This was a time of great
transitions in Europe, particularly on the Iberian Peninsula. click here for more
The Spanish queen and king, Isabelle and
Ferdinand, expelled the last Moorish king from Cordoba, and the
cross was raised in mosques of the Alhambra in Granada, something
unthinkable just fifty years before.
The legal scholar and historian
Robert Williams argues that no single historical incident better
illustrated the great transformations occurring throughout
Discovery Era Europe than Queen Isabella's acceptance of Antonio de
Nebrija's Gramatica, the first study of grammar ever compiled for a
modern European language. (click here for more)
When Nebrija presented it to the
queen, she is reported to have asked, "What good is this?"
The meek scholar, fearful of drawing attention to himself and his
landmark achievement, offered a simple but profound answer:
"Language is the perfect instrument of empire." The rest, as
they say, is history.
of empire required monarchs to reconcile the duty of universal
guardianship of the church with the practical demands of colonizing
new lands. As the rest of Europe was emerging from the Middle
Ages, these early discourses on the nature of conquest put Spain
and Portugal in positions of leadership and dominance with regard
to extending their trading empires beyond the boundaries of
-Under the new
unified Spanish Crown, seven centuries of Moorish rule came to a
bloody end at the battle of Grenada in 1492.
- The Spanish
Inquisition gave Muslims and Jews a clear choice; either conform to
the teachings of the Vatican, or flee. Most fled.
- The bloody
intrigues between petty princes and minor kings, scattered across
Europe, would be the midwives of nationhood that would begin to
draw the new geo-political boundaries of Renaissance
In addition to
these transformative events, Isabella and Ferdinand blessed (and
financed) Columbus' bold voyage in search of a shorter route to the
Indies. If successful, it would enable Spain to leapfrog over
the Portuguese colonies in Africa. To underscore the
importance of the church in any discussions of Spanish conquest and
colonizing enterprise, the queen instructed Columbus to submit his
proposal to a court of priests and canon law scholars, who granted
had even returned from his first voyage, the Spanish crown sent
envoys to the Vatican with draft documents of title confirming
Spain's right to Columbus' discoveries in the New World.
Spain's quick action demonstrates the importance that was attached
to the legitimizing function played by the papacy in the Discovery
Era. It just so happened that the new pope, Alexander VI, was
the Spanish prelate Rodrigo Borgia. Never would he have
become pope without the support of Isabella and Ferdinand.