Christianity

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church's power
gradually began to dwindle. The monarchies of Europe also began to grow
replacing the church's power. Monarchies, at the close of the Middle Ages and
the dawn of the Renaissance, did not so much seek the guidance of the church as
much as it sought their approval. However, the Church during the Age of
Discovery was still a major influence. The discovery of the New World and its
previously unknown inhabitants presented new problems in the Catholic Church in
the late 14th and early 15th century. When Spain's rulers and emissaries decided
to physically conquer and populate the New World, and not just trade with it,
the transplantation of Christian institutions followed.

The church established contact with the New World, and made it a goal to
establish the Catholic doctrines among the native population there. The Catholic
Church and the Spanish monarch, however, looked upon the native population in
the New World as souls to be saved. They did not consider or treat the ...

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be dedicated to the
recapture of Jerusalem from the Moslems.2 Columbus saw the discovery of the New
World as a prophesy coming true. He saw the Indians that lived there as a labor
source that should be Christianized and used for the greater good of the church.
The implementation of his two fold plan had its difficulties; However, this did
not stop or discredit the use of this part of the plan as a prime directive of
the New World.

Two papal bulls or verdicts were issued in the year of 1493 that
established the Spanish position in the New World.3 They also established the
role that the church was going to play in the New World. The first bull was
issued on May 3 given the name ...

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