The end is that wherein the appetite of the agent or mover comes to rest, as also the appetite of that

which is moved. Now it is the very notion of good to be the term of appetite, since good is the object of every appetite. Therefore, all action and movement is for the good. (Thomas Aquinas)1

I am not a particularly religious person myself, but it is difficult for me to comprehend the glaring omission of religions presence as an ideology, and a powerful force within the various analyses of European imperialism that we have so far considered. Our selected authors have focused almost entirely on economic factors, with the inclusion of environmental, technological, and occasionally cultural. Economic motives should certainly not be downplayed, whether we are discussing the fiscal interests of capitalists, kings or popes. Yet, it feels like there is an elephant in the room that everyone acknowledges but doesnt want to look at directly. There has been speculation in our class discussions about what prompted Spain and Portugal to be the first nations to thrust out into Imperialist waters while the northern nations lagged behind, and the shaky explanations given have been purely economic and geographical in nature. If we look at concurrent events across the continent, the religious climate of each nation gives a lot of insight into this matter. At the time of Columbus exploration of the New World in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs Queen Isabella I of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon, (a pair of married cousins that made a formidable family), had just completed the essentially 700 year mission of Reconquista with the occupation of Granada, the last Islamic Moorish territory of the Iberian Peninsula.2 Seen as a threat to the Catholic faith, all Jewish residents were forced to convert to Christianity or be expelled by the Alhambra Decree of 1492. The Spanish Inquisition, and later the Portuguese Inquisition, was put into place to ensure the
1

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Bk. III, Ch. XXXVII, (1264) pp. 59-60. The Crusades can be thought of as an extension of the Reconquista to regain the Iberian Peninsula. During these wars, Christians became acquainted with the philosophy of the Aristotle as it had been preserved by the Muslims. Aquinas used Aristotles foundations th to create a theological update from Augustines Neo-Platonism, which had reigned theologically since the 4 c.e. 2 New World Encyclopedia contributors, "Reconquista," New World Encyclopedia, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Reconquista?oldid=901533 (accessed February 11, 2011).

orthodoxy of the new Islamic and Jewish converts and to eliminate all heretical doctrines differing from the Catholic Churchs positions. Meanwhile, living in plush luxury, the leaders of the Holy Roman Empire had burdened their subjects with taxes and tithes to the degree that revolt religious and political was brewing in many of the northern European nations. The invention of the printing press allowed for social critiques of the Church to be distributed widely. When Martin Luther presented his 95 theses he merely lit a powder keg in a religious climate that was already highly unstable. This new phenomenon of Protestantism had far-reaching implications in how people thought about just about everything, but certainly their own place (and power) in the world. Luthers call for the Bible to be accessible through translation into the common language of the people, for the Bible to be the only revealed authority from God, and his emphasis on faith alone (not works/deeds) as a means to salvation these ideological changes totally undermined the long-standing power and authority of the Holy Roman Church and led to the Reformation and CounterReformation which divided Europe. King Henry VIII of England was also making some radical revisions around that time. Fearing the Pope was taking on the role of prince of Italy and obscuring the roles between the religious and the political, wanting more fiscal and political autonomy, and a divorce the Pope wouldnt approve, Henry VIII declared himself the supreme head of the Church of England in 1534. While not formally rejecting Catholicism, this action did put England right in the middle of the Reformation/Counter-Reformation battle a battle that required new sources of finance. Adrian Hastings Christianity, Civilization, and Commerce discusses the spread of culture and Christianity as being nearly a synonymous ideology. This essay is focused mainly on showing how missionaries came to accept participation in commerce along with religious duties. Considering all of the theories presented in relation to Capitalism and Imperialism, I find both the Conklin and Mommsen books to be lacking Max Webers brilliant and insightful analysis The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of

Capitalism, written in 1904-1905. Mommsen gives the briefest mention of Webers distinction between normal free-market capitalism and the predatory monopolistic kind based on exploiting overseas territory. 3 Weber points to the underlying religious motivations of Calvinist zealots devoted to making surplus capital while embracing frugality being a primary factor in their migration from Europe as well as their success in building the foundations of our current nation. Save where Continental influences have measurably corrupted the Puritan idea e.g., in such cities as New York, St. Louis and New Orleans, the prevailing American view of the world and its mysteries is still a purely moral one, and no other human concern gets half the attention that is endlessly lavished upon the problem of conduct, particularly of the other fellow. It needed no announcement of a President of the United States to define the republics destiny as that of an international expert in morals, and the mentor and exemplar of the less righteous nation.4 H.L. Mencken, writing in 1917, would have agreed with Max Weber that the Calvinist Puritan work ethic was as pervasive as weeds in the New World. Much of the Enlightenment ideology which facilitated independence of the New World colonies was based on the pursuit of secular Reason as a new god. Writers of that time, like Thomas Jefferson, were often eager to be free from including theology in what was now considered a secular realm. Important ideas, like the Separation of Church and State have shaped how capitalism and commerce have evolved. I find that our current scholarship may be unconsciously over-emphasizing one nationalism and unable to look directly at the complicity of the other the Church. The effects of major changes in the religious climate in Europe, the role of religion as a superstructure ideology which fueled the justifications of expansionism for royalty and commoners alike, and the spiritual fervor for conversion of the entire world into Christianized neo-Europes these aspects are being downplayed or blatantly ignored in our readings.
3 4

Wolfgang J. Mommsen, Theories of Imperialism. P. Falla, Trans. (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1980) p. 81. H.L. Mencken, A Book of Prefaces. (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1917) p. 198.

Christianity & Culture: The Role of Religion In Theories of European Imperialism

Heather DeLancett

HIST 445 Spring 2011 Prof. Michael Bitter Second Short Paper

Bibliography

Aquinas,Thomas. Summa Contra Gentiles. in Great Traditions in Ethics, ed. Denise, White, Peterfreund 12th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth , 2008), 78-87.
Hastings,Adrian. Christianity, Civilization, and Commerce in European Imperialism, 1830-1930 - Climax

and Contradiction, Alice Conklin and Ian Fletcher (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), 74-81. Mencken, H.L. A Book of Prefaces. (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1917) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19355/19355-h/19355-h.htm (Accessed February 14, 2010). New World Encyclopedia contributors, "Reconquista," New World Encyclopedia, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Reconquista?oldid=901533 (accessed February 11, 2011). Mommsen, Wolfgang J. Theories of Imperialism. Translated by P.S. Falla. (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1980). Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Talcott Parsons (New York: CreateSpace, 2010).