The Journal is publishing a series of history articles to commemorate the settlement of New Mexico by Juan de Oñate in 1598. This one covers early legal efforts by Spain to protect its new Native subjects from abuses by its explorers. Spanish laws try to protect Natives

By Miguel Encinias
For the Journal
Even before Columbus sailed on his first voyage in 1492, Queen Isabella made sure he understood that all of the people he encountered would be considered subjects of the Crown and were to be treated as such.
After Columbus' first voyage, Pope Alexander VI in his papal bull "Inter Caetera" of 1493 granted the Spanish and Portuguese exclusive rights to explore and settle the New World on condition they spread the Christian faith.
King Ferdinand and Isabella hardly needed such a stipulation. They already were known as Catholic monarchs, not only for their convictions but for their role as principal defenders of the faith.
After Columbus died in 1506, Ferdinand had instructions for Diego de Colón, the great explorer's son, when he became governor of Española (now called Hispaniola). The king ordered him to baptize the Natives and teach them the Catholic faith.
Thus the spiritual dimension mandated by the pope was confirmed. From that time on the spiritual would commingle and clash with the material dimensions.

Witnesses to abuse
The implications of conversion and the admonitions of the highest authority did not stamp out early colonial oppression. But unlike most colonizing ventures, when oppression occurred, there usually was someone to bring them to light and condemn them.
The first of these was Fray Bartolome de Las Casas, who was an eyewitness during the early stages of the first colonies.
Las Casas came to Hispaniola with Gov. Nicolas de Ovando, who had replaced Columbus in 1502.
He accepted an encomienda, which gave him the right of labor from the people living in a certain area. But within a few years, convinced that the practice was morally wrong, Las Casas renounced it. He became a priest in 1510.
When his protests against the injustices against the Natives were not heeded, he and other friars expressed their concerns to King Ferdinand, who convened a council in Burgos in 1512 to discuss the matter.
That council resulted in the first formal laws pertaining to the Indies. One of the principal features was the Requerimiento, which required explorers upon their first encounter with Natives to read them a Miranda-rights-type statement outlining their obligation to acknowledge the Catholic Church, the pope and the Catholic monarchs, and to accept instruction in the Catholic faith. This was done through interpreters -- if any were available -- or without.
When Las Casas saw that the Laws of Burgos had virtually no effect, he decided to again complain directly to the king, who in 1542 called another council composed of theologians, members of the newly formed permanent Council of the Indies, and the highest legislative body of the land, the Council of Castile.
The encomienda was eliminated, but it was soon reinstated as a result of protests from across the ocean. By 1600, however, most encomiendas had gone out of existence replaced largely by a system of tribute and wages paid for labor. The system finally was formally abolished in 1720.
Other laws created in 1573 specificaly prohibited expeditions for the sole purpose of acquisition of land and of exploitation. This had the result of underscoring the importance of the religious or missionary aspect of the colonizing effort.
In 1596, Diego Encinias started working on a compendium of all the laws pertaining to the New World. It was called a recopilación and was finished by Leon Pillela in 1635.
These laws remained in effect until the demise of the Spanish empire.
The Encyclopedia Britannica has written of these laws, "The recopilación remains the most comprehensive code of law ever devised for a colonial empire, and in many ways the most humane." One might add that it represents a centuries-long struggle for justice unique in the annals of world history.
NEXT: The Black Legend

Miguel Encinias is an Albuquerque historian. His novel, "Two Lives for Oñate," is scheduled for publication by the University of New Mexico this month.