New Laws — Las Casas and Abolition of the Encomienda
Charles V promulgated the New Laws of the Indies in November 1542, the most serious attempt the Spanish crown ever made to limit what its colonists could do to the indigenous population. They were the direct product of Bartolomé de las Casas, who had spent nearly thirty years pressing the case and had just written his Brief Relation of the Destruction of the Indies for the court. Their provisions were sweeping. Indigenous slavery was abolished outright and existing slaves were to be freed unless a valid title could be shown. The encomienda — the grant of indigenous labour and tribute to a Spanish holder — could no longer be created, could not be held by officials, clergy or religious houses, and, crucially, was to lapse on the death of the current holder rather than passing to his heirs. That last clause meant the end of the conquistador class within a generation, and it was the clause that broke the laws. Peru revolted. Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of the conqueror, raised the encomenderos, defeated and killed the viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela at Añaquito in 1546, and held the country for two years. Mexico did not revolt, and its viceroy simply declined to enforce the inheritance clause. The crown repealed it in 1545 and 1546, keeping the ban on enslavement. Pedro de la Gasca reconquered Peru by pardoning the rebels and confirming their grants. The encomienda declined over the following century for demographic reasons rather than legal ones. Las Casas was made Bishop of Chiapas and resigned after his own clergy refused to withhold absolution from encomenderos. He spent his last twenty years in Spain arguing the case in print.
- Year: 1542 CE
- Category: Political
