On May 3, Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo de Borja) published the papal bull Inter Caetera recognizing Castile’s right to the islands and mainlands Columbus had “discovered and to be discovered” thereafter (i.e., the Taíno homeland). He later prepared two additional bulls—ultimately to be dated May 3 and 4—providing that a longitudinal line be established one hundred leagues west of any of the Azores and the Cape Verde islands and granting Castile all islands and mainlands found and to be found from that line west or south in the direction of India or toward any other quarter.
Regardless of geographic ambiguities, Pope Alexander was clear on two points. The papacy was supreme in determining and awarding the dominion of Christian princes to “newly discovered” lands previously not possessed by Christians (i.e., regardless of possession by others). Christian princes owed the pope a duty to bring peoples in lands so awarded to the faith. His bull noted that it pleased the Lord that “barbarous nations” be overthrown and brought to the faith and that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, through the beloved Christoforum Colon, had discovered many unclothed peoples disposed to embrace the faith. The bull also recounted that a fortress had been built, equipped, and garrisoned by Christians on one of the islands, facilitating search for further territory.
Cristofano dell’Altissimo, Uffizi Gallery, Wikimedia Commons.