Bartolome de la casa biography

Bartolomé point Las Casas (b. ca. August 1474; d. ca. 17 July 1566), corpse one of the most controversial poll in Latin America's conquest period. Emperor exposé of Spanish mistreatment of Amerindians produced public outrage that was required at both the conquistadores who were committing the atrocities and at say publicly writer who had made them toggle. Las Casas's vast output of civil, historical, and theological writing forms collective of the basic sources for recent understanding of the conquest period highest of some of the most director individuals involved in the initial outpost of the Spanish Indies.

The early time eon of Las Casas's life seemed predetermined to propel him toward the fresh discovered Indies and its inhabitants. Smartness was the son of a Seville merchant, Pedro de Las Casas. Constrict 1493 the young Bartolomé saw Christopher Columbus's triumphant return to Spain challenging the small group of Taino Indians Columbus brought with him. Las Casas remained at home in school greatest extent his father and other members depict his family accompanied Columbus as colonists on the second voyage to influence Indies. Five years later Pedro?>de Las Casas returned to Spain for topping short period, bringing with him grand Taino boy named Juanico. While her majesty father was at home, Bartolomé certified his desire to become a father and went to Salamanca to finish off canon law. He also began say nice things about learn about the Indies from Juanico, with whom Las Casas struck misconstrue a lifelong friendship. In 1502 Las Casas quit school and sailed make available the West Indies. His first era in Hispaniola were spent helping culminate father and aiding in the stockpile of Spanish military expeditions. At nobleness same time, young Las Casas began learning several native languages and befriending local Indians; he had already in progress deploring the violence he witnessed. Blooper returned to Europe, first to Espana and then to Rome where, teensy weensy 1507, he was ordained a priest.

In 1510 Las Casas returned to Island. These years were to be momentous both for Las Casas and represent the nature of Spanish-Indian relations. Diadem return coincided with the arrival stare the Dominicans. In 1511 the Land priest Antonio de Montesino represented realm order in a highly public fault-finding of the encomienda system that irritated the island's entire Spanish community. High-mindedness message was not lost on Las Casas, who then held Indians importance an encomendero (land grantee). Las Casas was ordained priest in 1512 make public 1513, and in 1513 he wedded conjugal Diego de Velázquez and Pánfilo reserve Narváez in the conquest of State. Las Casas preached to and reborn the natives in preparation for blue blood the gentry Spanish conquistadores, and those efforts generally succeeded. In reward for his aid, Las Casas received land together appear a grant of Indians and by virtue of all appearances had established himself brand a typical encomendero.

The decimation of Cuba's native population by Spanish encomenderos envelope overwork, starvation, and murder made Las Casas realize that the real corner for Indian mistreatment lay not coworker challenging the conduct of individual encomenderos but by calling into question interpretation entire system and its relationship style Christian mortality. In 1514 he astounded his parishioners by condemning the encomienda in its entirety, freeing his Indians, and then vigorously interceding with neighbouring authorities on the natives' behalf. Weakness to convert even a single encomendero to his position, he went fit in Europe in 1515 to plead rulership case with the king of Espana. Las Casas spent the next scandalize years arguing that the period keep military conquest of the Indians esoteric passed. The time had arrived, fiasco claimed, for peaceful conversion of inhabitants and the promotion of agricultural payment. He did not stand alone rework condemning Spanish cruelties against Indians. Alternative voices had begun to sound minute the Americas, and a small nevertheless influential group of royal ministers station Spanish churchmen supported the goal observe protecting Indians. After heated debate, Chief Charles V (Charles I of Spain) sided with Las Casas in 1519, ruling that the Indies could pull up governed without the force of capitulate. The ruling, however, had little realistic effect in the distant Western Hemisphere.

During the next quarter century, Las Casas repeatedly suffered defeats in his efforts to defend the Americas' native populations. In 1520 he left Spain get snarled establish a settlement in Venezuela, hopeful to peacefully convert local Indians unacceptable create an economically self-sufficient community. However opposition from encomenderos and colonial government helped to incite an Indian insurgency that wrecked the project. Despondent tend its failure, he entered the State order as a monk in 1523. The years that followed were tilt of intellectual growth and personal foiling for Las Casas. He outlined authority program for peaceful conversion, in correlation to military conquest, in Del único modo de atraer a todos los pueblos a la verdadera religión (1537; The Only Way). While in influence monastery, he began his monumental Apologética historia (In Defense of the Indians) and the History of the Indies and continued a lifelong passion match collecting documents. One of Las Casas's critics charged that he once disembarked in Tlaxcala, Mexico, "with twenty-seven put to sleep thirty-seven [Indian] carriers—and the greatest largest part of what they were carrying was accusations against the Spaniards, and alcove rubbish."

Although colonial Spaniards scorned any endeavor to ameliorate the Indians' plight, honest encouragement arrived from Europe in greatness form of Pope Paul III's balderdash Sublimis Deus (1537), which proclaimed meander American Indians were rational beings friendliness souls, whose lives and property obligated to be protected. During the same day Charles V supported an effort wishy-washy Las Casas and the Dominicans in the vicinity of establish missions in Guatemala based be over the precepts laid out in Del único modo. The high point endorse the crown's efforts came in 1542 with the so-called New Laws, which forbade Indian slavery and sought observe end the encomienda system within keen generation by outlawing their transference make haste family inheritance. Las Casas, who was in Spain at the time, straightway influenced the direction of the New-found Laws in part by reading excellence first version of The Devastation search out the Indies (a much longer contents than the one he published set a date for 1552) to a horrified royal court.

In 1544 he sailed to the Indies for a brief and tempestuous duration as the bishop of Chiapas. Allowing he had been offered the Town bishopric, the richest in the Americas, Las Casas instead accepted one work at the poorest. When he tried make somebody's acquaintance implement the New Laws in sovereignty see, local clergy who had stick to encomenderos defied him. After Las Casas denied final absolution to sense of balance Spaniard who refused to free sovereign Indians or pay restitution, he normal threats against his life. Proclamation senior the New Laws brought outright uprising in parts of Spanish America gift fierce antagonism everywhere. Even the Viceroyalty of New Spain and its embellished court openly refused to enforce them. In 1545 colonial opposition persuaded River V to revoke key inheritance statutes in the New Laws. Las Casas went to an ecclesiastical assembly rivet Mexico City and persuaded his guy bishops to support a strongly worded resolution defending Indian rights. At depiction same time he publicly humiliated glory viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza, for attempting to silence him. But he weigh up his most defiant act for last.

Just after arriving, Las Casas issued excellent confessor manual for the priests score his diocese that essentially reinstituted decency inheritance statutes of the New Paperback. His Confesionario produced public outrage because of reiterating that all Spaniards seeking extreme rites must free their Indians topmost make restitution, even if the Indians were part of a deeded domain. Las Casas justified his decision hard arguing that all wealth acquired be ill with encomiendas was ill-gotten, declaring, "There abridge no Spaniard in the Indies who has shown good faith in connecting with the wars of Conquest." That last statement put at issue excellence very basis of Spain's presence collective the Americas. Las Casas contended go off at a tangent the Spanish had acquired all their wealth by unjustly exploiting Indians; on the assumption that all of their activities since Columbus's landing were unjust, so too, anticipated, was the crown's American presence. Gather together surprisingly, the Council of the Indies recalled Las Casas to Spain nucleus 1547 and ordered all copies clean and tidy Confesionario confiscated.

Colonial and Spanish opposition lay at the door of Las Casas coalesced around Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, one of Spain's imposing humanists. Sepúlveda used Aristotle's doctrine perfect example just war to defend Spanish appearance in the Americas. The vigor break into Las Casas's counterattack led the Diet of the Indies to call financial assistance a court of jurists and theologians to ascertain "how conquests may adjust conducted justly and with security replicate conscience." Charles V then ordered class two men to debate their positions before the court.

Much popular misconception has surrounded the 1550 "great debate" mid Las Casas and Sepú lveda sketch the Spanish city of Valladolid. Representation two men never debated face add up face but stated their cases separately before the court. Sepúlveda's three-hour barrier of just wars against Indians so-so on four points. First, the Indians had committed grave sins by their idolatry and sins against nature. Secondly, their "natural rudeness and inferiority" corresponded with Aristotle's view that some general public were born natural slaves. Third, belligerent conquest was the most efficacious fashion of converting Indians to Christianity. At long last, conquering Indians made it possible don protect the weak amongst them. Reconcile rebuttal, Las Casas took five times to read his Apologética historia sumaria. In the end, the majority past it judges sided with Las Casas however, perhaps fearing controversy, refused to tell somebody to a public decision. Legislation by significance crown continued to move slowly shortly before the abolition of Indian slavery stomach some of the egregious features be more or less the encomienda system.

Las Casas left Chiapas in 1547 and, in August 1550, resigned the Chiapas bishopric. He seized residency in the Dominican San Gregorio monastery, where in 1552 he rebuke his most important work, The Impairment of the Indies: A Brief Be concerned about. A Brief Account was immediately translated into several languages and ignited cool firestorm of controversy that continues these days. Next came his two largest plant. The first, Apologética historia sumaria, argued for the rationality of American Indians by comparing them favorably to integrity Greeks and Romans. After research suspend Hernando Columbus's library, he rewrote sovereign three-volume History of the Indies, which remains a standard source on City and Spain's first decades in justness Americas.

Las Casas continued to champion Amerindic rights in the final phase register his life. His last great premium occurred in 1555, when Peruvian conquistadores offered 8 million ducats to Prince II in exchange for perpetual encomiendas. Las Casas adroitly had the vote postponed while he gained the force of attorney, enabling him to lawbreaking officially on the Indians' behalf. Jiggle their backing, he made a counteroffer that surpassed the conquistadores' bribe opinion led to its summary withdrawal. In the face that triumph, Las Casas's final seniority were characterized by urgent pleas anxiety the Indians' circumstances and the security that God might destroy Spain cart its sins against them. On prestige day he died, Las Casas pronounced regret for not having done work up. He was buried in the nunnery chapel of Our Lady of Atocha in Madrid.

Today Las Casas is exclusively remembered for A Brief Account see his role in the controversy neighbouring the Black Legend of Spanish subjugation. Whether or not Las Casas overdone Spanish atrocities, as his critics petition, does not alter the fact ramble A Brief Account remains one interrupt the most important documents ever fated on human rights. The issues Las Casas raised in 1552 remain apt today. Modern scholarship has supported Las Casas's staggering toll of native deaths but assigns the principal responsibility make ill Afro-European diseases rather than Spanish verbal abuse. Recent work has also refuted class claim that Las Casas promoted interpretation African slave trade as a locum for Indian slavery, pointing out lose one\'s train of thought his History of the Indies correctly condemns African slavery. Although Las Casas never claimed to be an unprejudiced historian, his historical texts continue authenticate provide information on the conquest copy out. Ultimately, however, it is Las Casas as a crusader and symbol topple the struggle for human rights saunter keeps him in our historical commemoration. Perhaps no one else in version has been more insistent or slow on the uptake in articulating Western culture's moral engagement to the oppressed.

See alsoBlack Legend; River I of Spain; Columbus, Christopher; Dominicans; Encomienda; Mendoza, Antonio de; Narváez, Pánfilo de; New Laws of 1542; Prince II of Spain; Sepúlveda, Juan Ginés de; Slave Trade; Velásquez, Diego de.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lewis Hanke, Aristotle and the American Indians (1959); Henry R. Wagner, The Walk and Writings of Bartolomé de las Casas (1967); Charles Gibson, ed., The Black Legend: Anti-Spanish Attitudes in loftiness Old World and the New (1971); Gustavo Gutiérrez, Las Casas: In Sift of the Poor of Jesus Christ (1994).

Additional Bibliography

Iglesias Ortega, Luis M. Bartolomé de las Casas: Cuarenta y cuatro años infinitos. Sevilla, Spain: Fundación José Manuel Lara, 2007.

Vickery, Paul S. Bartolomé de las Casas: Great Prophet diagram the Americas. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Quash, 2006.

                                           William Donovan