Leif Erikson and the Discovery of America: A Briefing on the Plea of Marie A. Brown

This document synthesizes the core arguments presented by Miss Marie A. Brown in a plea before a U.S. Senate Select Committee on March 23, 1888. The central thesis posits that the historical discovery of America was accomplished by Leif Erikson in A.D. 1000, and that any national celebration crediting Christopher Columbus is a grave historical error. The plea argues that Columbus had prior knowledge of the western continent, obtained from both Icelandic sources and Catholic Church archives in Rome. His voyage is reframed not as a scientific achievement but as a "missionary undertaking on a grand scale" designed for papal aggrandizement. Consequently, celebrating Columbus is presented as an act that would endorse the claims of the Church of Rome upon the United States, thereby threatening the nation's secular and republican principles. Brown petitions Congress for an appropriation to fund archival research in Rome to secure records of the Norse colonies and to stage a "Viking exhibition" in 1889 to commemorate Erikson's discovery and the culture of the Icelandic Republic.

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I. Central Thesis: Reattributing the Discovery of America

The foundational argument is that historical commemoration must adhere to strict factual accuracy. The plea contends that honoring Christopher Columbus as the discoverer of America is a direct contradiction of established historical truth.

• Primacy of Leif Erikson: The discovery of America is definitively attributed to Leif Erikson in the year 1000, five centuries before Columbus's voyage. Columbus is characterized not as a discoverer but as a "follower or imitator, the man who profited by his discovery."
• A Call for Historical Integrity: The argument opens with the principle that "a nation can not be justified in having any other motive" than historical truth for a commemoration. Patriotism and hero-worship are only justified when they align with established facts.
• Broad Consensus: The claim of Erikson's discovery is presented not as a niche theory but as a fact supported by a wide array of authorities, including:
  • The nations of the Scandinavian North.
  • Great Britain, Germany, and France.
  • The learned societies of Europe.
  • The nation of Iceland, through its archives and cultural memory.

II. The Evidentiary Basis for the Norse Discovery

The plea asserts that the fact of the Norse discovery is "already proved" and rests on a substantial body of evidence accumulated over centuries.

• Icelandic and Scandinavian Sources:
  • Ancient Manuscripts: Numerous volumes of ancient Icelandic manuscripts preserved in libraries in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Christiania contain accounts of the voyages to and colonization of Greenland and Vinland.
  • Parchment and Paper Records: There is a "proportionately rich source of material," including a series of extant parchment manuscripts that mention America under Icelandic names.
• Ecclesiastical Records from Rome:
  • Vatican Archives: The archives of the Vatican are identified as a primary source for "authentic data and the most interesting documents" regarding the bishops of Iceland and Greenland.
  • Papal Bulls: A brief from Pope Nicholas V, dated September 20, 1418, acknowledged that Icelandic inhabitants of Greenland had been Christians for 600 years and had built a "splendid cathedral." Other bulls related to Greenland have also been found.
  • Church History: The plea cites Father Bodfish of Boston, who noted that "From the Catholic Church’s eighteen centuries of unbroken records the advocates of the Norseman’s right to priority among American discoverers have drawn the strongest evidence in proof of their claim." These records include names and deeds of missionaries who followed the Norse explorers.

III. The Case for Columbus's Prior Knowledge

A significant portion of the argument is dedicated to demonstrating that Columbus's voyage was not a journey into the unknown, but a mission to a known location.

• The 1477 Iceland Visit:
  • It is presented as a conclusive fact, established by Finn Magnusen, that Columbus visited Iceland in 1477.
  • During this visit, Columbus is said to have conversed in Latin with Bishop Magnus of Skalholt, who had been the abbot of the monastery of Helgafell.
  • Helgafell is described as "classic ground" for American discovery, as its monastery held the written chronicles of the Vinland voyages. Bayard Taylor is quoted as saying it is "impossible that the knowledge of these voyages should not have been current in Iceland in 1477."
• Information Obtained in Rome:
  • The geographer Malte-Brun is cited, stating that "Columbus, when in Italy, had heard of the Norse discoveries beyond Iceland, for Rome was then the world’s center, and all information of importance was sent there."
  • Gudrid, the wife of Vinland colonist Thorfinn Karlsefne, made a pilgrimage to Rome around 1006 and "told the holy fathers all about her three years’ stay in Vinland."
• Proof from Contractual Demands: Columbus's compact with the King and Queen of Spain is offered as proof of his certainty. He demanded to be made "admiral of the seas and countries which he is about to discover" and "viceroy of all the continents and islands," terms that suggest he knew a continent existed.

IV. Reinterpreting the Motives of the Columbus Expedition

The plea systematically dismantles the narrative of Columbus's voyage as a scientific or exploratory endeavor, recasting it as a religiously and politically motivated mission.

• A "Missionary Undertaking": The enterprise is described as "simply and solely a missionary undertaking on a grand scale, under the patronage of the Spanish sovereigns and the Church of Rome."
• Goal of Papal Aggrandizement: The primary incentive for the voyage was not discovery, but "the glory of God, the exaltation of the church, and the extension of her own power and dominion."
• Context of the Reformation: The expedition is linked to the rise of Lutheranism. The discovery of America offered the Church of Rome a "future and permanent stronghold" on a new continent in case its power was supplanted in Europe.
• Testimony from Catholic Biographers:
  • J. J. Barry: States that "the first object of the discovery... was, therefore, the glorification of the Redeemer and the extension of His Church."
  • Rossely de Lorgues: Affirms that Columbus owed his celebrity "only to his vocation, to his faith, and to the divine grace," and that his real aim was to ransom the Holy Sepulchre with the riches of the new world.

V. Political and Ideological Implications for the United States

The proposed 1892 Columbus celebration is framed as a direct threat to the secular foundation of the American Republic.

• Endorsing Church Claims: To celebrate Columbus's voyage as a discovery would be "to publicly sanction the claims of the Church of Rome to this land, and virtually to invite the pope to come and take possession of it."
• A "Romish Triumph": The celebration is characterized as a "Romish triumph" being urged by Catholic countries like Spain, Italy, and the Spanish-American Republics.
• Historical Warning: The plea warns that "the Church of Rome destroyed the Republic of Iceland in the year 1262, and I know that the Church of Rome is steadily undermining this Republic of ours."

VI. Proposed Course of Action and Congressional Petition

In place of the Columbus celebration, a comprehensive plan is offered to honor Leif Erikson and solidify the historical record.

• Petition for Congressional Appropriation: A formal petition is made to Congress for funding to achieve two primary objectives:
  1. Archival Research in Rome: To search the Vatican and other Roman archives for the annals of the Vinland colonies. This work would be undertaken with Mr. John B. Shipley of London to collect, decipher, and transcribe documents detailing the "parish life of the Vinland colonies" and reports from bishops on the geography and people.
  2. A National Celebration and Viking Exhibition: To hold a national celebration in 1889, linking the centennial of the U.S. Constitution with the ancient Republic of Iceland. The centerpiece would be a "Viking exhibition."
• Details of the Proposed Viking Exhibition:
  • Setting: Housed within a full-scale reproduction of an ancient Icelandic Viking hall.
  • Artifacts: A collection of Viking-era antiquities from European museums, including swords, shields, horns, beakers, tapestry, and wood-carvings.
  • Key Displays: A full-size reproduction of the Gokstad Viking ship (exhumed in Norway in 1880) and, most importantly, the original Icelandic manuscripts from Copenhagen that contain the accounts of the Vinland voyages.
  • Permanent Legacy: The exhibition could serve as the basis for a permanent Icelandic or Scandinavian wing of the National Museum, arguing that Norse relics are properly considered "American ones."