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 of Florida and the Caribbean" Profiles
Bartolomé de Las Casas
Priest, missionary, landholder, fighter, writer and historian. Once a slave owner, then defender of the rights of native peoples, Bartolomé de Las Casas was a complex man who lived almost a century. Born in 1474 in Spain, Las Casas was the son of a merchant who had traveled with Columbus to the West Indies. Following his education at the University of Salamanca, Las Casas first became a lawyer, but in 1502, at the age of 28, he gave up his law practice and sailed to Hispaniola. He worked for the colonial governor first in Santo Domingo, then in Cuba. In 1512 he became the first person in America to be ordained a priest, but that didn’t stop him from taking part in the brutal conquest of Cuba. For his service in several expeditions, Las Casas was awarded an encomienda, a royal grant of land including Native American slaves. Not long after, Las Casas began to rebel against the abusive practices of Europeans governing American lands and people. He knew firsthand the killing, capture and enslavement of native people and began a crusade to improve conditions and especially to abolish Native American slavery. He abandoned his own encomienda in 1514 and sailed back to Spain to appeal directly to King Charles V on the Native Americans’ behalf. He was named the official Protector of the Indians and spent the rest of his long life championing their interests. In 1520 he tried without success to establish a colony on the coast of Venezuela. He livedfor a while in Mexico and Guatemala and in 1544 at age 70 was named Bishop of Chiapas. He returned to Spain in 1547, but continued to plead the cause of Native Americans in prolific writings. Las Casas died in 1566 at the age of 92. Las Casas’ writings are significant, including the first full account of the Spanish conquest, his History of the Indies. He is most famous for his Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indians) a short tract condemning the Spanish treatment of the Indians. Las Casas described atrocities committed by the conquistadors and documented the genocide that had taken place. The work was published in 1552 in Spain and quickly translated and circulated throughout Europe. It became the basis for the incriminating "Black Legend," an anti-Spanish propaganda tool that accused Spain of intolerance and persecution. Home Links:
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