Age of Exploration: Motivations

Religious Motivations:

• The Crusades instilled religious zeal, particularly in Catholic nations like Spain and Portugal.
• A significant influence on their exploration efforts was the desire to spread Christianity and convert indigenous populations.

Economic Motivations:

• The Crusades heightened demand for Eastern goods like spices and silk by increasing maritime trade between the East and West.
• Traditional trade routes were disrupted by the fall of Constantinople in 1453, leading European powers to seek new routes.

Technological Advancements:

• Navigation and shipbuilding advances in the late 15th century made long-distance sea voyages more feasible.
• Innovations like the caravel and improvements in navigational instruments facilitated exploration.

Political Competition:

• Intense competition between European powers, especially Spain and Portugal, motivated rapid colonization.
• Exploration was fueled by the desire for global dominance and control over trade routes.

The Reconquista's Legacy:

• Muslim rule ended in the Iberian Peninsula.
• A spirit of conquest and expansion was fostered.
• Spanish explorers felt entitled to claim new lands because of the successful reconquest of territories.

Doctrine of Discovery:

• A legal concept emerged in the 15th century.
• Christian European nations had the right to claim sovereignty over lands inhabited by non-Christians.
• Papal bulls, such as Inter caetera (1493), provided the theological justification.

Terra Nullius:

• The Doctrine of Discovery gave Catholic explorers license to claim vacant land (terra nullius).
• Land can be claimed in the name of their sovereign, or king and the church.
• A philosophical and legal framework dating to the 15th century gave Christian governments moral and legal rights to invade.

Jura Regalia/Regalian Doctrine:

• The Doctrine of Discovery is practiced in Asia and the Philippines through the concept of jura regalia or the Regalian Doctrine.
• Royal rights claimed by the King of Spain during the 16th century are claimed by virtue of discovery and conquest.
• Land belonged to the "crown", or the King during Spanish colonization of the Philippines.

Papal Bulls:

• A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by a pope of the Catholic Church.
• Named after the leaden seal (bulla) appended to the end.
• The doctrine resulted from three papal bulls issued by the Vatican during the 15th century: Dum Diversas (1452), Romanus Pontifex (1455), and Inter Caetera.

Dum Diversas:

• Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas on June 18, 1452.
• It initiated the first set of documents that would compose the Doctrine of Discovery.
• “Saracens (Muslims) and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery, to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms, counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert them to his and their use and profit."
• Dum Diversas identified Saracens and pagans (essentially identifying any non-Christian or "others") as those who could be targeted for "perpetual slavery."

Romanus Pontifex:

• Pope Nicholas V authored the bull Romanus Pontifex in January 1454, directed towards the kingdom of Portugal.
• It allowed European Catholic nations to expand their dominion over "discovered" land.
• Possession of non-Christian lands would be justified.
• The church believed that Alfonso “justly and lawfully has acquired and possessed, and doth possess, these islands, lands, harbors, and seas, and they do of"
• Alfonso would operate as an agent of God, while the conquered and enslaved people would have no agency before God.
• Revealed Pope Nicholas V's desire to seek "the salvation of all... [that] he may bring the sheep entrusted to him by God into the single divine fold and may acquire for them the reward of eternal felicity"

Inter Caetera:

• Pope Alexander VI issued the papal bull Inter Caetera on May 4, 1493.
• It was addressed to Ferdinand and Isabella.
• The pope offered a spiritual validation for European conquest.
• The Catholic faith and the Christian religion should be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, and barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself.”
• Columbus could be considered the "discoverer" of the Americas, even though continents were already filled with people and civilizations.
• As a European Christian, he would hold a superior position over the Native inhabitants.

Imperial Ambitions:

• First directed towards Portugal, then Spain.
• Affirmed the imperial ambitions of these two European powers.
• Gave theological permission for the European body and mind to view themselves as superior to non-European bodies and minds.

Regalian Doctrine in the Philippines:

• Recognized in Section 2, Article 12 of the 1987 Constitution.
• “All lands of public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests, timber, wildlife, flora and fauna and other natural resources are own by the state.”

Impact on Indigenous Peoples:

• Exploration and colonization had devastating consequences for indigenous populations.
• Including displacement, violence, and cultural assimilation.
• The historical legacy continues to affect indigenous rights and land claims.