[This is an interview of Dr. Carol Delaney, renowned Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Stanford University, with Columbia Online regarding her book, Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem: How Religion Drove the Voyages that Led to America on Oct. 6]
You argue that most people misunderstand the purpose of Columbus’ voyage. According to your research, what were his motivations?
Everybody knows that Columbus was trying to find gold, but they don’t know what the gold was for: to fund a crusade to take Jerusalem back from the Muslims before the end of the world.
A lot of people at the time thought that the apocalypse was coming because of all the signs: the plague, famine, earthquakes and so forth. And it was believed that before the end, Jerusalem had to be back in Christian hands so that Christ could return in judgment.
The popular view today is that Columbus is responsible for countless atrocities against the native peoples. In your opinion, is this a fair assessment?
No, not at all. The late 20th century brought a lot of critique about him from the perspective of the natives, and Columbus has become a symbol for everything that went wrong. But the more I read of his own writings and that of his contemporaries, my understanding of him totally changed.
His relations with the natives tended to be benign. He liked the natives and found them to be very intelligent. Columbus strictly told the crew not to do things like maraud, or rape, and instead to treat the native people with respect. There are many examples in his writings where he gave instructions to this effect.
[This is an interview of Dr. Carol Delaney, renowned Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Stanford University, with Columbia Online regarding her book, Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem: How Religion Drove the Voyages that Led to America on Oct. 6]
You argue that most people misunderstand the purpose of Columbus’ voyage. According to your research, what were his motivations?
Everybody knows that Columbus was trying to find gold, but they don’t know what the gold was for: to fund a crusade to take Jerusalem back from the Muslims before the end of the world.
A lot of people at the time thought that the apocalypse was coming because of all the signs: the plague, famine, earthquakes and so forth. And it was believed that before the end, Jerusalem had to be back in Christian hands so that Christ could return in judgment.
The popular view today is that Columbus is responsible for countless atrocities against the native peoples. In your opinion, is this a fair assessment?
No, not at all. The late 20th century brought a lot of critique about him from the perspective of the natives, and Columbus has become a symbol for everything that went wrong. But the more I read of his own writings and that of his contemporaries, my understanding of him totally changed.
His relations with the natives tended to be benign. He liked the natives and found them to be very intelligent. Columbus strictly told the crew not to do things like maraud, or rape, and instead to treat the native people with respect. There are many examples in his writings where he gave instructions to this effect.