Home > Weird and Wonderful > Columbus Christopher Columbus, Astrology, and the Discovery of America Ponder with Dr Z just how pivotal a role astrology ended up playing in Christopher Columbus discovering the Americas. Would there even be an "America" such as we know it today without astrology and astrological forecasting? The Untold Story “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” Yep... this wee bit of insightful information, that Columbus (1451-1506) discovered America on October 12, 1492 (Old Style Calendar) pretty much sums up what I carried away from my early school years regarding Columbus' discovery of America. Somewhere along the line, I'd also learned that my father's distant ancestors in Spain had decided to pick up the massive check for the trip and that it involved three ships named the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. With my formative school years occurring in the late 1950s and early 60s, the textbook image of Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo or Crostóbal Colón) was that of a courageous, fearless, and dashing explorer. In recent years - in the genre of “tell it like it really was” books - the image, reputation, and motivations of Admiral Columbus have all been painted with somewhat darker and realistic colors. However, the still untold story is that there was a little known motivation spurring on the voyages of Christopher Columbus. This little known motivation was a mixture of astrology, astrological forecasting, and apocalyptic (end of the world) Christian zeal. Columbus and Cardinal Pierre d’Ailly How do we know about this untold motivating factor for Columbus? According to Laura Ackerman Smoller in her book History, Prophecy, and the Stars... like many of us, Admiral Columbus had a practice of scribbling in the margins of his books. The more interesting he found a certain passage, the more he scribbled. What's fascinating (and important) about this is that facsimiles of his "scribbled-in books" are still available. One such facsimile is the Imago Mundi written by Petrus de Aliaco (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society 1927). Petrus de Aliaco is the Italian rendering of the French name Pierre d’Ailly. Pierre d’Ailly was a well known and respected French Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church during the later Middle Ages and just prior to the life and times of Christopher Columbus. In this facsimile of the 288 page book published in 1483 AD, there were almost 900 hand scribbled notes by Admiral Columbus (some possibly by his son). The Great Schism During Cardinal Pierre d’Ailly’s lifetime (1350-1420 AD), a “Great Schism” (1378-1414 AD) had occurred within the Roman Catholic Church. At one point, the schism had become so dreadfully outrageous that there were simultaneously three different popes appointed by three differing authorities within the church. It was commonly believed by church leaders of the time that the “Great Schism” was a sign of the end times and of the imminent coming of the antichrist. Cardinal d’Ailly from France was a highly regarded cleric and leader within the church, and as such he played a crucial role in its restoration at the Council of Constance held from November 5, 1414 to April 22, 1418. (Whew! Talk about long meetings. I thought 3 hour meetings were unbearable.) Cardinal Pierre d’Ailly and the Almost Apocalypse So, with patience now wearing thin, you might rightly ask: "What in the heck does an obscure book written by a medieval French cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church have to do with astrology?" It might surprise you to know that Cardinal d’Ailly was an advocate of astrology and of astrological forecasting. Based on his own astrological forecasting, d’Ailly shared, preached, and (most importantly) wrote with increasing confidence that the "Great Schism" of the church could be healed and was not meant as a signal that world was at an end. Based on his knowledge of astrology, the French Cardinal d’Ailly had become convinced that the coming of the antichrist would not take place until around the year of 1789 AD. For d’Ailly the astrological planets appeared to be revealing a religious change of great magnitude that was to take place in 1789 AD. The eschatological (end time) scriptures in d'Ailly's Christian Bible provided him with the interpretation that this great change in religion would likely take form as the coming of the antichrist and the resulting apocalypse. In hindsight, we know that 1789 actually marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Due to the nature of the French Revolution - focusing its sites on the wealth and privileges of nobility, the church, and royalty - Cardinal d'Ailly might well have thought that his beloved France was going to hell in a hand-basket. Back To Columbus Moving slightly forward in time, Admiral Columbus - based much on his readings of Cardinal d'Ailly's Imago Mundi - was convinced that our world had less than 200 years to go before "the end," and said as much in a letter to his patrons, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. “Astrology dictated that the world would endure only some 155 years to come. Preceding its destruction, however, Columbus told the monarchs: all of the races would be converted to Christianity. He saw his own voyages as part of the universal missionizing of the last days.” Quote from: History, Prophecy, and the Stars by Laura Ackerman Smoller Changing Of Dates If you've been paying attention (yawn), then you might have noticed that for some reason Columbus felt the need to move up d’Ailly’s astrological prediction by over 100 years. Why Columbus did this, I’m clueless. Perhaps he was just really bad at math. However, my best guess is that he thought d’Ailly’s forecast (placing the end of the world in 1789 AD in around 300 years) wouldn’t be pressing and/or convincing enough for his rich Spanish benefactors to cough up the vast fortune needed to fund his voyages. Ponder This Yep! It's fascinating to ponder just how pivotal a role astrology played in Columbus discovering the Americas. Would there even be an "America" such as we know it today, if it weren't for Pierre d'Ailly's admittedly less than perfect apocalyptic and astrological forecasting of the end of the world? I wonder... Recommended Reading: The following two books are likely to be of most value to those folks interested in the history of astrology especially as it pertains to the Medieval Period. These two books do not contain practical information on how to practice Medieval Astrology. History, Prophecy, and the Stars by Laura Ackerman Smoller The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe by Valerie Flint Related Articles: Did Columbus use Electional Astrology ? Excellent article on the subject written by astrologer Radu Moisoiu located at AstrologyWeekly.com. How A Lunar Eclipse Saved Columbus by Joe Rao at Space.com. Find out how an almanac prepared by the astrologer Regiomontanus saved Columbus' bacon. << back to Weird and Wonderful