Bartolome de las Casas’
Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies [1542]
The Americas were discovered in 1492, and the first Christian settlements established by the Spanish the
following year. It is accordingly forty-nine years now since Spaniards began arriving in numbers in this part of
the world. They first settled the large and fertile island of Hispaniola, which boasts six hundred leagues of
coastline and is surrounded by a great many other large islands, all of them, as I saw for myself, with as high a
native population as anywhere on earth. Of the coast of the mainland, which, at its nearest point, is a little over
two hundred and fifty leagues from Hispaniola, more than ten thousand leagues had been explored by 1541, and
more are being discovered every day. This coastline, too, was swarming with people and it would seem, if we
are to judge by those areas so far explored, that the Almighty selected this part of the world as home to the
greater part of the human race.
God made all the peoples of this area, many and varied as they are, as open and as innocent as can be imagined.
The simplest people in the world - unassuming, long-suffering, unassertive, and submissive - they are without
malice or guile, and are utterly faithful and obedient both to their own native lords and to the Spaniards in
whose service they now find themselves. Never quarrelsome or belligerent or boisterous, they harbour no
grudges and do not seek to settle old scores; indeed, the notions of revenge, rancour, and hatred are quite
foreign to them. At the same time, they are among the least robust of human beings: their delicate constitutions
make them unable to withstand hard work or suffering and render them liable to succumb to almost any illness,
no matter how mild. Even the common people are no tougher than princes or than other Europeans born with a
silver spoon in their mouths and who spend their lives shielded from the rigors of the outside world. They are
also among the poorest people on the face of the earth; they own next to nothing and have no urge to acquire
material possessions. As a result they are neither ambitious nor greedy, and are totally uninterested in worldly
power. Their diet is every bit as poor and as monotonous, in quantity and in kind, as that enjoyed by the Desert
Fathers. Most of them go naked, save for a loincloth to cover their modesty; at best they may wrap themselves
in a piece of cotton material a yard or two square. Most sleep on matting, although a few possess a kind of
hanging net, known in the language of Hispaniola as a hammock. They are innocent and pure in mind and have
a lively intelligence, all of which makes them particularly receptive to learning and understanding the truths of
our Catholic faith and to being instructed in virtue; indeed, God has invested them with fewer impediments in
this regard than any other people on earth. Once they begin to learn of the Christian faith they become so keen
to know more, to receive the Sacraments, and to worship God, that the missionaries who instruct them do truly
have to be men of exceptional patience and forbearance; and over the years I have time and again met Spanish
laymen who have been so struck by the natural goodness that shines through these people that they frequently
can be heard to exclaim: 'These would be the most blessed people on earth if only they were given the chance to
convert to Christianity.'
It was upon these gentle lambs, imbued by the Creator with all the qualities we have mentioned, that from
the very first day they clapped eyes on them the Spanish fell like ravening wolves upon the fold, or like
tigers and savage lions who have not eaten meat for days. The pattern established at the outset has remained
unchanged to this day, and the Spaniards still do nothing save tear the natives to shreds, murder them and inflict
upon them untold misery, suffering and distress, tormenting, harrying and persecuting them mercilessly. We
shall in due course describe some of the many ingenious methods of torture they have invented and refined for
this purpose, but one can get some idea of the effectiveness of their methods from the figures alone. When the
Spanish first journeyed there, the indigenous population of the island of Hispaniola stood at some three million;
today only two hundred survive. The island of Cuba, which extends for a distance almost as great as that
separating Valladolid from Rome, is now to all intents and purposes uninhabited;" and two other large, beautiful
and fertile islands, Puerto Rico and Jamaica, have been similarly devastated. Not a living soul remains today on
any of the islands of the Bahamas, which lie to the north of Hispaniola and Cuba, even though every single one
of the sixty or so islands in the group, as well as those known as the Isles of Giants and others in the area, both
large and small, is more fertile and more beautiful than the Royal Gardens in Seville and the climate is as
healthy as anywhere on earth. The native population, which once numbered some five hundred thousand, was
wiped out by forcible expatriation to the island of Hispaniola, a policy adopted by the Spaniards in an
endeavour to make up losses among the indigenous population of that island. One God-fearing individual was
moved to mount an expedition to seek out those who had escaped the Spanish trawl and were still living in the
Bahamas and to save their souls by converting them to Christianity, but, by the end of a search lasting three
whole years, they had found only the eleven survivors I saw with my own eyes. A further thirty or so islands in
the region of Puerto Rico are also now uninhabited and left to go to rack and ruin as a direct result of the same
practices. All these islands, which together must run to over two thousand leagues, are now abandoned and
desolate.
What did Las Casas hope to accomplish by expressing his opinions about the Spanish Conquest of the native
Indians?
How was his comments probably received by royalty and nobility in Spain at the time it was written?
What impact does his impressions have on the way we look at this period of history?
Excerpt from the First Letter of Hernan Cortez to His Excellency,
King Charles V of Spain (10th July 1519)
Very High and Very Powerful and Excellent Princes, Very Catholic and Very Great Sovereigns and Rulers. We
believe that Your Majesties by a letter from Diego Velasquez, Lieutenant of the Admiral in the Island of Fernandina, will have been informed of the new land, which was discovered in these parts about two years ago,
which in the beginning was called Cozumel, and has since been named Yucatan, without its being the one or the
other.
. . . . . . It may be two years, a little more or less, Most Enlightened Princes, that, in the City of Santiago, which
is in the Island of Fernandina, of whose towns Expedition we have been citizens, three inhabitants of
Fernandina - the said Island united, and the one was called dez de Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba, another or
Lope Ochoa de Caicedo, and the third Cristobal Morante; and, as it is customary in these Islands, which have
been peopled by Spaniards in the name of Your Majesties, to bring Indians for their service from the other
Islands which have not been peopled by Spaniards, these said persons sent two ships and a brigantine, in order
to fetch Indians from those Islands to Fernandina to make slaves of them.
Pursuing their voyage, they arrived at the said Island of Yucatan, at its uttermost point, which may be sixty or
seventy leagues both from the Discovery said Island of Fernandina, and from this country of the rich land of
Vera Cruz, where we now are in the name of Your Royal Highnesses.
Here they were well received by the natives, though they were not allowed to come into the towns; and that
night they slept out of their ships, and on land. The natives, seeing this, attacked them on the morning of the
following day, in such a manner that 26 Spaniards perished, and all the rest were wounded, and at last the
Captain Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba, seeing this, escaped with those who were left to him by taking refuge
in the ships. The said Captain, seeing that more than a quarter of his people had been killed, and that he himself
had received 30 odd wounds, and was almost dead, and despairing of escape, returned with the ships and people
to the said Island of Fernandina.
Here they made known to Diego Velasquez that they had found a land very rich in gold, because they had
seen that all the natives wore it, some in their noses, some in their ears, and some in other parts, and, likewise,
that there were in that country edifices Return built of mortar and stone. They made known of this to him also
many other facts, which they pub lished about the admirable things and riches of the said land, and they
counselled him to send ships to barter for gold, saying that, if he would do so, a great amount of it could be
obtained.
Upon learning this, the said Diego Velasquez, moved more by cupidity than any other zeal, sent a Procurator to
the Island of Hispaniola, with a certain account, which he made to the Reverend Fathers of St. Jerome, who
resided there as Governors of the Indies, to obtain permission to colonise in the name of Your Majesties, by
virtue of the authority which Your Highnesses had given them. He told them that they would do a great service
to Your Majesties if they would give him permission to trade with the natives, for gold and pearls and precious
stones and other things, all of which would become his property by paying the fifth part to Your Majesties. All
this was granted by the said Reverend Fathers of St. Jerome, the Governors, inasmuch as he said in his account
that he had discovered the land at his own cost, and moreover knew the secrets of it, and that he would provide
in every respect as should best advance the service of Your Royal Highnesses.
. . .as the permission was given by the Reverend Fathers of St. Jerome, the Governors in the name of Your
Majesties, he hastened to fit out three ships and a brigantine for expedition against the natives . . . . .
Thence they returned along the same coast by which they had gone before, until they rounded the point of the
said land, and, continuing in a northerly direction, they sailed until they arrived at the said Point Campoche,
whose chief was named Lazaro, where Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba had stopped to trade, and, as ordered
by Diego Velasquez, as well as to take the water he greatly needed, landed there.
As soon as the natives saw them coming, they placed themselves near their town, in array of battle, so as to
defend its entrance. The Captain called to them, through the interpreters who accompanied him, and certain
Indians came, whom he made to understand that he came merely for the purpose of trading with them for such
things as they might have, and to get water; and thus he went with them until they arrived at a place, very near
their town, where there was a spring. While taking the water he asked them through the said interpreter for gold,
saying he would give them in exchange the valuables which he brought, and, as soon as the Indians saw this,
having no gold to give him, they told him to go away! But he begged them to allow him to finish taking water,
saying that he would immediately leave. In spite of this, however, he was unable to save himself from being
obliged the next day, at the hour of mass, to fight the Indians, armed with their bows and arrows, their lances,
and rodelas, so that they killed a Spaniard, and wounded the said Captain Grijalba and many others.
From there they went along the said coast until they came to a river, which they named Grijalba, and which
they ascended about the hour of vespers. Early the following morning, they found on both sides of the river a
great number of Indians and warriors, with their bows and arrows, and lances, and rodelas, to defend the
entrance to their country; and to some, it seemed there were about five thousand Indians.
The Captain seeing this, no one landed, but he spoke to them from the ship through his interpreters, praying
them to approach nearer so that he might explain to them the motives of his coming, and twenty Indians entered
a canoe, and cautiously approached the ships. The Captain Grijalba then told them, and made them understand
through his interpreter, that he had come only to barter, and that he wished to be their friend, and that they
should bring their gold for which he would give them many valuables which he carried; and thus they did.
The next day, they brought certain jewels of thin gold, for which the said Captain gave them in return such
valuables as he thought proper, and they returned to their town; and the said Captain remained there that day.
The next day he set sail, without learning anything else about the country, and continued until he arrived at the
Bay, to which they gave the name of San Juan.
The Captain went ashore there with some of his people to some desolate sand-hills, and as, when the natives
had seen the ships coming along the coast, they had assembled, he spoke to them, through his interpreter, and
had a table brought on which he spread out some of his valuables, making them understand that he had come to
trade with them and to be their friend. When the Indians saw and understood this, they brought some stuffs, and
ornaments of gold, which they traded with the Cap tain; and from there the said Captain Grijalba dispatched one
of the caravels to Diego Velasquez, with all that they had up till then obtained.
As soon as the said caravel, which the Captain Juan de Grijalba had dispatched from the Bay of San Juan,
arrived, and Diego Velasquez saw the gold which it carried, and learned from Grijalba's letters about the stuffs
and valuables which had been given in exchange, it seemed to him, according to information given him by those
who arrived in the said caravel, that he had obtained little in proportion to what he expected. He declared that he
had not even covered the cost he had incurred in the said armada, and he was vexed, and showed dissatisfaction
at the little which Captain Grijalba had accomplished in this country.
Diego Velasquez being vexed by the small amount of gold that had been brought him, and wishing to obtain
more, determined, without making it known to the Governors, the Jeronymite Fathers, to equip a swift armada,
and to send it in search of his relative, the said Captain Juan de Grijalba.
Why might the explorers initially have avoided more intense military actions against the native Indians?
How might the reports of Indian gold influence the future treatment of the native Americans?
EXCERPT FROM THE HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO
Conspiracy Detected that led to the Terrible Massacre at Cholula
. . . . . It originated, she said, with the Aztec emperor, who had sent rich bribes to the great caciques, and to her
husband among others, to secure them in his views. The Spaniards were to be assaulted as they marched out of
the capital, when entangled in its streets, in which numerous impediments had been placed to throw the cavalry
into disorder. A force of twenty thousand Mexicans was already quartered at no great distance from the city, to
support the Cholulans in the assault. It was confidently expected that the Spaniards, thus embarrassed in their
movements, would fall an easy prey to the superior strength of their enemy. A sufficient number of prisoners
was to be reserved to grace the sacrifices of Cholula; the rest were to be led in fetters to the capital of
Montezuma.
. . . . . The intelligence thus gathered by Cortes filled him with the deepest alarm. He was fairly taken in the
snare. To fight or to fly seemed equally difficult. He was in a city of enemies, where every house might be
converted into a fortress, and where such embarrassments were thrown in the way, as might render the
manoeuvres of his artillery and horse nearly impracticable. In addition to the wily Cholulans, he must cope,
under all these disadvantages, with the redoubtable warriors of Mexico. He was like a traveler who has lost his
way in the darkness among precipices, where any step may dash him to pieces, and where to retreat or to
advance is equally perilous. So confident were the Aztecs of success, that numerous manacles, or poles with
thongs which served as such, were already in the place to secure the prisoners.
Cortes, now feeling himself fully possessed of the facts, dismissed the priests, with injunctions of secrecy,
scarcely necessary. He told them it was his purpose to leave the city on the following morning, and requested
that they would induce some of the principal caciques to grant him an interview in his quarters. He then
summoned a council of his officers, though, as it seems, already determined as to the course he was to take.
The members of the council were differently affected by the startling intelligence, according to their
different characters. . . . . . The greater part supported the general, who was ever of opinion that they had no
alternative but to advance. Retreat would be ruin. Half-way measures were scarcely better; and would infer a
timidity which must discredit them with both friend and foe. Their true policy was to rely on themselves; to
strike such a blow as should intimidate their enemies, and show them that the Spaniards were as incapable of
being circumvented by artifice, as of being crushed by weight of numbers and courage in the open field.
On their departure, the general summoned the Aztec ambassadors before him. He briefly acquainted them
with his detection of the treacherous plot to destroy his army, the contrivance of which, he said, was imputed to
their master, Montezuma. It grieved him much, he added, to find the emperor implicated in so nefarious a
scheme, and that the Spaniards must now march as enemies against the prince, whom they had hoped to visit as
a friend.
The ambassadors, with earnest protestations, asserted their entire ignorance of the conspiracy; and their
belief that Montezuma was equally innocent of a crime, which they charged wholly on the Cholulans. It was
clearly the policy of Cortes to keep on good terms with the Indian monarch; to profit as long as possible by his
good offices; and to avail himself of his fancied security-such feelings of security as the general could inspire
him with-to cover his own future operations. He affected to give credit, therefore, to the assertion of the envoys,
and declared his unwillingness to believe that a monarch, who had rendered the Spaniards so many friendly
offices, would now consummate the whole by a deed of such unparalleled baseness. . . . . . . .He then dismissed
the ambassadors, taking care, notwithstanding this show of confidence, to place a strong guard over them, to
prevent communication with the citizens.
WITH the first streak of morning light, Cortes was seen on horseback, directing the movements of his
little band. The strength of his forces he drew up in the great square or court, surrounded partly by buildings, as
before noticed, and in part by a high wall. There were three gates of entrance, at each of which he placed a
strong guard. The rest of his troops, with his great guns, he posted without the enclosure, in such a manner as to
command the avenues, and secure those within from interruption in their bloody work. Orders had been sent the
night before to the Tlascalan chiefs to hold themselves ready, at a concerted signal, to march into the city and
join the Spaniards.
The arrangements were hardly completed, before the Cholulan caciques appeared, leading a body of levies,
tamanes, even more numerous than had been demanded. They were marched at once into the square,
commanded, as we have seen, by the Spanish infantry, which was drawn up under the walls. Cortes then took
some of the caciques aside. With a stern air, he bluntly charged them with the conspiracy, showing that he was
well acquainted with all the particulars. He had visited their city, he said, at the invitation of their emperor; had
come as friend; had respected the inhabitants and their property; and, to avoid all cause of umbrage, had left a
great part of his forces without the walls. They had received him with a show of kindness and hospitality, and,
reposing on this, he had been decoyed into the snare, and found this kindness only a mask to cover the blackest
perfidy.
The Cholulans were thunderstruck at the accusation. An undefined awe crept over them as they gazed on
the mysterious strangers, and felt themselves in the presence of beings who seemed to have the power of
reading the thoughts scarcely formed in their bosoms. There was no use in prevarication or denial before such
judges. They confessed the whole, and endeavoured to excuse themselves by throwing the blame on
Montezuma. Cortes, assuming an air of higher indignation at this, assured them that the pretence should not
serve, since, even if well founded, it would be no justification; and he would now make such an example of
them for their treachery, that the report of it should ring throughout the wide borders of Anahuac!
The fatal signal, the discharge of an arquebuse was then given. In an instant every musket and crossbow was
levelled at the unfortunate Cholulans in the courtyard, and a frightful volley poured into them as they stood
crowded together like a herd of deer in the centre. They were taken by surprise, for they had not heard the
preceding dialogue with the chiefs. They made scarcely any resistance to the Spaniards, who followed up the
discharge of their pieces by rushing on them with their swords; and, as the half-naked bodies of the natives
afforded no protection, they hewed them down with as much ease as the reaper mows down the ripe corn in
harvest time. Some endeavoured to scale the walls, but only afforded a surer mark to the arquebusiers and
archers. Others threw themselves into the gateways, but were received on the long pikes of the soldiers who
guarded them. Some few had better luck in hiding themselves under the heaps of slain with which the ground
was soon loaded.
While this work of death was going on, the countrymen of the slaughtered Indians, drawn together by the
noise of the massacre, had commenced a furious assault on the Spaniards from without. But Cortes had placed
his battery of heavy guns in a position that commanded the avenues, and swept off the files of the assailants as
they rushed on. In the intervals between the discharges, which, in the imperfect state of the science in that day,
were much longer than in ours, he forced back the press by charging with the horse into the midst. The steeds,
the guns, the weapons of the Spaniards, were all new to the Cholulans. Notwithstanding the novelty of the
terrific spectacle, the flash of firearms mingling with the deafening roar of the artillery, as its thunders
reverberated among the buildings, the despairing Indians pushed on to take the places of their fallen comrades.
While this fierce struggle was going forward, the Tlascalan allies of the Spaniards, hearing the concerted
signal, advanced with quick pace into the city. They had bound, by order of Cortes, wreaths of sedge round their
heads, that they might the more surely be distinguished from the Cholulans. Coming up in the very heat of the
engagement, they fell on the defenceless rear of the townsmen, who, trampled down under the heels of the
Castilian cavalry on one side, and galled by their vindictive enemies on the other, could no longer maintain their
ground. They gave way, some taking refuge in the nearest buildings, which, being partly of wood, were speedily
set on fire. Others fled to the temples. One strong party, with a number of priests at its head, got possession of
the great teocalli. There was a vulgar tradition, already alluded to, that, on removal of part of the walls, the god
would send forth an inundation to overwhelm his enemies. The superstitious Cholulans with great difficulty
succeeded in wrenching away some of the stones in the walls of the edifice. But dust, not water followed. Their
false gods deserted them in the hour of need. In despair they flung themselves into the wooden turrets that
crowned the temple, and poured down stones, javelins, and burning arrows on the Spaniards, as they climbed
the great staircase, which, by a flight of one hundred and twenty steps, scaled the face of the pyramid. But the
fiery shower fell harmless on the steel bonnets of the Christians, while they availed themselves of the burning
shafts to set fire to the wooden citadel, which was speedily wrapt in flames. Still the garrison held out, and
though quarter, it is said, was offered, only one Cholulan availed himself of it. The rest threw themselves
headlong from the parapet, or perished miserably in the flames.
All was now confusion and uproar in the fair city which had so lately reposed in security and peace. The
groans of the dying, the frantic supplications of the vanquished for mercy, were mingled with the loud battlecries of the Spaniards, as they rode down their enemy, and with the shrill whistle of the Tlascalans, who gave
full scope to the long cherished rancour of ancient rivalry. The tumult was still further swelled by the incessant
rattle of musketry, and the crash of falling timbers, which sent up a volume of flame that outshone the ruddy
light of morning, making altogether a hideous confusion of sights and sounds, that converted the Holy City into
a Pandemonium. As resistance slackened, the victors broke into the houses and sacred places, plundering them
of whatever valuables they contained, plate, jewels, which were found in some quantity, wearing apparel and
provisions, the two last coveted even more than the former by the simple Tlascalans, thus facilitating a division
of the spoil, much to the satisfaction of their Christian confederates. Amidst this universal licence, it is worthy
of remark, the commands of Cortes were so far respected that no violence was offered to women or children,
though these, as well as numbers of the men, were made prisoners, to be swept into slavery by the Tlascalans.
These scenes of violence had lasted some hours, when Cortes, moved by the entreaties of some Cholulan chiefs,
who had been reserved from the massacre, backed by the prayers of the Mexican envoys, consented, out of
regard, as he said, to the latter, the representatives of Montezuma, to call off the soldiers, and put a stop, as well
as he could, to further outrage. Two of the caciques were also permitted to go to their countrymen with
assurances of pardon and protection to all who would return to their obedience.
These measures had their effect. By the joint efforts of Cortes and the caciques, the tumult was with much
difficulty appeased. The assailants, Spaniards and Indians, gathered under their respective banners, and the
Cholulans, relying on the assurance of their chiefs, gradually returned to their homes.
The first act of Cortes was, to prevail on the Tlascalan chiefs to liberate their captives. Such was their
deference to the Spanish commander, that they acquiesced, though not without murmurs, contenting
themselves, as they best could, with the rich spoil rifled from the Cholulans, consisting of various luxuries long
since unknown in Tlascala. His next care was to cleanse the city from its loathsome impurities, particularly
from the dead bodies which lay festering in heaps in the streets and great square. The general, in his letter to
Charles the Fifth, admits three thousand slain; most accounts say six, and some swell the amount yet higher. As
the eldest and principal cacique was among the number, Cortes assisted the Cholulans in installing a successor
in his place. By these pacific measures, confidence was gradually restored. The people in the environs,
reassured, flocked into the capital to supply the place of the diminished population. The markets were again
opened; and the usual avocations of an orderly, industrious community were resumed. Still, the long piles of
black and smouldering ruins proclaimed the hurricane which had so lately swept over the city, and the walls
surrounding the scene of slaughter in the great square, which were standing more than fifty years after the event,
told the sad tale of the Massacre of Cholula.
Source: Prescott, William Hickling, 1796-1859 . History of the Conquest of Mexico, with a Preliminary View of Ancient
Mexican Civilization, and the Life of the Conqueror, Hernando Cortes
Excerpt from Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda
On the Reasons for the Just War among the Indians (1547)
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda spent his entire life in Europe. Without ever having visited the New World, or been exposed to
any native American cultures, he composed “On the Reasons for the Just War among the Indians” to justify Spanish
treatment of the natives of the New World, and to rebut the claims of Las Casas that the American natives were being
mistreated.
The man rules over the woman, the adult over the child, the father over his children. That is to say, the most
powerful and most perfect rule over the weakest and most imperfect. This same relationship exists among men,
there being some who by nature are masters and others who by nature are slaves. Those who surpass the rest in
prudence and intelligence, although not in physical strength, are by nature the masters. On the other hand, those
who are dim-witted and mentally lazy, although they may be physically strong enough to fulfill all the
necessary tasks, are by nature slaves. It is just and useful that it be this way. We even see it sanctioned in divine
law itself, for it is written in the Book of Proverbs: “He who is stupid will serve the wise man.” And so it is with
the barbarous and inhumane peoples [the Indians] who have no civil life and peaceful customs. It will always be
just and in conformity with natural law that such people submit to the rule of more cultured and humane princes
and nations. Thanks to their virtues and the practical wisdom of their laws, the latter can destroy barbarism and
educate these [inferior] people to a more humane and virtuous life. And if the latter reject such rule, it can be
imposed upon them by force of arms. Such a war will be just according to natural law.…
How are we to doubt that these people, so uncultivated, so barbarous, and so contaminated with such impiety
and lewdness, have not been justly conquered by so excellent, pious, and supremely just a king as Ferdinand the
Catholic was and the Emperor Charles now is, the kings of a most humane and excellent nation rich in all
varieties of virtue?
War against these barbarians can be justified not only on the basis of their paganism but even more so because
of their abominable licentiousness, their prodigious sacrifice of human victims, the extreme harm that they
inflicted on innocent persons, their horrible banquets of human flesh, and the impious cult of their idols. Since
the evangelical law of the New Testament is more perfect and more gentle than the Mosaic law of the Old
Testament (for the latter was a law of fear and the former is a law of grace, gentleness, and clemency), so also
[since the birth of Christ] wars are now waged with more mercy and clemency. Their purpose is not so much to
punish as to correct evils. What is more appropriate and beneficial for these barbarians than to become subject
to the rule of those whose wisdom, virtue, and religion have converted them from barbarians into civilized men
(insofar as they are capable of becoming so), from being torpid and licentious to becoming upright and moral,
from being impious servants of the Devil to becoming believers in the true God? They have already begun to
receive the Christian religion, thanks to the prudent diligence of the Emperor Charles, an excellent and religious
prince. They have already been provided with teachers learned in both the sciences and letters and, what is more
important, with teachers of religion and good customs.
For numerous and grave reasons these barbarians are obligated to accept the rule of the Spaniards according to
natural law. For them it ought to be even more advantageous than for the Spaniards, since virtue, humanity, and
the true religion are more valuable than gold or silver. And if they refuse our rule, they may be compelled by
force of arms to accept it. Such a war is just according to natural law…. Such a war would be far more just than
even the war that the Romans waged against all the nations of the world in order to force them to submit to their
rule [for the following reasons]. The Christian religion is better and truer than the religion of the Romans. In
addition, the genius, wisdom, humanity, fortitude, courage, and virtue of the Spaniards are as superior to those
same qualities among those pitiful little men [the Indians] as were those of the Romans vis-à-vis the peoples
whom they conquered. And the justice of this war becomes even more evident when you consider that the
Sovereign Pontiff, who represents Christ, has authorized it.
The Requerimiento
by Juan López de Palacios Rubios (1510)
"On the part of the King, Don Fernando, and of Doña Juana, his daughter, Queen of Castille and León, subduers
of the barbarous nations, we their servants notify and make known to you, as best we can, that the Lord our
God, Living and Eternal, created the Heaven and the Earth, and one man and one woman, of whom you and we,
all the men of the world at the time, were and are descendants, and all those who came after and before us. But,
on account of the multitude which has sprung from this man and woman in the five thousand years since the
world was created, it was necessary that some men should go one way and some another, and that they should
be divided into many kingdoms and provinces, for in one alone they could not be sustained.
Of all these nations God our Lord gave charge to one man, called St. Peter, that he should be Lord and Superior
of all the men in the world, that all should obey him, and that he should be the head of the whole human race,
wherever men should live, and under whatever law, sect, or belief they should be; and he gave him the world
for his kingdom and jurisdiction.
And he commanded him to place his seat in Rome, as the spot most fitting to rule the world from; but also he
permitted him to have his seat in any other part of the world, and to judge and govern all Christians, Moors,
Jews, Gentiles, and all other sects. This man was called Pope, as if to say, Admirable Great Father and
Governor of men. The men who lived in that time obeyed that St. Peter, and took him for Lord, King, and
Superior of the universe; so also they have regarded the others who after him have been elected to the
pontificate, and so has it been continued even till now, and will continue till the end of the world.
One of these Pontiffs, who succeeded that St. Peter as Lord of the world, in the dignity and seat which I have
before mentioned, made donation of these isles and Tierra-firme to the aforesaid King and Queen and to their
successors, our lords, with all that there are in these territories, as is contained in certain writings which passed
upon the subject as aforesaid, which you can see if you wish.
So their Highnesses are kings and lords of these islands and land of Tierra-firme by virtue of this donation: and
some islands, and indeed almost all those to whom this has been notified, have received and served their
Highnesses, as lords and kings, in the way that subjects ought to do, with good will, without any resistance,
immediately, without delay, when they were informed of the aforesaid facts. And also they received and obeyed
the priests whom their Highnesses sent to preach to them and to teach them our Holy Faith; and all these, of
their own free will, without any reward or condition, have become Christians, and are so, and their Highnesses
have joyfully and benignantly received them, and also have commanded them to be treated as their subjects and
vassals; and you too are held and obliged to do the same. Wherefore, as best we can, we ask and require you
that you consider what we have said to you, and that you take the time that shall be necessary to understand and
deliberate upon it, and that you acknowledge the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the whole world, and the
high priest called Pope, and in his name the King and Queen Doña Juana our lords, in his place, as superiors and
lords and kings of these islands and this Tierra-firme by virtue of the said donation, and that you consent and
give place that these religious fathers should declare and preach to you the aforesaid.
If you do so, you will do well, and that which you are obliged to do to their Highnesses, and we in their name
shall receive you in all love and charity, and shall leave you, your wives, and your children, and your lands, free
without servitude, that you may do with them and with yourselves freely that which you like and think best, and
they shall not compel you to turn Christians, unless you yourselves, when informed of the truth, should wish to
be converted to our Holy Catholic Faith, as almost all the inhabitants of the rest of the islands have done. And,
besides this, their Highnesses award you many privileges and exemptions and will grant you many benefits.
But, if you do not do this, and maliciously make delay in it, I certify to you that, with the help of God, we shall
powerfully enter into your country, and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and
shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of their Highnesses; we shall take you and your
wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their
Highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do you all the mischief and damage
that we can, as to vassals who do not obey, and refuse to receive their lord, and resist and contradict him; and
we protest that the deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault, and not that of their
Highnesses, or ours, nor of these cavaliers who come with us. And that we have said this to you and made this
Requisition, we request the notary here present to give us his testimony in writing, and we ask the rest who are
present that they should be witnesses of this Requisition."
Source; Juan López de Palacios - De Justitia et Jure obtentionis ac retentionis regni Navarrae, fue la apología final de
la conquista de Navarra. Autor también del Tratado de las Islas (1512)
Based on the position expressed by the author, how might this effect the way that the Spanish treated the native
people of the Americas?
What specific directions does this document provide for the rulers and their agents?