Columbus and the Catholic Crusades

Human Quest, Jan/Feb 2002 by Fahey, Joseph J

Columbus capitalized on the success against the Muslims in Spain to request support from "Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians and defenders of the Christian Faith against the doctrines of Mohamet and all other idolatries" to fund "a westerly route" to the Orient which would, in part, provide gold for the great Crusade to finally recapture Jerusalem and eliminate the Muslims.

When Columbus reached what he believed to be the islands off Japan and China, his own actions toward the indigenous people and environment and those of the Conquistadors who followed him continued to a remarkable extent the legacy of the Crusades and Inquisitions which existed in Spain and other parts of Europe. The following points are illustrative:

As a youth in Genoa and as a young sailor, Columbus was exposed to merchants who lived off the sea and profited from the territorial expansion and new markets established during the Crusades: Genoese traders sought riches and gold from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In Columbus' words: "Genoese...and all the people who have pearls, precious stones and other valuable things, take them to the end of the earth...to convert them into gold."

Prior to his voyage, Columbus came to strongly believe in the apocalyptic teachings of Franciscan Antonio de Marchena: the heathen must be converted to Christ; Jerusalem's holy places must be recovered from the Muslims; the end times when Christ would come again were imminent.

Columbus was deeply convinced that he was divinely supported in his quest for riches and conversions in the East He eventually determined that there remained only 150 years to convert the heathen before the second coming of Christ. God, he later stated "made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth... He showed me where to find it."

The funding for the voyage of Columbus' three ships was made available from the keeper of the privy purse Luis de Santangel, a converted Jew who was Treasurer with the Genoese Francesco Pinelli of the Fund for the Crusades.

Probably the first symbol the Arawak Indians saw on Columbus' ships was the cross of the Crusades emblazoned on the sails. Columbus also wore the Crusader's cross on his tunic.

Despite the known presence of people on Guanahani (the first island Columbus sighted), according to Columbus: "The Admiral went on shore in the armed boat...bore the royal standard..." and "took possession of that island for the King and Queen..." of Spain.

Columbus, while impressed with the simplicity and friendliness of the people he encountered, immediately thought of making them slaves and converting them to Christianity: "It appears to me that the people are ingenious and would be good servants, and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion."

The day after landing on Guanahani, Columbus took some of the natives by force...to learn if they had any gold." He continued: "Seeing some of them with little bits of metal hanging at their noses, I gathered from them by signs...there would be found a king who possesses great cups full of gold, and in large quantities."