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Was Christopher Columbus on a Religious Crusade?

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    Mercenary or explorer? Panel weighs in

  • Duration 4:18
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-- move onto another subject another controversial subject actually out -- how controversial it is but it's at -- because Columbus Day is Monday -- some day we celebrate -- it was still celebrating despite the controversy around Columbus.

But there are two recent books that argued that Christopher Columbus and his -- Portuguese.

Contemporary.

-- with -- Gama.

We're more like Christian crusaders from around there and then explorers.

Mercenaries revenge jurors.

And there is Christopher right there and -- braverman a song -- -- -- -- Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue 14192.

And -- that we always celebrated as discovering America we now know that -- basically opened up North America for European.

Settlers.

But the idea that.

In at least two books one by Carol delaying its called Columbus and the quest for Jerusalem and -- -- -- the holy war.

Really is kind of but what do you think about the first of all and engine and John you -- first.

I think it's actually just classic revisionist history I think you've got hundreds of years.

They majority -- you know you do history QX.

You find out what happened from the earliest possible source and then how often it's repeated that's how you do history.

And so we have a couple of professors that are living in an environment where you get a publisher parish and.

You've got to be edgier and edgier and edgier -- so they come out with this profoundly new idea and.

I just say I work at a university wouldn't have the largest Christian university while 170000 says this is just -- scholarship and -- the sources are right.

That the journal that cited in the book was actually a different book I mean there's at one point and into Columbus book where.

-- that in the half their rights.

It's amazing you gotta be a professor Brown University to get this.

She is she writes He says that just as He hit Henry the navigator was doing his trades.

Across the world the great famine of thirteen fourteen -- Here's what's beautiful about that.

Henry the navigator wasn't even born till thirteen 94 water you know so I think if you just look at this objectively I mean.

It go with what's early -- with what's repeated and understand that history is just the best we can do we didn't eyewitnesses we just put the data.

Together and for the majority of the time Christopher Columbus has been a hero with his flaws like the rest of us.

But not a crusader.

-- -- -- -- -- -- Yeah I I think it's those are great points -- Christopher Columbus is it is a hero I I think you know I understand they're all kinds of controversies about this.

But the reality is first -- all it was a great sailor He if you if you just -- west you would eventually get to where He got but that He figured out how to go back to Spain.

Figured out -- -- repeatedly to the same -- was a smart guy a good sailor and I do think as I understand from historical documents that He was a committed Christian.

I don't I don't see any evidence that I mean you know and I I -- I gotta maybe I need to reexamine the issue I don't see any evidence.

That He was a crusader the evidence is -- more that He just really felt compelled to share his faith He wanted to spread the Christian faith.

And you know when He wrote in his journals and so forth about that that's really that's the kind of thing He was writing.

Now having said that.

There was a very similar thing going on in the culture in Spain at that time.

Italy was experiencing it you know surely after Columbus was the time of Machiavelli in Italy.

And of course the most formal ball hordes were moving in there and trying to destroy this they're civilization.

You know it and you can't just go you can't just go to congress and say I'll let's go ahead and borrow another 400 billion dollars so we can fund the war.

To protect ourselves against Islamic terrorists in those -- yet have yet to figure out how to pay for it so that's the part I'm going to examine and see.

But now everything that I've seen just says that He was He was a committed Christian He just had a really big heart He wanted to share his faith.

A lot of things didn't turn out well lot of things turned out very poorly you know that's just the course of history but as motivation didn't seem to be anything a -- this crusader idea -- don't get.

Well I wanna I wanna mention that it was before -- -- wanted to just last subject for really quickly on the books are poets like Carol Delanie Columbus and the quest for Jerusalem and Nigel -- called holy war.

Angry people to check it out and there's also commentary in the Wall Street Journal I'm criticizing.

-- -- scholarship of those two books but it's worth.

-- -- interesting to look at things that perhaps.

-- -- --

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