introduction
In the Age of Discovery, the process of Europeans "discovering" the Americas was the process of turning the land of the Indians into their own "legal land", although they were bandits, but they had their own set of "legitimacy" principles, and when they announced the occupation of new lands, their words and deeds were quite solemn, there were many rituals, mixed with chivalric and Catholic religious traditions.
Of course, this does not obscure the fact that they have committed banditry, because even though the land they "discovered" has been inhabited by countless Indians for thousands of years, they still consider the sovereignty of the land to belong to themselves, because they are Christians, and God's representative on earth, the Pope, has given himself the right to occupy the pagan land on Behalf of God.
Europeans at that time had an inexplicable sense of superiority, feeling that God had given them the right to possess the land of the pagans, and therefore felt that they were the righteous party, that they were robbing the land of the indigenous people, that they were bringing them the gospel, and that if the other party did not accept it and was against God, then they could legally dispose of each other at will, such as sending each other to death and then selling their wives and daughters into slavery.
So what procedures did Europeans use to "legally and reasonably" occupy a new land in the age of discovery? Follow this article to see what the early Spanish explorers did during the Great Voyages.
Oaths, crosses and signatures
The first thing to do is to occupy a new land, of course, to a new land that has never been visited before, and the predecessors here refer to explorers from other European countries, and have nothing to do with the local indigenous people. After determining that the lands he had found had not been claimed by other European countries, he could proceed to the next step.
Tip: In the age of great navigation, it is common for European explorers from different countries to repeatedly swear sovereignty over a new land, often resulting in international disputes, even wars, which will lead to endless wars of words, and finally can only rely on the strength of the country to determine ownership, or to see who has a harder gun.
Upon arriving in the New Lands, explorers raised a flag with a royal coat of arms and waved it in the wind for everyone in the vicinity to see, such as the famous Spanish explorer Basque Núñez de Barboa (hereinafter referred to as Balboa), who did so when he claimed to occupy the Pacific Ocean and its coastal lands.
As soon as he led the group to the seashore, he raised a banner with the Virgin Mary and the Son painted on it, and below it were the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Castile and León, and then he sheathed his sword in full armor, and with the round shield on his back, he walked straight to the sea, until the sea reached his knees, where he waved the flag excitedly, cheered loudly, and issued a declaration of occupation of this land under the gaze of many Indians:
"Long live the sublime and great Monarchs of Castile, León and Aragon, Don Ferdinand, Donna Juana!" In the name of the two monarchs and the Castilian royal family, I occupy, truly and unequivocally, all the seas, lands, coasts and ports here, as well as all the small islands and dependent areas to the south, and indisputably occupy all the kingdoms and possessions which have existed or existed in the past or in the present or in the future, and all the kingdoms and possessions which have existed or may exist in the future, whether by law or infidelity, by whatever law and under what circumstances — Claiming any right to this land and sea territory, I will defend and protect it in the name of the present and future Castilian monarchs, for from now until the Last Judgment Day of mankind, the Castilian monarchs will rule over all the Indian regions, islands and golden peninsulas here, whether north or south, and all seas, as far as the North Pole and the South Pole, whether south or north of the equator, whether within or outside the Tropic of Cancer, as long as the heavens and the earth still exist. The Castilian monarch will always be the ruler here. ”
Balboa
This claim was so common during the Age of Discovery, not only in Balboa, but also by other European explorers, especially Spanish explorers, when they occupied new lands, and it almost became a stereotype, and the most elaborate one would kneel.
And when the leader of the explorers finished this robber-like declaration of occupation, he would then tour his team to see if anyone had any objections to the content of his claim, and of course, basically no one dared to disagree on this occasion.
The chief then asks his companions to swear that he was the first to discover and occupy the new land, which is one of the most important sources of his future fame and wealth. After witnessing this, their companions also swore that they would defend the newly occupied land with all their might, which was their duty and obligation as subjects of the Kingdom of Castile.
Finally, after this series of declarations, the notary or monk accompanying the expedition would draft a document document recording the expedition's newly discovered land and declarations, and everyone present would sign their names as witnesses one by one.
If there is a large area of water near the newly discovered land, the explorers will also go to the water's edge to taste the taste of the local water, such as the Balboa Belt on the Pacific coast, and they are very relieved to taste the bitterness of the sea, because although the newly discovered sea here is hidden beyond the mountains and waters, it tastes as salty as the waters of the northern hemisphere, which makes them sure that the new sea they have discovered must be a new sea.
As Catholics, the Spaniards had another important ceremony to be held, that is, to cut a cross on the new land or to carve a cross on a tree to represent the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as a sign of their help to the Pope and the Church in occupying the land, and sometimes they would cut some branches from the trees inscribed with the cross as trophies and souvenirs.