Las
Casas
(1484-1566)
Dominican
priest, writer, defender of the indigenous peoples of
FIRST PHASE OF LAS CASAS' LIFE
1484 Bartolomé de Las Casas is born
in Sevilla.
1492 The Muslim
Spanish
Jews are expelled from
Antonio
de Nebrija presents his publication of Gramática
de la lengua española (Grammar of the Spanish Language) to Isabel I, queen
of Castilla.
Colón
/ Columbus encounters islands in the
1502 Las Casas sails to the Indies / las
1504 Isabel I la Católica dies.
1506 Colón / Columbus dies.
1507 Las Casas is ordained as a priest in
1512 The Consejo de
The
Burgos Laws / las Leyes de Burgos are promulgated; there are 30 laws; among
them are:
1. formal liberty (freedom) for the indigenous
people of
2. formal injunction stating the need for
Indians to convert (el requerimiento)
3. Indian villages and inhabitants are granted
to Spanish colonists by royal decree (la
encomienda / repartimiento de los indios a encomenderos)
4. De facto slavery of Indians is the result of
the Leyes de Burgos (la esclavitud de
hecho de los indios)
Las Casas attacks all apects of
the Leyes de Burgos.
SECOND PHASE OF LAS CASAS' LIFE
1514 Las Casas undergoes a moral
"conversion";
This is the beginning of the
second phase of his life; he meditates on this biblical passage: Eclesiástico
34: 18-22:
Tainted the
gifts of he who offers in sacrifice ill-gotten goods! Mock presents from the
lawless win not God's favor.
The Most
High approves not the gifts of the godless, nor for their many sacrifices does
he forgive their sins.
Like the man who slays a son in his father's presence is he who offers sacrifice from the possessions of the poor.
The bread of
charity is life itself for the needy; he who withholds it is a man of blood.
He slays his
neighbor who deprives him of his living: he sheds blood who denies the laborer
his wages
1516 Fernando el Católico dies.
Las
Casas sends his book Memorial de remedios
(Brief of Remedies) to Cardinal Cisneros, who was regent of
1517 Carlos I de Habsburgo ascends the throne of España.
He is elected Carlos V (Charles V) of the
Martin
Luther (Martín Lutero) publishes his 95 theses, thus beginning the Protestant
Reformation against the Roman Catholic Church.
1519-1521 Cortés conquers the Aztecs in
1522 Las Casas becomes a Dominican
friar (un dominico).
1527 Las Casas begins writing his major work, Historia de las
Carlos
V's son, and the future king, Felipe II is born.
1531 Las Casas sends his work, Carta al Consejo de las
1541 Ignacio de Loyola founds the Jesuit Order under the
direct command of the Roman Catholic pope.
1542 Las Casas sends another work, Representación to Carlos V.
Las
Casas publishes his famous and influential work, Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las
This
publication and other declarations by Las Casas are the basic origin for the
infamous "Black Legend" that denigrated
1542-1543 Due to Las Casas campaigning on behalf of Indian rights in the
This
is a partial victory for Las Casas.
1543 Las Casas is made biship of
Las
Casas sends his work, the Memorial to Carlos V.
1545 Carlos V revokes the Leyes Nuevas under pressure from
powerful interest groups in the
THIRD PHASE OF LAS CASAS' LIFE
1546 Las Casas cuando becomes disillusioned with the
Spanish monarchy because of the revocation of the Leyes Nuevas and because of
the negative reaction to Las Casas campaign of denunciation of the black slave
trade (Las Casas rereads Ecclesiasticus 34: 18-22).
1547 Las Casas returns to
Miguel
de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote (1605, 1615), is born.
1550-1551 A major public debate is held in the Castilian city of
Las
Casas publishes a work called the Apología.
1552 Las Casas publishes 8 more treatises.
1554 The famous Spanish picaresque novel, Lazarillo de Tormes, is published.
1555-1564 Las Casas publishes several more works.
1556 Carlos V abdicates in favor of his son Felipe II, and
then Carlos V retires to the Spanish monastery at Yuste.
1558 Carlos V dies.
1564 Las Casas sends out his Carta a los dominicos de Chiapa y
1566 Las Casas dies.
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NOTES
1. Las Casas is the first great and influential defender of
human dignity, freedom on conscience, and civil rights for the indigenous
peoples of the
2. For Las Casas the encomienda
system is the basis of Spanish tyranny (la
raíz de la tiranía), since it is the axis around which the entire colonials
system functions.
3. Spanish version of Eclesiasticus 34:
18-22:
Sacrificar
cosa injusta es hacer ofrenda rechazada,
no logran complacencia los presentes de
los sin ley.
No se
complace el Altísimo en ofrendas de impíos,
ni por el cúmulo de víctimas perdona los
pecados.
Inmola a un
hijo a los ojos de su padre
quien
ofrece víctima a costa de los bienes de los humildes.
Pan de
indigentes es la vida de los pobres,
quien se lo quita es un hombre
sanguinario.
Mata a su
prójimo quien le arrebata su sustento,
vierte sangre quien quita el jornal al
jornalero.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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1957-1958.
Las
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15 vols. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1989-1992.
Abril
Castelló, V. “Bartolomé de Las Casas, el último comunero (mito y realidad de
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Adorno,
R. “El arte de la persuasión: El Padre de Las Casas y Fray Luis de Granada en
la obra de Waman Poma de Ayala.” Escritura,
Teoría y Crítica literaria, no. 8 (1979): 167-189.
Adorno,
R. “Bartolomé de Las Casas y Domingo de Santo Tomás en la obra de Felipe Waman
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André-Vincent,
P. “Bartolomé de Las Casas, prophète du
nouveau monde. Paris: Tallandier, 1980.
Bataillon,
Marcel. Estudios sobre Bartolomé de Las
Casas. Barcelona: Península, 1976.
Bataillon,
Marcel. “Las Casas, ¿un profeta?” Revista
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Bataillon,
Marcel. Las Casas et la défense des
Indiens. Paris: Julliard, 1971.
Bataillon,
Marcel. “Las Casas face à la pensée d’Aristote sur l’esclavage.” Actes du XVI colloque international de
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Beozzo,
O. “O diálogo da conversão do gentio: A evangelização entre a persuasão e a
força.” Actas del Congreso Internacional
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Rodríguez, Raquel. La apropiación del
signo: Tres cronistas indígenas del Perü. Tempe, Arizona: Center forLatin
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Gutiérrez,
Gustavo. En busca de los pobres de
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Gutiérrez, Gustavo. Las Casas: In Search of the Poor of Jesus
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Capacity of the American Indians. Dekalb:
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Manzano
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Manzano
y Manzano, Juan. Historia de las
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1950.
Menéndez
Pidal, Ramón. El Padre Las Casas: Su doble
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Parish, Helen Rand.
“Introduction: Las Casas’s Spirituality—The Three Crises.” In Bartolomé de Las Casas: The Only Way.
Parish, Helen Rand. Las Casas: The Untold Story.
Pérez
de Tudela, J. El Padre Las Casas desde
nuestra época. Santander: Publicaciones de la Universidad Internacional
Menéndez Pelayo, 1966.
Pérez
de Tudela, J. “Significado histórico de la vida y escritos del Padre Las Casas:
Estudio crítico preliminar.” In Bartolomé de Las Casas, Obras escogidas, vol. 1: Historia
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Pérez
Fernández, I. ¿ Bartolomé de Las Casas
contra los negros? Madrid: Editorial Mundo Negro, 1991.
Pérez
Fernández, I. Fray Bartolomé de Las
Casas, O.P., Brevísima relación de la destrucción de Africa.
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