There were six countries – Spain, Portugal, England, France, Netherlands, and the Denmark-Norway Empire – that seriously pursued colonization in areas of the world that were generally unknown to Europeans until late in the 15th century. Fishing ships from all these countries had certainly been in Western Atlantic waters, but except for Spain and Portugal, land exploration and colonizing settlements didn’t begin until the early 1500s.

This Colonization Element referred to as the Doctrine of Discovery includes information about the ancient (15th and 16th century) Catholic Church edicts called Papal Bulls, and the English Royal Decrees called Letters Patents.  Also included in this Element are brief reviews of the exploration, conquest, invasion, and occupation tactics and strategies used by the six colonizing countries.

The following are the individual articles of the Colonization Practices that constitute the Doctrine of Discovery.  Although there is some cross referencing, in general, each article is an independent statement about a particular subject, person, or issue. 

The 1452 Papal Bull

Pope Nickolas V

The 1493 Papal Bull

Pope Alexander VI

Other Colonizing Papal Bulls

England’s Letters Patent and Grants

French Colonization Practices – New France

French Colonization Practices – Caribbean France

The Netherlands Colonization Practices

Denmark-Norway Colonization Practices

Portugal Colonization Practices

Spanish Colonization Practices

Colonization Dissenters

Spanish Requirement

The 10 Rules of the Doctrine of Discovery

Repudiating the Papal Bulls

As I discover new information about the Doctrine of Discovery, additional articles will be included in the Colonization *Footnotes website and added to this Directory.