Columbus’ own writings reveal how tightly religion and conquest were intertwined from the start

The ‘Book of Prophecies’ shows how Columbus recast brutal colonization as a divine mission.

By: Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: October 6, 2026

Words: 1,376

Last Updated: 1 week, 4 days ago

By Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Few historic figures are as divisive as Christopher Columbus. For some, in both Spain and the United States, he remains a great hero, an explorer who found a “new world.” He is reviled by others who see him as an arrogant conqueror: the first European to enslave Indigenous Americans, and the man who launched ecological destruction in the Western …

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