Columbus, the Man Who Opened America's Door to European Settlement and Christian Evangelization

Photo credit: Sebastiano Piombo (from Wikipedia)

Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire paved the way for the cultural and religious exchange between Europe and Asia. In addition, trade and commerce between the two continents were opened and enhanced with the flourishing of lands along the Silk Route. The Roman Empire supplanted Alexander’s Greek Empire and extended its influence into Northern Africa and Western Europe. The conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine spread Christianity all over the Roman Empire. The birth of Islam around 610 A.D. eroded Christianity’s influence over much of Asia and North Africa. In just a few years after Prophet Muhammad’s death, his followers conquered much of territories that were once parts of Persian and Roman Empires.

The fall of the Christian City of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453 had a profound implication to Europe and the world. The Ottoman's conquest was significant in the sense that the city was the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire. The city’s location was also very strategic considering that it geographically links Europe and Asia, and it was a gateway for the transport of goods and people between the two continents.

The control of trade routes by hostile powers made it difficult for Europe to avail of commodities such as silk and spices from Asia. particularly those that came from India, China and Southeast Asia. It also made their cost became prohibitive. Christian maritime powers of Europe such as Spain and Portugal had to find an alternative way to Asia without passing through perilous land routes. The best option was through the sea. The competition of European powers to cross the seas to reach the spice islands in Asia ushered in the Age of Exploration.  

Christopher Columbus (30 Oct. 1451-20 May 1506) a Genoese navigator, proposed to King John II of Portugal an expedition to the East Indies via western sea route. But the monarch was not convinced and turned down his proposal. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias, sailing southeast reached Cape of Good Hope which was a spring board toward the East Indies.  The success of Dias doused any hope of Columbus to have the king agree with his proposition.

Failing in his bid, Columbus presented his idea to King Henry VII of England who also turned it down. He later went to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Castile, Spain. At first, the monarchs were skeptical of Columbus’ proposal. However, it occurred to them that the eastern sea route was already taken and controlled by rival Portugal, and Columbus’ proposal if successful would give Spain an edge in the lucrative spice trade.

Photo credit: John Vanderlyn (from Wikipedia)

Photo credit: E. Benjamin Andrews (from Wikipedia)

In 1492, Columbus was granted authority by Queen Isabella to sail to Asia. He was given three ships- the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa Maria which was his flagship. For claims on new lands to the crown Columbus was entitled to the following privileges: a rank of “the Admiral of the Ocean”; a designation of viceroy or governor of new found lands; a 10% perpetual share of profits earned as a result of his explorations, and the option to buy 1/8 interest in commercial venture in the new lands and to receive 1/8 of the profits.

On August 3, 1492, Columbus with his fleet of three ships departed from Palos de la Frontera, and sailed to his destination. After travelling considerable distances, he saw an island and landed on it. He named it San Salvador. He then passed through groups of islands that is now called the Bahamas and explored the northern coast of Cuba and Hispaniola. At that time Columbus believed that he had reached India, and even called the native inhabitants “Indios”or Indians. The Spanish crown was pleased with Columbus’ discovery, and was prepared to grant the condition set by Columbus in return for the successful voyage.

After meeting the monarchs, Columbus left port of Cadiz, Spain on September 24, 1493, for a second voyage. With a fleet of 17 ships and 1,200 men composed of soldiers, farmers and priests, he aimed to establish permanent colonies in new found lands. In his third voyages in 1498 Columbus with a fleet of six ships made further explorations to the islands and reached as far as the western coasts of South America. He returned to Hispaniola only to find that the Spanish settlers of the new colony were rebellious to his role. He made peace with them, but the news of his gross mismanagement and tyranny had already reached the Spanish monarchs who ordered that Columbus and his brothers be arrested and returned to Spain. Columbus was replaced as governor by Francisco de Bobadilla, a member of the Order of Calatrava. In Spain Columbus and his brothers were imprisoned, and he was divested of his privileges and properties. 

  

King Ferdinand II listened to Columbus’ plea and released him and his brothers after six weeks of confinement. They were also restored of their wealth and privileges. Columbus was also allowed to lead another voyage to the new found lands. But this time he would no longer serve as governor. He left Cadiz on 11 May 1502 with a fleet of three ships. He explored several islands and landed in Hispaniola. He explored the west coasts of Central America and east coasts of Cuba. A fierce storm stranded his fleet in Jamaica where he remained for almost a year. Columbus and his men then returned to Spain. They arrived in San Lucar on June 29, 1504. In Spain, Columbus' long years of travels took a toll on his health. He was severely stricken with diseases. Columbus died on May 20, 1506, probably at age 54 in Valladolid, Spain.

Critics of Columbus cited the negative effects of his explorations. They claimed that the arrival of the European settlers caused the depopulation of the indigenous Taino and Arawak Indians. The Indians were being exploited for forced labor such as having them worked in gold mines. Spanish soldiers committed with impunity grave abuses such as massacres and rapes. Indigenous people were seized, captured and sent to Spain as slaves with about half of them dying en route. The pandemic of small pox in 1519 which was brought by the European settlers into the islands almost brought to extinction the indigenous inhabitants.

Map from Wikipedia

Columbus’ erroneous view that the lands that he found were part of Asia denied him the honor of having the continent named after him. Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator, who came to the new lands a year after Columbus, correctly speculated that the land Columbus discovered was not Asia. Amerigo's travel journals also convinced German cartographer Martin Wadseemuller to reach the same conclusion. Wadseemuller published a world map in 1507 referring to the big new found continent as “America”, which is the Latinized version of Amerigo. With that map, people at that time also followed suit to refer to the continent as “America”. For it, Vespucci was unintentionally and undeservedly accorded an honor that should have rightfully belonged to Columbus.

It is claimed that Vikings came to America before Columbus did, and therefore he was not the first European to discover it. But there is no doubt that Columbus’ explorations were the ones which certainly opened the door of the American continent for European settlement. After Columbus had claimed lands for Spain, other European powers such as Portugal, England, France and Netherlands followed to explore the hitherto huge unknown continent. This resulted to the influx of immigrants who brought along with them their languages and cultures, and created new Independent nations with predominantly European cultures and demographics. The predominantly Christian roots of the immigrant people have also brought about the Christian evangelization of the American continent, thus making Christianity the largest religion of the world.

Why Are Muslim Filipinos Called "Moros"?

The word “Moro” singular and “Moros” plural is a vestige of the Philippines’ colonial past and is rooted with the country’s cultural and historical ties with Spain, one of the former great imperial powers of the world.

Spain’s history has its share of relationship with Islam. In just hundreds of years after the death of Prophet Muhammad, Muslim armies crossed the Iberian Peninsula to conquer Europe for Islam. Crossing the Pyrenees, they were stopped and defeated by the forces of Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 732. The Muslims retreated into the Iberian Peninsula where they conquered and occupied much of the territories which comprised mostly of what is now Spain and Portugal. The marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile enabled the Christian kingdoms to recover much of the territories occupied by the Muslims. The last Moorish or Muslim kingdom in Granada, Spain fell to the Christians in 1492.

The medieval Christian Spaniards generally called the Muslims as “Moros” or Moors in reference to the Northern African Muslim tribes that crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and conquered and occupied much of the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslims in Spain were a mixture of Moors, Berbers, Arabs and even indigenous Iberians. Spanish Christian during the Muslim era generally called a person professing the Islamic faith “Moro” irrespective of his ethnicity.

The fall of Christian areas in the Middle East, Asia Minor and parts of Southern and Eastern Europe at the hands of the Muslims made it difficult for the goods from Asia to pass through the traditional land trade routes into Europe. This made the European monarchs particularly the Kings of Spain and Portugal to find alternative trade routes to the sea thereby bypassing the land areas controlled by hostile powers. This paved the way for the Age of Exploration when European powers discovered hitherto unknown lands and claimed them for themselves.

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer in the service of the king of Spain made a voyage to reach Moluccas for its valued spices. What was significant of his voyage was that he intended to reach his destination by sailing westward instead of the usual eastward sea route.  Nearing Moluccas, he “discovered” an archipelago in 1521 which was later named as the Philippines in honor of King Philip II. The Spaniards colonized the country for over 300 years.

The Spaniards Christianized most of the inhabitants. However, the people of the Southern Philippines especially in Mindanao were not disposed of changing their Islamic faith and resisted Spanish rule. The Spaniards in the Philippines, like they did in their country, called the Muslims “Moros”. The Christians on the other hand were called “Indios”. The latter term was a misnomer because the indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines are of Malayan race and not Indians.

Spanish incursions into Muslim territories made the Moros retaliate by raiding Christian settlements in the archipelago. This conflict brought about deep seated mutual distrust and animosity between Muslim and Filipino Christians. In time, the term “Moro” was used by Christians to pejoratively refer to a Muslim. Muslims on the other hand disdained from being called of such derogatory word.                                                     

With the passage of time Filipino Muslims have become receptive of the term “Moro” to refer generally to a Filipino Muslim irrespective of his tribal group. This is apparent with the use of word “Moro” in groups such as Moro National Liberation Front, Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsa Moro. Perhaps for the members of this group the word “Moro” instead of being offensive is a source of pride. It is a symbol of the Muslims’ ever struggle for their righteous aspirations with Islam as their unifying factor.

In the Philippines, in practice, the word “Moro” to refer to Muslims is confined mostly in the print and other media. Filipinos in their conversations call their brothers who profess the Islamic faith as Muslim rather than a Moro. Alternatively, they may mention a Muslim based on his tribe such as Maranao, Tausug, Yakan, and Maguindanao among others.

Christianity and Islam, the Religions That Shape the Course of History

The belief of an almighty creator is an inherent nature of man. To cater to that belief, some people established religions that attracted large number of people. These religions even survive long after the death of their founders. By following a religion, a man has to suit his lifestyle in a way that his religion requires him. People’s collective adherence to a belief will somehow create a distinctive culture in a community. Indeed, religion has a profound impact on the social, political and cultural aspects of our lives. Since time immemorial many religions have been created and their struggle for expansion and dominance have resulted to the demise of empires, the change of the ethnic composition of a territory, the eruption of armed conflicts and the boom and decline of trade and commerce. Christianity and Islam are the two religions that in one way or the other affected the way many people live their lives in the past and present.

Jesus Christ and Christianity

The largest religion on earth was founded by a man named Jesus who was born in Bethlehem in Judea at around 6 AD during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. Little was known about his life in his younger age. He started his public ministry at the age of 30. With the help of his 12 disciples he preached to the people and healed the physically and spiritually sick. He told of the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God and of salvation. The Jewish high priests did not see Jesus’ activities in good light. For them he was a violator of the Jewish customs and traditions, and his claim to be the Messiah, the king of the Jews and the Son of God was highly blasphemous that called for a death penalty. The high priests plotted against him and put pressure on Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to have him executed. To appease the Jews and to prevent them from rioting, Pontius Pilate had Jesus crucified.

Contrary to what the Jewish high priests and Roman authorities expected, the death of Jesus did not end the movement that he founded.  His disciples and other followers who denied and abandoned him when he was tried and executed became fearless even to the point of death to vouch for him. Many of them claimed to have seen the resurrected Jesus before his ascension to heaven. For Jesus disciples and followers he was what he claimed to be.

Christianity is a religion that believes that spiritual salvation can only be obtained through Jesus. Christians also believe that Jesus is God’s promise Messiah whose life, death and resurrection fulfilled the prophecies of the Holy Bible. Different Christian denominations however are in constant disagreement as to the nature and or divinity of Jesus.

The early Christians were persecuted by the Jews and Romans and were falsely accused of having caused the disasters and other unfavorable things that happened in their community. However, despite the hardships and difficulties, they continued to spread the teachings of Christ.

Things started to change for the better for the Christians during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine I. He allowed freedom of worship in the empire. It was said that he saw a vision of the cross against the sun at the Battle of the Melvian Bridge in 312 AD, and that the sign would give him victory. Constantine later defeated his rivals and became the sole Roman emperor. The conversion of Constantine to Christianity which he made as the official religion of the empire enabled it to spread like wildfire within its territories. The Romans’ acceptance of Christianity also effectively eradicated their old polytheistic pagan belief.

During his reign Constantine transferred his capital from Rome to Byzantium, which was later called Constantinople in 330 AD. His move divided the empire into east and west, and the east became known as the Byzantine Empire.

Muhammad and Islam

Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Mecca. He became an orphan in his early childhood and at age 25 he married a rich widow named Khadija. Becoming a merchant, he traveled to Syria where he came into contact with Jews and Christians. At age 40 Muhammad had a vision of the Angel Gabriel in a cave which ordered him to go forth and preach. At first Muhammad was so afraid of the vision that he even believed that it was a malevolent spirit. However, his wife convinced him that it was from God.

Muhammad was later convinced that he was indeed a messenger of God. He started to preach, but was able only to get few converts. His activities put him in a collision course with the religious leaders of Mecca, who plotted for his life. Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina in 622 AD.  His departure was referred by Muslims as Hegira. Muhammad established an Islamic community in Medina and gained religious as well as political prominence. He was victorious in the Battle of Badr and Uhud and captured Mecca with little bloodshed. He then cleansed the Kaaba of idols and converted the people there of his new religion.                                                                                                                                                                          

During his lifetime Muhammad was able to convert all of Arabia to his new religion which is called Islam or submission. In the centuries after his death in 632 AD Muslim armies spread the faith by conquest and conversion and forged an Arab empire that stretched from Spain to India.                                                                                                                                                         

Islam is a monotheistic religion that has some component of Judaism and Christianity. Muslims live by abiding with the five pillars of their faith. They are: shahada- professing that  Allah is the only God and Muhammad is His prophet; salat- praying 5 times a day; zakat- giving alms to the poor; sawm of Ramadan- fasting during the holy month and haj- the pilgrimage to Mecca. Islam’s holy book is called the Koran which Muslims believe as the literal words of Allah. Muslims governs their action based on the Sharia, a legal system that is adopted from the Koran.

Muslims and Christian Conflicts

After Muhammad’s death, his armies conquered the Zoroastrians in Persia and the Pagans of Arabia and the Jews and the Christians in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Palestine and in the process replacing the original dominant religions with Islam.

Having conquered much of the east, the Muslims trained their eyes on Europe. The Moors and the Arabs crossed into the Iberian Peninsula and occupied Spain. Advancing toward the north, they crossed the Pyrenees Mountains but were halted by Charles Martel who defeated them at the Battle of Tours in 732 AD and forced them to retreat back to Spain where they stayed and established their own dynasty. 

In Anatolia the Turks posed a grave threat to the Byzantine Empire. The Turks were nomadic people from central Asia who migrated to the Middle East and to Asia Minor. They were converted to Islam and championed the religion. Overtime, they became the power to be reckoned with in those areas. The Turks defeated the Byzantine forces at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 in which Emperor Romanus IV was captured by Turkish leader Alp Arslan. Their capture of Jerusalem made it difficult for Christian pilgrims to visit their holy places.

To eliminate the threat of the Turks on the Byzantine Empire and to free Palestine from them, Pope Urban organized the crusades to deal with the situation. The crusaders were composed of troops from different European nationalities. There were eight crusades that were launched from 1095 to 1270. But these military campaigns ended mostly in failures because of the mutual distrust among their leaders and the primary cause of the crusades was obscured by their selfish political and economic interests. The fourth crusade in 1204 was diverted to Constantinople and sacked the city and replaced the rulers there with Latin emperors, an action that alienated the Byzantine subjects from their Christian allies.

Victories and Defeats

The marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile strengthened their Christians kingdoms in Spain.  Their combined forces defeated the last Moorish kingdom of Granada in 1492, and the Moors were expelled from Spain. At first the Muslims and the Jews who opted to stay in the country were treated fairly. But later, the inquisitions made many of them leave Spain.

The Ottoman Turks were able to take over large area of Asia Minor and conquered some countries in the Balkan Peninsula thereby surrounding the city of Constantinople the seat of the Byzantine Empire and Christendom’s second most important city after Rome. It was just a matter of time before the moribund Byzantine Empire with its capital city would fall to the Muslim Turks. Finally, on May 29, 1453, forces under Sultan Muhammad II laid siege to the city and successfully captured it. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire which was supplanted by the Ottoman Empire which made Constantinople as its capital. The Ottomans wanted to take Europe for Islam. Led by Suleiman the Magnificent, they attempted to cross Western Europe through Vienna in 1529. However, they were driven back by the city’s defending troops.

Alternative Trade Routes to the Sea and the Age of Exploration

The control of important traditional trade routes by the Muslims made it difficult and expensive for goods such as spices from Asia to reach Europe. To get around the trade routes that were in the hands of the Arabs and Turks, Christian European kingdoms particularly Spain and Portugal looked to the sea to reach India where those goods were said to come from. Early explorers thought that the source of spices in the east could be reached through the sea by sailing westward, and around the Cape of Good Hope. Queen Isabella sponsored and financed the expedition of Christopher Columbus into the Indies in 1492. He was not able to reach India although he discovered a vast unexplored land that was later named the America.

Columbus exploration paved the way to the settlement of new lands that were at that time unknown to Europe. Other European powers such as Britain, France and Netherlands joined Spain and Portugal in the exploration of the New World. As a result, colonies were established which later became independent countries. New countries such as United States, Mexico, and Brazil among others were born. Their people are composed of indigenous inhabitants and settlers of divergent nationalities around the world.  Some countries such as the United States and Canada even became richer and greater than their former mother countries.

The discovery of new lands during the Age of Explorations enabled the European powers to extend their territories beyond the sea. It provided them economic benefit and enabled them to propagate their traditions, language, culture and religion in those lands. Somehow, the Age of Exploration has paved the way for the spread Christianity outside of Europe and the Middle East. Although many people believe in God and adhere to a religious belief, there are others who consider religion as absurdity. But it is an undeniable fact that religion is one of the factors that shaped the courses of events in history.

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