In this new office Las Casas was expected to serve as an advisor to the new governors with regard to Indian issues, to speak the case of the Indians in court and send reports back to Spain. De Las Casas came from a modest family and was well educated. I came to realize that black slavery was as unjust as Indian slavery... and I was not sure that my ignorance and good faith would secure me in the eyes of God." Unlike some other priests who sought to destroy the indigenous peoples' native books and writings, he strictly opposed this action. He traveled to Central America, acting as a missionary among the Maya of Guatemala and participating in debates among colonial churchmen about how best to bring the natives to the Christian faith. Perhaps the first person in America to receive holy orders, he was ordained a priest in either 1512 or 1513. Lantigua, David. [57], When the hearings started in 1542, Las Casas presented a narrative of atrocities against the natives of the Indies that would later be published in 1552 as "Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias". [45] He returned to Hispaniola in January 1522, and heard the news of the massacre. [88], The Apologetic Summary History of the People of These Indies (Spanish: Apologética historia summaria de las gentes destas Indias) was first written as the 68th chapter of the General History of the Indies, but Las Casas changed it into a volume of its own, recognizing that the material was not historical. quoted from, Las Casas's retraction of his views on African slavery is expressed particularly in chapters 102 and 129, Book III of his, Also translated and published in English as. During this time the Hieronimytes had time to form a more pragmatic view of the situation than the one advocated by Las Casas; their position was precarious as every encomendero on the Islands was fiercely against any attempts to curtail their use of native labour. Las Casas worked to recruit a large number of peasants who would want to travel to the islands, where they would be given lands to farm, cash advances, and the tools and resources they needed to establish themselves there. [56] The encomienda had, in fact, legally been abolished in 1523, but it had been reinstituted in 1526, and in 1530 a general ordinance against slavery was reversed by the Crown. Those who survived the journey were ill-received, and had to work hard even to survive in the hostile colonies. Dominican Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas’s A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies is a primary source on the genocide of indigenous peoples during Spanish colonization of the Americas. Bartolomé de las Casas spent 50 years of his life actively fighting slavery and the colonial abuse of indigenous peoples, especially by trying to convince the Spanish court to adopt a more humane policy of colonization. [26] Aided by Pedro de Córdoba and accompanied by Antonio de Montesinos, he left for Spain in September 1515, arriving in Seville in November. He was appointed as the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians". That said, finding fifty men willing to invest 200 ducats each and three years of unpaid work proved impossible for Las Casas. [95], Opposition to Las Casas reached its climax in historiography with Spanish right-wing, nationalist historians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries constructing a pro-Spanish White Legend, arguing that the Spanish Empire was benevolent and just and denying any adverse consequences of Spanish colonialism. The Reverend Author of this Compendious Summary was Bartholomaeus de las Casas alias Casaus, a Pious and Religeous person, (as appears by his zealous Transports in this Narrative for promotion of the Christian Faith) elevated from a Frier of the Dominican Order to sit in the Episcopal Chair, who was frequently [60] Las Casas himself was also not satisfied with the laws, as they were not drastic enough and the encomienda system was going to function for many years still under the gradual abolition plan. [16] In 1510, he was ordained a priest, the first one to be ordained in the Americas. Las Casas managed to secure the support of the king's Flemish courtiers, including the powerful Chancellor Jean de la Sauvage. Las Casas advocated the dismantlement of the city of Asunción and the subsequent gathering of Indians into communities of about 1,000 Indians to be situated as satellites of Spanish towns or mining areas. [8] For centuries, Las Casas's birthdate was believed to be 1474; however, in the 1970s, scholars conducting archival work demonstrated this to be an error, after uncovering in the Archivo General de Indias records of a contemporary lawsuit that demonstrated he was born a decade later than had been supposed. New Jersey : Paulist Press, ©2006 (DLC) 2005035937 (OCoLC)62728483: Named Person: Bartolomé de las Casas; Bartolomé de las Casas; Bartolomé de las Casas: Material Type: Biography, Document, Internet resource: Document Type: Internet Resource, Computer File: All Authors / Contributors: Paul S Vickery Founded in 1515, there was already a small Franciscan monastery in Cumana, and a Dominican one at Chiribichi, but the monks there were being harassed by Spaniards operating slave raids from the nearby Island of Cubagua. To secure the grant, Las Casas had to go through a long court fight against Bishop Fonseca and his supporters Gonzalo de Oviedo and Bishop Quevedo of Tierra Firme. Las Casas—who was ordained in either 1512 or 1513—may have been the first person in America to receive holy orders. [53] In 1538 Las Casas was recalled from his mission by Bishop Marroquín who wanted him to go to Mexico and then on to Spain to seek more Dominicans to assist in the mission. His party made it as far as Panama, but had to turn back to Nicaragua due to adverse weather. Trusted stories delivered right to your inbox arguments presented for several months before coming a... He felt had been provoked to attack the settlement to complain to king... 2 ] New world is astounding incorporate the prospect of profits for the remainder of major... [ 72 ], bartolomé de Las Casas was especially critical of the Indian of... 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