The Valladolid Controversy took place at the College of San Gregorio during the years 1550 and 1551. This debate marked the milestone of being the first time in history that an Empire questioned the morality of a conquest under the rule of Emperor Charles V. The two opposing positions were that of the Dominican Bartolomé de las Casas, who advocated for the protection of the indigenous people; and that of the jurist, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, who argued for a just war against the natives of the kingdoms of the Indies.
The professor of History of Law at the University of Valladolid, Carlos Belloso, provides the historical context in which Charles I of Spain was receiving complaints of “certain abuses during the process of the conquest of America by the encomenderos”. This information posed a dilemma for the emperor of Christianity, leading him to “organize a meeting of experts in law, philosophy and theology to find out to what extent the right to war can be used” in the New World. The decision taken by the Council of the Indies on July 3, 1549 ordered a halt to Spanish expansion in America.
The historian Carlos Belloso remembers the papal bulls that Alexander VI granted to Castile for the evangelization of America, “which gave it legitimacy and monopoly.” In what way was it lawful to use war to force the conversion of the natives? This was the question to be answered in this debate on the rights of the natives attended by “The Nobel Prize winners of the time who would later become part of the Salamanca school”, such as Bartolomé de Carranza, Domingo de Soto, Melchor Cano.
Bartolomé de las Casas is a questioned figure today due to his past as an encomendero. The Dominican was present in Santo Domingo in 1511 listening to the famous speech of Fray Antonio de Montesinos: “Are these not men? Do they not have rational souls? Are you not obliged to love them as yourselves?” This complaint by the friars led to the creation of the Laws of Burgos (1512) and the New Laws (1542) in an attempt to end the abuses of the encomenderos. This legal corpus followed the initial approach established by Isabel la Católica in her will in 1504:
“…and do not allow or give rise to the Indians who are neighbors and residents of the said Islands and Tierra Firme, conquered and to be conquered, to receive any harm to their persons and property, but rather command that they be treated well and fairly…”
This Dominican line of adequate treatment of the indigenous people was tirelessly defended by De las Casas until he was successfully heard by the court of Charles V. The emperor would repeat the same listening work that he applied to Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms in 1521 and in this way he would pay attention to the Dominican friar during the two sessions that the controversy in Valladolid lasted. This attitude on the part of the crown clashes with the measures adopted in other countries such as England.where the humanist Thomas More had his head cut off for protesting against the injustices of the new Anglican drift of his king Henry VIII.
The other position in this debate was the one expressed by Gines from Sepulvedaa clergyman expert in legal matters trained in France and Italy. The jurist argued that conversion to Christianity can be forced, in the words of Carlos Belloso, “motivated by what they had seen in America,” since “When the conquerors arrived they were frightened by the human sacrifices”.
The Hispanist Joseph Pérez, in his biography dedicated to Charles V, points out that this cannibalism was the argument chosen by Sepúlveda to demonstrate that the natives were inferior beings. “Barbarians,” in the words of Sepúlveda, whom De las Casas considered “tame Indians.”
“When the conquistadors arrived, they were frightened by the human sacrifices”
Francisco de Vitoria was unable to participate in this controversy. since he died four years earlier, the man who laid the foundations of the law of nations, assuring that it must be understood that men are not born slaves, but free; that, by natural law, no one is superior to others; that a person who has not been judged and condemned cannot be killed; that all the power of the king comes from the community, because it is free from the beginning… The specialist in Modern History Carlos Belloso is clear that in this historic event in Valladolid “A series of legal bases will be established that will be in force throughout international history.”.
After the completion of the second session in the summer of 1551, at the College of San Gregorio no verdict was reachedThe majority of theologians supported Bartolomé de las Casas and the same occurred with the jurists, who opted for Ginés de Sepúlveda.
Brother Bartolomé de las Casas in a portrait from an 18th century engraving.
The two faces of De las Casas
In order not to polarize the history of Spain, it is worth asking: Would the Valladolid Controversy have happened without Bartolomé de las Casas’ insistence on defending the rights of the natives? His figure is approached from black and white, especially through the use of his work. A very brief account of the destruction of the Indies by foreign powers building the so-called Black legend against Spain.
Historian Carlos Belloso distinguishes two aspects of the controversial de las Casas: on the one hand, “he is someone who fights for the rights of the indigenous people so that they are not enslaved, that part is positive and to be appreciated.” On the other hand, The Dominican exaggerated many of the figures to draw attention by appealing to the correctness of the conquest process. In the time of Philip II, De las Casas will be rescued to accuse Spain of committing an alleged genocide in AmericaCarlos Belloso is adamant about this attack that still persists in certain sectors of our society, since “all the indigenous people have been saved in the parts where Spain was, because the Castilian mentality in those first years of conquest was to mix, create cathedrals, build hospitals, establish universities like the first one in Santo Domingo” in 1538, almost a hundred years before the creation of Harvard University.
If we apply a comparative history studying what was done by the Anglo-Saxon Empire in the United States, where Carlos Belloso emphasizes that “there are no indigenous people left”, we can draw the conclusion that Facts such as the Valladolid Controversy deserve a place in the history books of schools as one of the anniversaries that contributed to defending the natural rights of the individual, simply for being one.
