Other Colonizing Papal Bulls
The first Papal Bull my research has found that contains a rudimentary essence of colonization practices was issued by Pope Urban II in 1095. While the original document hasn’t yet been discovered, there are some excellent notes from a sermon Urban gave at the Council of Clermont in November of 1095 that is purported to have been based on this Bull. In the sermon, and presumably in the Bull, Urban essentially established the first Crusade. There were a number of political issues Urban was facing which had some influence on his decision to launch that initial Crusade. But, the passion behind the mission was to first, conquer Muslim lands as they were devoid of Christians and could be considered vacant, or terra nullus. And the second, to kill Muslims who were infidels and could not be saved by conversion, so killing them was not a sin. In fact, Urban preached that going on a Crusade was a pilgrimage which would have heavenly rewards. There was also the matter of the bounty gained from the conquest, of which one-third went to the Church.
Pope Felix V, the the last anti-Pope, issued a Papal Bull in 1442 encouraging the Portuguese to continue enslaving non-christians in the Canary Islands. As an anti-Pope its not clear how much influence his document had, but it is an indication how embedded the issue was in the administration of the church. So much so, that the leader of this ‘shadow council’ of the church was using his presumed authority to extend his support for colonizing practices The Bull also explained how the slave traders were to pay royalty fees to the church for slaves, excepting those who died on route to their destination.
In 1155, Pope Adrian IV – the only English Pope – issued the Papal Bull, Laudabiliter [Praiseworthy] claiming ownership of Ireland on behalf of St. Peter and the Catholic Church. He then gave lordship of the country, including all the islands, to Henry II who was the King of England at the time. Henry invaded the country using the authority of the Papal ‘Donation’ Bull forcing the Irish rulers to accept him as their overlord.
Pope Eugene in 1436 issued a Bull concerned about Portuguese and Spanish activities in the Canary Islands, particularly with regard to enslaving the Indigenous Peoples living there. Eugene asserted in his Bull that slavery served as a natural deterrent against the bad behavior of non-believers and actually had a ‘Christianizing’ influence on those enslaved. Eugene may have been echoing the views about slavery that Pope Innocent IV [1243 – 1254] held when he wrote that “the flock of Christ included pagan sheep that he ultimately hoped to Christianize.”
This statement by Eugene in 1436 was somewhat different than his earlier Bull ‘Sicut dudum’ [Just as Long Ago] which was issued on January 13, 1435, in which he forbade the enslavement of the natives of the Canary Islands who had converted, or were converting to, Christianity. Which, if looked at another way, states that it was ok to enslave non-Christians.
The question that Eugene was raising, perhaps not by design, was whether or not Christians could enslave other Christians? The various answers to that question would be troublesome throughout the history of colonization.
There were a few other Papal Bulls I’ve found that have some references to colonization, but none that added significant information to what has already been covered. The Bulls are a key element to any study of colonization practices. One can trace other elements by the ‘tenor and tone’ set by these ancient religious documents.
Primary sources: “Papal Donations and Colonization”, Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450, Encyclopedia.com; The Papal Bulls Infamous Legacy: Doctrine of Discovery, Reverend Dr. Nancy Ash, DD, PhD; “Sublimis Deus (Sublimis Dei),” Doctrine of Discovery Project, Tina Ngata,