DEBATE WITH GINES DE SEPULVEDA
Rejected by his flock in Chiapa, abused and denounced by the Spanish
colonists in America, the venerable Bishop’s arrival in his native country
was preceded by accusations intended to prejudice the young Prince, Don
Philip, who was regent during the Emperor’s absence, against him. Long
years of championship of an unpopular cause rendered him impervious to
these baseless attacks of his enemies. At a time of life when most men
think to rest, Las Casas prepared himself with undiminished vigour to
continue the struggle in the cause of freedom. Upon his arrival in Spain,
he repaired at once to Valladolid where the court was usually in
residence, only to find that Don Philip had gone to hold a Córtes in the
kingdom of Aragon. With his habitual promptness, the Bishop followed him
thither, and was received with great kindness by the Prince, who, after
listening attentively to all that he had to recount, wrote to the
Dominicans in Chiapa commending their conduct and offering to send more
men of their Order to reinforce them, if they were required.
The Indians were ever uppermost in the mind of Las Casas and he likewise
obtained that the Prince should write letters to the caciques in Chiapa
and Tuzulutlan, who had become Christians, congratulating them on their
conversion, praising their zeal, of which the Bishop had informed him, and
urging them to follow the counsels of their Dominican friends. To
celebrate his pacific victory in the “Land of War,” Las Casas also had the
sinister name Tuzulutlan officially changed to that of Vera Paz or True
Peace.
The formal resignation of Las Casas from the diocese of Chiapa was made
known to the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, in
a letter from the Emperor dated September 11, 1550, with instructions to
announce the same to the Pope and to present the name of Fray Tomas
Casillas for the vacant bishopric.
Mention has been made of the _Confesionario_, or book of instructions
written by the Bishop of Chiapa and distributed to the clergy of his
diocese. In this little manual, Las Casas demonstrated that the armed
invasion of America by the Spaniards and the conquest of the various
countries were contrary to all right and justice: he argued that the Bull
of donation given by Alexander VI. charged the Spanish sovereigns with the
right, or rather the duty, of converting the inhabitants of the New World
to Christianity; once their conversion was effected, they might be
induced, if possible, by gentle and pacific means to place themselves
under Spanish rule. Arguing from these premises, the Bishop directed his
clergy to refuse absolution and the sacraments to all who refused to
liberate their slaves or continued to oppress and rob the natives.
Reduced to a formula the doctrine of Las Casas may be summed up: Convert
the Indians first and they will afterwards become Spanish subjects; as
against the contention of his adversaries that they must first be
conquered, after which their conversion would follow.
His enemies were not slow in seizing upon these definitions and in
twisting them into a denial of the sovereign rights of the Crown. Formal
denunciations of the teachings contained in the _Confesionario_ were laid
before the India Council, (66) and that body having summoned Las Casas to
explain his doctrines in writing, he submitted an exposition of the
contents of his book, in the form of thirty propositions, the substance of
which may be summarised as follows: (67)
1.1. The power and authority which the Pope holds from Jesus Christ,
extends over all men, whether they be Christians or infidels, as far
as everything touching their salvation is concerned. Their exercise
should, however, be different over pagans than over those who have
received or have refused to receive the true faith.
2.2. The primacy of the Pope imposes upon him the obligation to diffuse
the Christian religion throughout the world and to see that the
Gospel is preached to the heathen wherever they will receive it.
3.3. The Pope is bound to choose proper missioners for such propaganda.
4.4. It is evident that Christian rulers are his most suitable and
efficient assistants in this work.
5.5. The Pope is free to invite or justified in obliging Christian rulers
to lend their help, by the exercise of their power, by the
expenditure of money, and by sending suitable men to conduct
missions.
6.6. The Pope and the Christian sovereigns should act together for this
end, in agreement with one another.
7.7. The Pope may distribute heathen lands among Christian rulers,
designating where each is to labour for the conversion of the
infidels.
8.8. Such distribution should be made, however, for the purpose of
ensuring the instruction and the conversion of the pagan nations but
not at all to increase the territories of the Christian sovereign or
to augment his revenues, titles, and honours, at the expense of the
natives.
9.9. It may follow that Christian princes may incidentally derive some
profit from this conversion of such infidels, and all such may be
permitted to them, but the primary object must be the propagation of
the Faith, the extension of the Church, and the service of God.
10.10. Native kings and rulers hold their authority and jurisdiction by a
just title and have a right to the obedience of their lawful
subjects, nor should they be deposed or violently treated.
11.11. Injustice, cruelty, and every form of wickedness are produced by
the violation of this law.
12.12. Neither idolatry nor any kind of sin justifies Christians in
usurping the authority of native rulers or in seizing the lands and
goods of their subjects.
13.13. As long as such infidels have not opposed the propagation of the
Gospel and have not refused to receive the Faith preached to them,
no Christian tribunal or judge has a right to punish them for the
practice of idolatry or for the commission of any sins, no matter
how heinous.
14.14. The New World was discovered during the pontificate of Alexander
VI., hence that pontiff was obliged to designate some Christian
prince under whose protection the propagation of the Faith should be
carried on.
15.15. Since the Catholic sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, had
protected and aided Columbus in making his discovery, and had,
moreover, expelled the Mahometans from their land, the Pope
perceived the special claims they had to receive this privilege, and
the great advantages to religion of confiding this mission to them.
16.16. The Pope, having authority to grant such a privilege, has power
likewise to annul, revoke, or suspend it for just cause; or he may
transfer it to some other ruler and forbid all others to interfere.
17.17. The jurisdiction over the Indies held by the sovereigns of Spain is
lawful.
18.18. The native rulers in the Indies are therefore obliged to submit to
the jurisdiction of the Spanish sovereigns.
19.19. Once the native rulers have voluntarily and freely accepted the
Faith and been baptised Christians, they become bound by another
title than before to acknowledge the Spanish sovereignty.
20.20. The law of God imposes on the Spanish sovereigns this duty of
selecting proper persons and sending them to preach Christianity to
the natives, and to neglect nothing that may ensure their
conversion.
21.21. They share this obligation with the Pope and, before the conversion
of the natives has been accomplished, they have the same power over
them as has His Holiness.
22.22. The Catholic Faith may be best spread throughout the New World by
imitating the example of our Lord in establishing His religion upon
earth. The natives are submissive, docile people, who may be won by
kindness, charity, and good examples of holy living. They should be
encouraged and favoured, and treated as brothers.
23.23. The Romans, Mahometans, Moors, and Turks have propagated their
doctrines by the sword, but such means are tyrannical, and it is
blasphemy for Christians to imitate such cruelties; what has already
been done in the Indies has caused the natives to believe the
Christian God to be the most merciless and cruel of all deities.
24.24. It is only natural that the Indians should defend their countries
from armed invasion, thus they resist the propagation of the Faith.
25.25. The Spanish sovereigns have from the outset repeatedly forbidden
wars, conquests, and acts of cruelty. Those officials who have
pretended to act by royal authority in such wars and acts have lied,
and the warrants they have shown are forgeries.
26.26. It follows that all the wars, invasions, and conquests that have
been made, have been tyrannical, contrary to justice and authority,
and hence, in fact, null and void: this is proven by the record of
the proceedings in Council against all such tyrants and usurpers who
have been found guilty.
27.27. It is the duty of the Spanish sovereigns to maintain and
re-establish all laws and usages amongst the Indians which are good,
and that is to say the most of them; those which are bad should be
abolished, and the preaching and application of the Gospel is the
best means for effecting this.
28.28. The Devil himself could not have worked greater harm than have the
Spaniards, by their tyranny and cruel greed; they have treated the
Indians like beasts, worked them to death, and persecuted those who
have wished to learn from the friars, even more than others.
29.29. The system of giving the Indians in encomienda and repartimiento is
absolutely contrary to the royal commands issued by Queen Isabella
to Columbus and his successors during her reign. The Queen ordered
all Indians who had been brought to Spain as slaves, to be sent back
and set free. What would she think could she but witness the
present state of things? The present sovereign has been kept in
ignorance of the true condition, and his long journeys and absences
have prevented him from informing himself.
30.30. It follows, therefore, from these propositions that all the
conquests, acquisitions of territory, invasions, and usurpations,
whether by the Crown officials or by the colonists and individuals,
are illegal, because all have been accomplished contrary to the
orders of the Spanish sovereigns and in defiance of their authority.
(68)
Without pausing to examine the origin or trace the development of the
papal claim to dispose of the western hemisphere, which Las Casas admits
in these Thirty Propositions, it should be borne in mind that Alexander
VI. made no unusual exercise of his prerogative in so doing, nor was there
anybody, whether philosopher, jurist, or statesman, who, at that time,
contested his pretension; arguments which Las Casas presented as almost
axiomatic are now obsolete, and of interest merely as illustrating the
political doctrines of his times. He was, perhaps, the first to limit the
exercise of the papal power by describing it as conditional, and in
denying that the bull gave the sovereigns of Castile any property rights
in the New World. According to his doctrines, the Pope was exercising his
purely spiritual power. Charged by the Founder of Christianity with the
obligation to cause the Gospel to be preached to every creature, he might
delegate to the sovereign of his choice the right, or rather the duty of
sending his subjects to convert the heathen within a prescribed portion of
the Indies—but for no other purpose. Equally clear is the limitation he
places to the action of the prince. The latter receives no authorisation
from the Pope to invade, occupy, or govern territory in America. His
mission is exclusively religious, and any advantage accruing to himself
must be merely incidental. Since he may not rightfully use force to
establish his rule over the Indians, the rights of sovereignty conferred
by the Bull, only become effective in cases where the native rulers, after
their conversion, voluntarily acknowledge them.
In these definitions, Las Casas had gone far, but his adversaries despite
their subtlety were impotent either to force or inveigle him into a
position, where even constructive heresy and disloyalty might be imputed
to him. More adroit than they, he skilfully evaded their snares, without
sacrificing one jot of his contention. The India Council was well
satisfied with his defence of the _Confesionario_, but the resentment of
his enemies was inflamed the more by his victory, and it was felt to be
more than ever necessary to fix upon some one able to refute his arguments
and discredit him in the estimation of statesmen and theologians.
One of the foremost of Spanish theologians and Jurists at that period was
Gines de Sepulveda, whose distinction as a master of Latin style had
caused Erasmus to describe him as the Spanish Livy. Born in Cordoba of
noble parents in 1490, he had passed many years in Italy and had but
recently returned to Spain, where he was named royal historiographer by
Charles V. During his sojourn in Rome, Sepulveda had published a dialogue
entitled _Democrates_, in which he sought to prove that war was consonant
with the doctrines of Christianity: “De convenientia, disciplinæ militaris
cum cristiana religione.”
Whether or no Sepulveda was deliberately chosen by the opponents of Las
Casas to dispute the Bishop’s propositions in defence of the Indians, does
not positively appear, (69) but just before the latter returned from
America, he composed a second dialogue, _Democrates II. De justis belli
causis apud Indios_, in which he upheld the right of the Spaniards to make
war on the Indians. This dialogue was apparently written in Valladolid
and called forth an episcopal reprimand from the Bishop of Segovia. The
fraternal admonition of the Bishop, instead of disposing of the subject,
provoked a reply from Sepulveda in the form of an _Apologia_ of an
_Democrates II_.
The India Council having refused to permit the publication of this
dialogue, Sepulveda petitioned the Emperor, who referred the matter to the
Council of Castile. That body having given its assent, the Emperor signed
a royal cedula at Aranda de Duero, authorising the printing of the book.
In the midst of the interest excited by this controversy, Las Casas
arrived in Spain. He prevailed upon the Council of Castile to reconsider
its decision, and to submit Sepulveda’s work to the universities of
Salamanca and Alcala, for an opinion on the soundness of his doctrine.
The reply of the universities was adverse, and the authorisation to
publish was consequently annulled. (70)
Prohibited from publishing his book in Spain, Sepulveda sent it to Rome
where the censorship of the press was freer and where, in fact, the
condemned dialogue was printed, together with the author’s _Apologia_
addressed to the Bishop of Segovia. An edition of the work was prepared
in Spanish for the benefit of those who did not read Latin, but the
Emperor forbade the entrance of the one and the other into Spain.
Las Casas took but the time necessary to master the propositions of
Sepulveda, before he seized the cudgels in defence of his Indians. From
this moment the controversy took another complexion. Sepulveda had so far
crossed weapons with learned theologians, men of study rather than of
action, who carried on the dispute along purely scholastic lines and
according to the recognised rules governing debates between scholars.
His new adversary, who was the best informed man in the world on the
special subject under dispute, transferred the debate from academic to
practical ground, of every foot of which he was master. Though inferior
in learning to the polished humanist, who affected to regard him as a
furious fanatic whose crude Latin shocked his scholarly sensibilities, Las
Casas was his match in fervid eloquence, overmatched him in the ardour of
his feelings, and ended by pulverising him under the weight of facts he
hurled upon him.
The controversy assumed such proportions that the Emperor, in the fashion
of the times, ordered the India Council to assemble in Valladolid in
conjunction with certain theologians and scholars, to decide whether or no
wars for conquest might be justly waged against the Indians. (71) Before
this learned jury both Las Casas and Sepulveda were summoned to appear in
1550.
In the first session of the assembly, Sepulveda stated his propositions
and expounded his defence of them, presenting, under four heads, his
reasons why it was lawful to make war on the Indians:
1.1. Because of the gravity of their sins, particularly the practice of
idolatry and other sins against nature.
2.2. Because of the rudeness of their heathen and barbarous natures,
which oblige them to serve those of more elevated natures, such as
the Spaniards possess.
3.3. For the spread of the faith; for their subjection renders its
preaching easier and more persuasive.
4.4. On account of the harm they do to one another, killing men to
sacrifice them and some, in order to eat them.
These reasons were defended by their author in an able discourse, in which
all the resources of his vast learning and forensic ability were called
into play.
Las Casas occupied five sessions in reading his _Historia Apologetica_,
after which the assembly directed the Emperor’s confessor, Fray Domingo de
Soto, to prepare a summary of the arguments of both parties, of which
fourteen copies should be made for distribution to the members of the
conference.
After the reading of Fray Domingo’s summary, which was drawn up with
perfect impartiality and great clearness, Sepulveda presented twelve
objections to the arguments of Las Casas, each of which he argued with
great subtlety and erudition. The refutation of these twelve objections
by Las Casas, closed this memorable controversy; in none of his writings
is the character of the Protector of the Indians more fully revealed than
in this final discourse before the conference at Valladolid. To give it
in its entirety would occupy too much space in this place, but the
following translation of the speech with which he introduced his twelve
answers, is worthy of our closest attention.
After the introductory phrases required by the etiquette of such debates
he continued: “So enormous are the errors and scandalous propositions,
contrary to all evangelical truth and to all Christianity that the Doctor
Sepulveda has accumulated, set forth, and coloured with misguided zeal in
the royal service, that no honest Christian would be surprised should we
wish to combat him, not only with lengthy argument, but likewise as a
mortal enemy of Christendom, an abettor of cruel tyrants, extirpator of
the human race, and disseminator of fatal blindness throughout this realm
of Spain. But the least we could do, having regard to the obligations
imposed by the law of God, is to answer each point here presented, and
this will complete his confusion.”
From this vigorous opening, the Bishop went on to examine the nature of
the Bull of donation and the intention of Alexander VI. in granting it.
He demonstrated the irrefutable fact that the Catholic sovereigns and the
Pope were in absolute agreement, and that the clearness of the language of
the Bull left no room for two interpretations. The better to illustrate
and drive home this argument, he cited articles from the last will of
Queen Isabella, of which the following translation proves the truth of his
contention:
“Forasmuch as when the islands and terra-firma discovered, or to be
discovered, in the Ocean Sea, were granted to us by the Holy Apostolic
See, our principal intention, when we asked the said concession from Pope
Alexander VI. of happy memory, was to provide for attracting and winning
to us the natives, and to convert them to our holy Catholic faith; and to
send to the said islands and and terra-firma, prelates, religious,
clerics, and other learned and God-fearing men, to instruct the
inhabitants in the Catholic faith: and to use all necessary diligence in
teaching them and in introducing good customs among them; all this
according as may be more fully seen in the wording of the said concession.
I therefore very affectionately beseech my lord the King, and I charge and
command the said Princess, my daughter, and the said Prince, her husband,
that they shall execute and accomplish this, making it their principal
object, and using the greatest diligence therein. They shall not consent,
or furnish occasion that the Indian natives and inhabitants of the said
islands and and terra-firma, sustain any injury, either in their persons
or their belongings, but they shall rather order that they be well and
justly treated. And if they [the Indians] have received any injury, they
shall correct it and shall take measures to prevent what is conceded to
and enjoined upon us by the wording of the said concession, from being
exceeded.”
Reviewing the conditions in the colonies, Las Casas described the richness
of the soil and the vast resources of the Indies, declaring that what was
wanted there, were industrious, honest, and frugal emigrants, who would
develop the agricultural sources of wealth, instead of the horde of
rapacious adventurers and dissolute soldiery then engaged in depopulating
and ruining them. One by one he stripped Sepulveda’s propositions of
their brilliant rhetoric, exposing the hollowness and sham beneath the
specious reasoning, with which the latter sought to cloak his poverty of
facts. Las Casas closed his case with the following brilliant and
prophetic peroration:
“The injuries and loss which have befallen the Crown of Castile and Leon
will be visited likewise on all Spain, because the tyranny wrought by
their devastations, massacres, and slaughters is so monstrous, that the
blind may see it, the deaf hear it, and the dumb recount it, while after
our brief existence, the wise shall judge and condemn it. I invoke all
the hierarchies and choirs of angels, all the saints of the Celestial
Court, all the inhabitants of the globe and especially those who may live
after me, to witness that I free my conscience of all that has been done;
and that I have fully exposed all these woes to his Majesty; and that if
he abandons the government of the Indies to the tyranny of the Spaniards,
they will all be lost and depopulated—as we see Hispaniola, and other
islands and three thousand leagues of the continent destitute of
inhabitants. For these reasons, God will punish Spain and all her people
with inevitable severity. So may it be!”(72)
Language worthy of a saint and a statesman, in which there breathed the
spirit of prophecy, for the system of government, once initiated by the
Spanish officials, was persisted in till the end, while one by one the
great possessions of Spain in the New World were torn from the mother
country. In no land where freedom of speech was a recognised right, could
an orator have used plainer language, and it shows both the Spanish civil
and ecclesiastical authorities of that age in a somewhat unfamiliar light
that Las Casas not only escaped perilous censures but even won a moral
victory over his talented opponent. What would have become of the
champion of such unpopular doctrines, attacking as he did the material
interests of thousands of the greatest men in the land, had there been
daily newspapers in those times, it is not difficult to imagine. Examples
of the defenders of forlorn causes are not wanting in our own day, and the
fate of those who lead an unpopular crusade is the pillory of the press,
which spares no less than did the fires of the mediaeval stake.
The discovery and conquest of the American dominions brought ruin to Spain
as a nation; beyond the tribute of glory which those early achievements
yielded to the Spanish name, the results were disastrous to her power.
During centuries, much of the best blood of her prolific people was
drained by the Americas, so that the population of the peninsula to-day is
little more numerous than in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, whereas
her territory and natural resources might maintain triple their number.