Laws of Burgos — First European Colonial Law Code
Promulgated at Burgos in December 1512, the Laws of Burgos were the first body of legislation governing Spanish colonial relations with indigenous peoples, drawn up after Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos preached a famous sermon condemning Spanish treatment of the Taíno in 1511. The laws regulated the encomienda, theoretically protecting indigenous workers from the worst abuses, limiting working hours, and requiring religious instruction. In practice they were poorly enforced and did little to prevent the continuing demographic collapse of Caribbean indigenous populations, but they represent the first acknowledgment by any European colonial power of indigenous rights.
- Year: 1512 CE
- Category: Political
