Bartolomé de Las Casas was a Dominican priest and missionary in the Americas. The recruitment drive was difficult, and during the process the power relation shifted at court when Chancellor Sauvage, Las Casas's main supporter, unexpectedly died. "[89] This work in which Las Casas combined his own ethnographic observations with those of other writers, and compared customs and cultures between different peoples, has been characterized as an early beginning of the discipline of anthropology. Christianity and Freedom: Historical Perspectives. Shortly after its publication in 1542, King Charles I passed several “New Laws” benefiting Indian serfs. [43], Arriving in Puerto Rico, in January 1521, he received the terrible news that the Dominican convent at Chiribichi had been sacked by Indians, and that the Spaniards of the islands had launched a punitive expedition, led by Gonzalo de Ocampo, into the very heart of the territory that Las Casas wanted to colonize peacefully. Under the New Laws, encomenderos (land grantees) were required to release the serfs on their land after the span of a single generation. This book, written a decade earlier and sent to the attention of then-prince Philip II of Spain, contained accounts of the abuses committed by some Spaniards against Native Americans during the early stages of colonization. In 1527 he began working on his History of the Indies, in which he reported much of what he had witnessed first hand in the conquest and colonization of New Spain. Unsurprisingly, they were extremely unpopular in the Americas and were met with much resistance. Encouraged by the favourable outcome of this experiment, Las Casas set out for Spain late in 1539, arriving there in 1540. [119], He is a central character in the H. R. Hays historical novel The Takers of the City, published in 1946.[120]. But, rather than a chronicle, it is a prophetic interpretation of events. [67] His last act as Bishop of Chiapas was writing a confesionario, a manual for the administration of the sacrament of confession in his diocese, still refusing absolution to unrepentant encomenderos. For other uses, see, Spanish Dominican friar, historian, and social reformer, Las Casas and Emperor Charles V: The peasant colonization scheme, "If one sacrifices from what has been wrongfully obtained, the offering is blemished; the gifts of the lawless are not acceptable. Author of, West Indies: European exploration and colonialism, 1492–1800. Bartolome de las Casas is one of those remarkable people in history who arose at the very beginning of the modern human rights movement. Not just food markets, but also art and textile markets. The polemic was likely a key factor in King Charles I’s decision to issue the “New Laws” in 1542. [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. 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 With José Alonso, Germán Robles, Claudette Maillé, Rolando de Castro. Why do you keep them so oppressed and exhausted, without giving them enough to eat or curing them of the sicknesses they incur from the excessive labor you give them, and they die, or rather you kill them, in order to extract and acquire gold every day. Las Casas says that for the good of humanity the world is divided into kingdoms, with kings who rule over them. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman then became a Dominican friar and priest. He is commemorated by the Church of England in the Calendar of Saints on July 20, The Episcopal Church (USA) on July 18, and at the Evangelical Lutheran Church on July 17. 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. He also argues that Las Casas failed to realize that by seeking to replace indigenous spirituality with Christianity, he was undertaking a religious colonialism that was more intrusive than the physical one. Las Casas's supporters were Diego Columbus and the new chancellor Gattinara. On Christmas Eve of 1515, Las Casas met the monarch and discussed the situation in the Indies with him; the king agreed to hear him out in more detail at a later date. The location selected for the new colony was on the Gulf of Paria in the northern part of present-day Venezuela. Bartolom é de Las Casas was a missionary, Dominican theologian, historian, and bishop of Chiapas. "[20] Las Casas himself argued against the Dominicans in favour of the justice of the encomienda. Residencial Las Casas in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico is named after Las Casas. Bartolome de las Casas: A 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. [70], To settle the issues, a formal debate was organized, the famous Valladolid debate, which took place in 1550–51 with Sepúlveda and Las Casas each presenting their arguments in front of a council of jurists and theologians. He was also one of the first Europeans to openly condemn the atrocities committed by Europeans on the Native Indians of the Latin American lands and the West Indies. Las Casas's strategy was to teach Christian songs to merchant Indian Christians who then ventured into the area. Las Casas had a considerable part in selecting them and writing the instructions under which their new government would be instated, largely based on Las Casas's memorial. Las Casas's point of view can be described as being heavily against some of the Spanish methods of colonization, which, as he described them, inflicted great losses on the indigenous occupants of the islands. Through the efforts of Las Casas's missionaries the so-called "Land of War" came to be called "Verapaz", "True Peace". It is accordingly forty-nine years now since Spaniards began arriving in numbers in this part of the world. [35] In keeping with the legal and moral doctrine of the time Las Casas believed that slavery could be justified if it was the result of Just War, and at the time he assumed that the enslavement of Africans was justified. This account of Las Casas, who spent much of his life in the New World, specifically spans the years 1509-1542, with some reference to the years between 1542 and 1552, when the book was … The rumours even included him among the dead. The son of a small merchant, Las Casas is believed to have gone to Granada as a soldier in 1497 and to have enrolled to study Latin in the academy at the cathedral in Sevilla (Seville). After several months of negotiations Las Casas set sail alone; the peasants he had brought had deserted, and he arrived in his colony already ravaged by Spaniards.[44]. Regarding expenses, he argued that "this should not seem expensive or difficult, because after all, everything comes from them [the Indians] and they work for it and it is theirs. He served in the Spanish court for the remainder of his life; there he held great influence over Indies-related issues. "Las Casas" redirects here. [45] He returned to Hispaniola in January 1522, and heard the news of the massacre. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [5] In 1522, he tried to launch a new kind of peaceful colonialism on the coast of Venezuela, but this venture failed. [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. [23] He witnessed many atrocities committed by Spaniards against the native Ciboney and Guanahatabey peoples. [79] Las Casas also appeared as a witness in the case of the Inquisition against his friend Archbishop Bartolomé Carranza de Miranda, who had been falsely accused of heresy. He never gives up and struggles throughout his life for a cause that seems impossible to achieve. The former was written as an introduction to a proposed book called Historia de las Indias, and the latter was published as a stand-alone summary of that book. Upon his return to Santo Domingo, the unsuccessful priest and political reformer abandoned his reforming activities to take refuge in religious life. In 1514, Las Casas was studying a passage in the book Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)[25] 34:18–22[a] for a Pentecost sermon and pondering its meaning. £53 (cloth), £13.99 (paper). [77], One matter in which he invested much effort was the political situation of the Viceroyalty of Peru. 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