine call to this task of discovery. ¹¹ This conviction came from his study of the prophecies, as will be developed. PFF2 163.1

Columbus could not sail without substantial aid, and this it seemed impossible to secure. There were years of vexatious delay. He is said to have first gone to some wealthy men at Genoa, but without success. Then he approached King John II, of Portugal, who sent a secret maritime mission to learn the truth of Columbus’ claims. But the timid pilots soon returned. ¹² In disgust Columbus went to Spain in 1485 to lay his case before Ferdinand and Isabella, there to plead for his great idea. But the learned would not listen, and others were too busy with war. PFF2 163.2

Picture 1: COLUMBUS PRESSING HIS CASE BEFORE FERDINAND AND ISABELLA
Columbus asked royal support at these Spanish court for his great venture. In a later letter he gave gredit to prophecy for his achievements, rather than to astronomy, mathematics, love of adventure, or aspirations for spain
Page 165

2. PREJUDICED COURT RAISES QUESTION OF HERESY

Finally the Spanish court referred the project to a council of ecclesiastics, which met first at Cordova and then in one of the colleges of the University of Salamanca. But here Columbus found himself in a theological predicament; the most serious feature was the irreligious implications. Any heresy would, of course, expose its propounder to the newly established Spanish Inquisition. He was able to escape through the support of one learned man who appreciated the eloquent and lucid reasoning of the adventurer, and through whose influence the commission delayed its report. ¹³ Columbus’ ideas were refuted from the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the prophets, the Gospels, the Epistles, and the writings of the church fathers. Moreover, it was argued that if he sailed down under, “the rotundity of the earth would present a kind of mountain up which it was impossible for him to sail, even with the fairest wind,” so that he could never get back—such an argument was made in the adverse report four years later. ¹⁴ General public opinion considered the project dangerous if not ridiculous; ignorant people thought that Columbus’ vessels would fall off the edge of a flat earth, and educated men, who knew that the earth was not flat, believed that all sorts of dangers lurked in the unknown ocean. PFF2 165.1

All who had heard the project spoken of treated it with contempt, save two friars. ¹⁵ after the wearisome delays of evasion, rehearing, and rejections, he was about to start for France. However, after nearly seven years of waiting, the queen was at last prevailed upon. Columbus received his commission, which made him admiral and viceroy of all he should discover for Spain. The courageousness of such a venture, when the distances and the hazards of the voyage were unknown, is, of course, apparent. The popes had given Portugal a monopoly on the sea route to India by way of Good Hope. ¹⁶ Spain and Portugal, rival sea powers, had found it impossible to traffic with the Far East without violating the papal mandate—until this westward route was proposed, and against which there was no papal edict. PFF2 165.2

3. FOUR VOYAGES FOLLOW YEARS OF WAITING

At last, on Friday, August 3, 1492, the weary struggles and heartsickness of eighteen years of preparation were over, and at daybreak three caravels sailed from Palos, Spain, with a sea chart said to have been constructed by Toscanelli, and Marco Polo’s narratives. ¹⁷ Columbus carried with him daily’s Imago Munds, from which most of his knowledge of Greek and Roman writers on the feasibility of reaching India by a western route was gained—daily in turn quoting from Roger Bacon. ¹⁸ Columbus’ personal copy, incidentally, has many notations in the margin in his own handwriting. ¹⁹ (See reproduction on page 172). PFF2 166.1

Finally, after weeks of courageous sailing and suspense, Columbus came in sight of land. On October 12 he touched at San Salvador, in the Bahamas, and before returning to Spain discovered Cuba and Haiti. Owing to Ptolemy’s understatement of the earth’s circumference, ²⁰ the New World discoverer believed he had reached the islands off the east coast of Asia, the region of the fabled India, and so gave the name Indians to the aborigines. The Santa Maria was wrecked on the Haitian coast, so Columbus reached home on the Nina, from his first voyage, in March of 1493. The second expedition, with seventeen ships, was undertaken in September of that same year. On this voyage numerous other islands were discovered, including Puerto Rico and Jamaica, and Columbus returned to Spain in 1494. PFF2 166.2

The third voyage, begun in 1498, resulted in the discovery of South America, the significance of which did not at first Edgar Prestige, “Portugal,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12, p. 302. impress Columbus, because of his eagerness to revisit the colony at Hispaniola. But he found it necessary to quell revolt and opposition at Santo Domingo, the new capital of the settlement, and at home court favor had turned against him. Although he was confident of rich revenues within three years, a new governor and judge of Hispaniola was appointed, and Columbus was returned to Spain in chains in October, 1500. ²¹ But when the “admiral of the ocean fleet” arrived home in irons, a wave of popular indignation soon freed him. PFF2 166.3

After disappointing experiences Columbus sought to circumnavigate the globe, and on the 11th of May, 1502, sailed on his fourth great voyage. ²² After Columbus had touched at Santo Domingo, he reached Honduras and Panama in an attempt to find a passage westward. After a vain attempt to plant a colony, he returned to Jamaica, where his worm-eaten and storm-beaten ships gave out, and he and his men endured terrible privations and illness. At length, in June, 1504, ships were sent to take them home, and after a tempestuous voyage Columbus reached Spain in November, 1504. Soon after this Isabella died, and as a result Columbus’ fortunes were materially affected. Thatcher contends that he knew the character of his discovery—that he had disclosed another continent, which he called Nevus Orbits or Munds Novus. ²³ PFF2 167.1

4. CHOSEN TO PROCLAIM GOD’S NAME IN NEW WORLD

Columbus was a voluminous writer, and kept a minute diary of his voyages. These writings reflect a deep religious spirit. ²⁴ There is frequent citation of Scripture concerning Biblical characters and episodes. ²⁵ Columbus found land “with the aid of the Lord.” He took possession of San Salvador, the first land of the Western Hemisphere that he sighted, in these words: PFF2 167.2

“O Lord, Eternal and Almighty God, by thy sacred word thou hast created the heavens, the earth and the sea; blessed and glorified be thy name, and praised be thy Majesty, who hath designed to use thy humble servant to make thy sacred name known and proclaimed in this other part of the world.” ²⁶ PFF2 168.1

In his letter of July 7, 1503, about the fourth voyage, he states concerning the material wealth and other favorable aspects of the newly discovered dominion, “All this makes for the security of the Christians and the assurance of their dominion, and gives great hope for the honor and increase of the Christian religion.” ²⁷ The story is told that even before his voyages, while he lay ill near Belen, Portugal, an unknown voice whispered to him in a dream, “God will cause thy name to be wonderfully resounded through the earth, and will give thee the keys of the gates of the ocean, which are closed with strong chains! ²⁸ And Columbus’ will begins with the words: PFF2 168.2

“In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, who inspired me with the idea and afterward made it perfectly clear to me, that I could navigate and go to the Indies from Spain, by traversing the ocean westward.” ²⁹ PFF2 168.3

5. POPE DIVIDES GLOBE BETWEEN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

The Spanish and Portuguese discoveries offered a wide field for papal extension. However, soon after Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, a hot dispute arose between Spain and Portugal. The pope was called upon to mediate between them, for he was still considered the international arbiter, and the Holy See the highest tribunal. Pope Colitis III had granted Portugal exclusive rights of trading and founding colonies on the west coast of Africa between Cape Boarder and Guinea. But no sooner had Columbus—whose project had been rejected by Portugal—returned from his famous voyage, than King Emanuel, of Portugal, set up claim to the newly discovered lands on the ground of the former grant. ³⁰ (Medal of Colitis on page 556.) PFF2 168.4

Ferdinand and Isabella at once dispatched an embassy to Alexander VI for the purpose of ensuring their rights to the new territories, on the principle that Martin V had given to the king of Portugal possession of all lands he might discover between Cape Boarder and the East Indies, with plenary indulgence for the souls who perished in the conquest. The pontifical action was based essentially on the principle that pagans and infidels have no lawful rights in their lands and goods, and that the children of God may rightfully take them over. ³¹ PFF2 169.1

In two bulls, of May 4 and 5, 1493, Alexander VI presumed to divide the Western world between Portugal and Spain by a line one hundred leagues west of the Azores, north and south. The possession of the lands discovered, and to be discovered, was assigned to the two countries to be held in perpetuity. Again, the principle was that all countries are subject to papal disposal. This was by the authority of the omnipotent God conceded to the pope in St. Peter, and by reason of the vicar ship of Jesus Christ, which he administered on earth. Thus half the globe was divided between Spain and Portugal. ³² PFF2 169.2

As Peter’s successor, the pope claimed the right to give away the Western continent, a gift that involved an unending right of tenure. This prerogative of assigning to these two nations the lands in the West was in accordance with the so-called gift or donation of Constantine to Pope Sylvester. Alexander’s donation included, “by the authority of Almighty God, whatever there is toward India, but saves the existing rights of any Christian princes.” It forbade, under pain of excommunication, anyone to trade in that direction, threatening the indignation of Almighty God. It directed barbarous nations to be subdued, and no pains to be spared in reducing the Indians to Christianity. Thus the obstacles of patristic geography were removed, but the ideas of ethnology that had come down from the fathers led to an appalling tragedy. The terms of the bull of May 4 were set aside a year later, and the line shifted. ³³ One cannot but ponder the thought that had Columbus landed on the continent of North America, a Spanish Catholic rather than an English Protestant population might have resulted. PFF2 169.3