Compare and Contrast a Traditional Narrative of Columbus’s Motivations to a More Modern Scholarly Treatment of Columbus
The journey of Columbus presents him as a scientist who was always against religious superstition. Moreover, Columbus was seen as person who was so ambitious in locating America. Columbus has played a major role in defining modernity in history of Europe, Islam and America. Columbus massive interest was in the recovery of Jerusalem. According to reliable sources, Columbus was only looking as well as locating for the mythical Island known as Antillas along the Atlantic. A mysterious pilot as revealed in his journals was guiding him all through the entire journey. Throughout his entire discovery, Columbus journey was characterized by strong motivation which enables him achieve his objective despite all the challenges he faces (Columbus Bartolomé, Casas, and James 7).
Christopher Columbus is believed to belong to an age of the past. However, he was regarded as the sign and also a symbol of the new age of hope, accomplishment and glory. This is because the medieval faith transformed and also constrained him to the modern solution. For instance, Columbus was considered as a crusader who aimed for the conquest of Jerusalem and thus his objectives is portrayed as the discovery of the New World involving conversion of Gentiles as well as the recuperation and recovery of Holy Sepulcher. People like Phelan believe that in the years 1492 and 1498 Columbus was greatly motivated and even aggravated by the conventional crusading ideal.
In 1501 to 1502 Columbus associated crusading tradition or custom to apocalyptical revelation of himself as the Messiah. This is because desired and even worked hard to ensure that Jerusalem was delivered from Muslim hands which made him considered as a man of action. Columbus initiated three ways which enabled him achieve his motives and included contacting the pro-Christian Mongol Grand Khan who was in the East. This move brought the Western and the Eastern Christianity into a common motive and intention to recover Jerusalem from Muslim regime. Columbus also employed most of the resources he came along in all new discovered lands to rescue as well as conquer Jerusalem within a period of three years. Columbus incorporated the messianic personality in his crusade as prophesied by St. Jerome and Abbot Joachim. This move enabled him to crush down the Muslim central power as well as Mamluks of Syria and Egypt (Bauer, and Liz 48).
Material possessions and the desire for leadership are regarded as the traditional motivation of Columbus in the fifteenth century in order for him to establish various scientific innovations. He wanted to be rewarded for his works before he could deliver. This is evident from his demands that he should be accorded a tenth of all the wealth in the Indies in order for him to come up with a project (Phillips, and Carla 70). Additionally, he wanted to be accorded with the responsibility to judge disputes, as this would give him a high authority both in the military and civil spheres. The Spanish monarchs felt that Columbus was too demanding and thus they did not grant his demands. The decision was however reconsidered in order for Columbus to take up the contract with the Spanish monarchs in 1492. Furthermore, this is evident from the fact that he went on a number of voyages in order to acquire wealth in the form of things like ornaments, masks and crowns. Another instance that shows that Columbus was motivated by material gains and riches was when he embarked in search of gold and was able to get a hold of this precious metal in 1496 in Hispaniola. In addition to this, it can be seen that after the death of Columbus his family took it upon themselves to pursue his possessions on his behalf. They wanted the titles and honors he had acquired to be reinstated.
Another traditional motivation for Columbus was that of dead reckoning which is what enabled him to make scientific findings. Columbus did not make use of astrolabe and other kinds of devices in the process of navigation. He found nature more thrilling and this is what he used to carry out his works. He could use natural aspects like the mannerisms of birds, the light blue color of the sky, the existing state in the seas and the scent that could be detected from the air to make it possible to navigate. According to Columbus, studying various aspects of nature made the process of navigation easier especially owing to the fact that he was an expert at this (Bauer, and Liz 30).
The scholarly treatment of Columbus in the modern day is that he was an individual who forced a number of indigenous groups to convert into Christianity. He is also remembered as someone who brought in new diseases that ended up affecting the American natives in the long term. Despite this fact, Christopher Columbus is treated with respect and considered a legend as there is even a holiday in the US known as the Columbus day meant to commemorate his achievement of getting into a new world on the 12th October in the year 1492.
Works cited
Bauer, Marion D, and Liz G. Dubois. Christopher Columbus. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.
Columbus, Christopher, Bartolomé . Casas, O C. Dunn, and James E. Kelley. The Diario of
Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America, 1492-1493. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. Print.
Phillips, William D, and Carla R. Phillips. The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge
[England: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Print.
