as afore time neither are they sory for the contrition of Ioseph The other is that in maner euery man generally hath an eye to his owne priuat affaires no 〈…〉 the common vnlesse it bee to reproove but not to help â—atrâ—â— possesseth many of their heartes and which is more strange although there bee many in these Countries that haue heretofore felt the manifest iniuries of the spaniards yet as if their memoâ—y wholy failed them they be redy to compound with the 〈◊〉 they suppose to the destruction of their confederates 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 to the generall subuersion of the whole countrie To the end therfore they may at the least 〈◊〉 in a â—able behold the nature of their enimie his purpose intent here â—asueth a true history written by one of their owne nation wherein they may learne not that which is yet fully executed in these low countries but which had not god stopped their course they had long since put in execution and hereby I hope al good men wil 〈◊〉 to be resolute and â—mending their liues 〈◊〉 ioyâ—◠〈◊〉 not in wordes only but in deedes also to repell so arrogant and 〈◊〉 an enemie But there needeth no other admonitioÌ„ then the same which the authour hath set down and therefore I pray you reade him as diligently as he 〈…〉 graue and worthy 〈…〉 himselfe to his owne so cruell and barbarous nation and let vs render thanks to god for sending vs so good maisters to instructe vs in our dueties in this so miserable and wretched time in hope â—hat we not quailing in our office he will also finally graunt vs happie deliuerance The Argument of this present Summarie THe state of thinges happened in the Indies euen from the time they were most wonderfully discouered also since the Spaniards for a while began to enhabite those places and afterward successiuely vnto these daies haue in all degrees bin so maruailous incredible vnto such as haue not seen theÌ„ that they may seeme sufficient to darken and burie in obliuion and silence whatsoeuer els haue passed in all former ages throughout the world howe great so euer is hath been amongst which the slaughters and murders of these innocent people together with the spoiles of townes prouinces kingdomes which in those parts haue bin perpretated as also diuers others no lesse terrible matters are not the least These things wheÌ„ doÌ„ Bartâ—â—â—w de las Casaâ—s being made of a monke a bishop at his comming to the court there to enforme our â— M. the Emperor as hauing 〈◊〉 an eiewitnes of the same had rehearsed to sundry persons who as yet were ignorant thereof thereby hauing driuen the hearers into a kind of extasie maze he was importunately requested briefly to set down in writing some of them 〈◊〉 of y e last which he did But afterward seeing sundry persons who deuoyd of remorse and compassion being through auarice ambition degenerate froÌ„ all humanitie and who by their execrable deedes were grown into a reprobate sence not being satisfied with such fellonies mischiefs as they had committed in destroying such a part of y e world by all straÌ„ge kinds of cruelties were now again importunate vppon the King to the ende vnder his authoritie and consent they might once more returne to committe the like or worse if worse might be he determined to exhibite the saide Summarie which he had in writing and record vnto our Lorde the prince to the ende his highnesse might finde meanes that they shoulde be denied which he thought best to put in print to the ende his highnesse might with more ease reade the same This therefore was the cause of this present Summarie or briefe information The Prologue of the Bishop Frier Bartholomewe de las Casas or Casaus to the most high and mightie prince Our Lord Don Philip Prince of Spaine MOst high and mightie Lorde as god by his prouidente hath for the guiding and commoditie of mankinde in this world in Realmes and Prouinces appointed kings to bee as fathers and as Homer nameth them shepheardes and so consequently the most noble principall meÌ„bers of coÌ„mon weales so can we not iustly doubt by reason of the good willes that kings and princes haue to minister iustice but that if there be any thinges amisse either any violences or iniuries committed the only cause that they are not redressed is for y t princes haue no notice of the same For certainely if they knew of them they would imploy all diligence and indeuour in the remedie thereof Whereof it seemeth that mention is made in the holy Scripture in the Prouerbes of Salomon where it is said Rex qui sedet in solio Iudicii dissipat omne malum intuitu suo For it is sufficiently to be presupposed euen of the kindly and natural vertue of a king that the only notice that he taketh of any mischiefe tormenting his kingdome is sufficient to procure him if it bee possible to roote out the same as being a thing that hee cannot tollerate euen one only moment of time Considering therefore with my selfe most mightie Lord the great mischiefes dammages and losses the like wherof it is not to be thoght were euer coÌ„mitted by mankind of so large and great kingdoms or to speake more truely of this so large new world of the Indies which God and holy Churche haue coÌ„mitted coÌ„meÌ„ded vnto the K. of castile to the end they might gouern coÌ„uert procure their prosperitie as well temporally as spiritually I therefore I say being a man of experience and filtie yeeres of age or more considering these euils as hauing seene them committed at my being in those countreys Also that your highnes hauing information of some notable particularities might be mooued most earnestly to desire his Maiestie not to graunt or permit to those tyrantes such conquestes as they haue found out and which they do so name whereinto if they might be suffered they would returne seeing that of themselues being made against this Indian peaceable lowly milde nation which offendeth none they be wicked tyrannous and by all lawes either naturall humaine or diuine vtterly condemned detested and accursed I thought it best least my selfe might become also guiltie by concealing the losse of an infinite number both of soules bodies whiche are so coÌ„mitted to cause a few of their dealinges which of late I had selected froÌ„ amoÌ„g infinit others and that might truely bee reported to bee printed to the ende your highnes might with more ease peruse and reade them ouer Also whereas your highnes maister the Archbishop of Toleto when hee was bishop of Carthagena required them at my handes and then presented them to your highnes peraduenture by reason of such great voiages as your highnes tooke vpon you both by sea and by land for matters of estate wherein you haue bin busied it may be you haue not perused either haue forgotten them and in the meane time the rash and
the edge of the sword They made certayne Gibbets long and low in such sort that the feete of the hanged on touched in a maner the ground euery one enough for thirteene in the honour and worship of our Sauiour and his twelue Apostles as they vsed to speake and setting to fire burned them all quicke that were fastened Vnto all others whom they vsed to take and reserue aliue cutting off their two handes as neere as might bee and so letting them hang they sayd Get you with these letters to carry tydinges to those which are fled by the mountaines They murdered commonly the Lordes and nobilitie on this fashion They made certayne graâ—es of perches layed on pickforkes and made a litle fire vnderneath to the intent that by litle and litle yelling and despeiring in these tormentes they might giue vp the ghost One time I sawe foure or fiue of the principall Lordes roasted and broyled vppon these gradeirons Also I thinke that there were two or three of these gredirons garmshed with the lyke furniture and for that they cryed out pitioussy which thing troubled the Captayne that hee could not then sleepe hee commaunded to strangle them The Sergeant which was worse then the hangman that burned them I knowe his name and friendes in Seuill woulde not haue them strangled but him seâ—fe putting boulets in their mouthes to the ende y t they should not crie put to the fire vntil they were softly rosted after his desire I haue seene all the aforesayd things and others infinite And forasmuch as all the people which coulde flee hid themselues in the mountaynes and mounted on the toppes of them fled from the men so without all manhood emptie of all pitie behauing them as sauage beastes the slaughterers and deadly enemies of mankinde they taught their houndes fierce dogs to teare them in peeces at the first viewe and in the space that one might say a Credo assayled and deuoured an Indian as if it had been a swine These dogges wrought great destructions and slaughters And forasmuche as sometimes although seldom when the indians put to death some Spaniards vpon good right and lawe of due Iustice they made a Lawe betweene them that for one Spaniarde they had to stay an hundreth Indians The realmes which were in this Ile of Hispaniola THere were in this Ile Hispaniola fiue greate principall realmes and fiue very mightie Kinges vnto whome almost all the other Lordes obeyed whiche were without number There were also certaine Lordes of other seuerall Prouinces which did not acknowledge for soueraigne any of these Kinges One realme was named Magua which is as much to say as the kingdome of the playne This plaine is one of the most famous and most admirable thinges of all that is in the worlde For it contayneth fourescore leagues of grounde from the South sea vnto the North sea hauing in breadth fiue leagues and eight vnto tenne It hath in one side and other exceeding high mountaynes There entreth into it aboue thirtie thousande riuers and lakes of the which twelue are as great as Ebro and Duero and Guadalqueuir And all the riuers which issue out of a Mountayne which is towardes the West in number about fiue and twentie thousande are very rich of golde In the which mountayne or mountaynes is contayned the prouince of Cibao from whence the mines of Cibao take their names and from whence commeth the same exquisite golde and fiue of 24. karrets which is so renowined in these partes The King and Lorde of this realme was called Guarionex which had vnder him his Vassals and Lieges so great and mightie that euery one of them was able to set forth threescore thousande men of armes for the seruice of the king Guarionex Of the which Lordes I haue knowen some certayne This Guarionex was very obedient and vertuous naturally desirous of peace and well affectioned to the deuotion of the kings of Castile and his people gaue by his commaundement euery housekeeper a certayne kinde of Dromme full of golde but afterwardes being not able to fill the Dromme cutte it off by the middest and gaue the halfe thereof full For the Indians of that Ile had litle or none industrie or practise to gather or drawe golde out of the mines This Caceque presented vnto the king of Castile his seruice in causing to be manured all the landes from the Isavella where the Spanish first sited vnto the Towne of Saint Domingo which are fittie leagues large on condition that hee shoulde exact of them no golde for he sayd and hee sayde the trueth that his subiectes had not the skill to drawe it out As for the manuring which he sayde hee woulde procure to bee done I knowe that hee coulde haue done it very easely and with great readinesse and that it woulde haue been worth vnto the king euery yeere more then three Millions of Castillans besids that it would haue caused that at this houre there had bin aboue fiftie Cities greater then Seuille The payment that they made to this good king and Lord so gracious and so redowbted was to dishonour him in the person of his wife an euill Christian a Captayne rauishing her This king coulde haue attended the tune and opportunitie to auenge him selfe in leuying 〈…〉 drawe him selfe rather and onely 〈…〉 thus being banished from his realâ—e 〈…〉 of the Cignaios where there was a great Lorde his 〈◊〉 After that the Spaniardes were 〈◊〉 of his 〈◊〉 and â—ee coulde 〈…〉 himselfe 〈…〉 against the Lorde whiche had 〈…〉 and make great â—lâ—â—ghters through the counâ—â—â—y 〈◊〉 they goe 〈…〉 they found and tooke 〈…〉 a Shippe to carrie him to Câ—stile which shippe was lost uppon the sea and there were wiâ—h him drowned many Spaniardes and a great quantitie of Golde amongst the whiche also 〈◊〉 the great 〈◊〉 of Golde 〈…〉 weying three thousande 〈…〉 GOD to wreake 〈…〉 The other reaâ—â—tie was called of Marâ—â—â— where 〈◊〉 at this day the port at one of the â—oundes of the playâ—◠〈◊〉 the North and it is farre greater then the reaâ—â—e of Portugall 〈◊〉 of golde and copper 〈…〉 The king was called 〈◊〉 which had 〈…〉 many great Lordes of the which I have knowen and seene sundrie 〈…〉 first the 〈◊〉 admyrall when he â—â—coâ—ered the Iâ—dies whom at that time that he discouered the Ile the said 〈…〉 so graciously bountifully 〈◊〉 withall the Spaniardes who were with him in 〈◊〉 him 〈…〉 which the Admirall was carried in that he â—â—ulde not haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made off in his owne countrey of his owne father This did I â—nderstand of the Admyrals owne mouth This king died in 〈◊〉 the slaughters and cruelties of the Spaniards through 〈…〉 â—â—â—yng destroyed and â—epriâ—ed of his 〈◊〉 And in the 〈◊〉 Lordes his subiâ—ctes died in the tyrannie and 〈◊〉 that shall be declared hereafter The thirde Realme and dominion was Mâ—guâ—â—â— a countrey also admirable very healthsome and very fertile where the best 〈…〉 The 〈…〉 was named 〈…〉
practised vpon them during the tune that they trauayled of a trueth they can not bee recounted in a long season nor written in a great deale of paper and they shoulde bee euen to affright men withall It is to be noted that the destruction of these iles and lands beganne after the decease of the most gracious Queene daâ—e Isabell which was the yeere a thousande fiue hundreth and foure For before there were layed waste in this ile but certayne Prouinces by vniust warre and that not wholly altogether these for y e more part or in a maner al were coÌ„cealed froÌ„ the knowledge of y e Q. vnto whoÌ„ it may please god to giue his holy glory forasmuch as she had a great desire a zeale admirable y t those people might be saued prosper as we do know good examples the w c we haue seen w t our eies felt with our hands Further note here y t in what part of y e Indies y e Spanishe haue come they haue euermore exercised against y e IndiaÌ„s these innoceÌ„t peoples y e cruelties aforesaid oppressioÌ„s abominable inueÌ„ted day by day new tormeÌ„ts huger monstrouser becoÌ„ming euery day more cruel wherfore god also gaue theÌ„ ouer to fal headlong down with a more extreme downfal into a reprobate sense Of the two Iles S. Iohn and Iamayca THe Spanish passed ouer to y e Ile of S. Iohn to y t of Iamayca w c were like gardens for bees 1509. setting before-theÌ„ y e same end which they had in the Ile Hispaniola committing the robberies crimes aforesaid adioyning therunto many great notable cruelties killing burning rosting casting theÌ„ to y e dogs farthermore afterwards oppressing vexing them in their minerals other trauel vnto y e rotting out of those pore innoceÌ„ts w c were in these two Iles by supputatioÌ„ 6. C. M. soules yea I beleue y t they were more theÌ„ a milioÌ„ although there be not at this day in either Ile 200. persons and all perished without faith and without Sacramentes Of the Ile of Cuba IN the year 1511 they passed to y e Ile of Cuba which is as I haue said as long as there is distaÌ„ce froÌ„ Vallâ—dâ—lâ—â— to Rome where were great prouinces great multitudes of people they both begaÌ„ 〈…〉 in theÌ„ after y e 〈…〉 far more cruelly There came to passe in this IlaÌ„d matters worth y e noting A Câ—cique named Hathuey which had coâ—â—eyed himselfe froÌ„ y e Ile Hispaniola to Cuba w t many of his people to auoid the calamities 〈…〉 so vnnatural of y e spanish when 〈◊〉 certain Indians had told him 〈…〉 the Spaniards were coÌ„ming towards Cuba he 〈…〉 Nowe you know that the Spaniards 〈…〉 this 〈…〉 ye knowe also by experience how they 〈…〉 such the people of 〈◊〉 meaning 〈…〉 〈◊〉 they come to do y e like here Wot ye why they do it they answered no vnlesse 〈…〉 they are by nature void of humanitie He replied They do it not onely for y t but because they haue a god whom they honoâ— do demand very much to y t end to haue froÌ„ vs as wel as others to honor him w tall they do their vttermost to subdue vs. He had theÌ„ by him a litle chestful of gold Iewels said Behold here the God of the Spaniards let vs do to him if it so seeme you good Aâ—â—â—os which are windlesseâ— daunces thus doing we shall please him he wil command y e Spaniards y t they shal do vs no harme They answerd all with a loud voyce Wel said sir wel said Thus then they dauÌ„sed before it vntil they were wery theÌ„ quoth the L. Hathuey Take we heed howeuer y â— world go if we keep him to y e end y t he be takeÌ„ away froÌ„ vs in the end they wil kill vs wherfore let vs cast him into y e riuer whervnto they all agreed and so they cast it into a great riuer there This L. 〈◊〉 weÌ„t alwaies fleeing y e spanish incontinent as they were arriued at y e ile of Cuba as he w c knew theÌ„ but too wel defeÌ„ded himself wheÌ„ as he met theÌ„ In y e end he was takeÌ„ only for because that he fled froÌ„ a nation so vniust eâ—uel that he defended himself froÌ„ such as would kil him oppresse him euen vnto y e death w t all his folk he was burned aliue Now as he was fastned to the stake a religious maÌ„ of S. FraÌ„cis order a deuout persoÌ„ spoke to him somwhat of God of our faith which thinâ—â— this said L. had neuer heard of yet might be sufficieÌ„t for the time which y e hutchers gaue him that if he would beleue those things which were spokeÌ„ to him he should go to heauen where is glory rest euerlasting y t if he did not beleue he should go to hel there to be tormeÌ„ted perpetually The L. after hauing a litle paused to think of y e matter demanded of the religious man whether y t the spaniards went to heauen who answered yea such of them that were good The Cacik answered againe immediatly w tout any further deliberation that he would not go to heauen but that hee would go to hell to the ende not to come in the place where such people should be and to the end not so see a nation so cruell Lâ—â— here the praises and honour which God and our faith haue receiued of the Spaniardes which haue gone to the Iudes One tyme the Indians came to meete vs and to receiue vs with victualles and delicate cheere and with all entertaynmene ten leagues of a great city and beeing come at the place they presented vs with a great quantitie of 〈◊〉 and of bread and other meate together with all that they coulde doe for vs to the vttermost See incontinent the diuell whiche put him selfe into the Spaniardes to put them all to the edge of the sworde in my presence without any cause whatsoeuer more then three thousande soules which were set before vs men women and children I saw there so great cruelties that neuer my man liuing eyther haue or shall see the like Another tyme but a fewe dayes after the premisses I sente messengers vnto all the Lordes of the prouince of Hauana assuring them that they shoulde not neede to see are for they had hearde of my credite and that without withdrawing themselues they shoulde come to receiue vs and that there shoulde bee done vnto them no displeasure for all the countrey was afraide by reason of the mischiefes and murderings passed and this did I by the aduice of the Captayne him selfe After that wee were come into the Prouince one and twentie Lordes and Cacikes came to receiue vs whome the Captayne apprehended incontinent breaking the safe conduite whiche I had made them and intended the day next following to burne them aliue saying that it was expedient so to
vnto his charge altogether vntruly that by his commaundement the people assembled The king answered that in all the countrey there mooued not a leafe of a tree without his good will that if there assembled any people they were to beleeue that it was by his commaundement and as touching himselfe that hee was prisoner and they might slay him All this not withstanding they condemned him to bee brent aliue but at the request of some certayne the Captayne caused him to bee strangled and beeing strangled hee was burned This king vnderstanding his sentence sayde Wherefore will you burne mee What trespasse haue I done yee Did not you promise mee to set mee at libertie if I gaue you the golde and haue I not performed more then I promised Seeinges you will needes haue it so sende mee to your king of Spayne speaking other thinges to the great confusion and detestation of the great wrongfulnesse that the Spaniardes vsed whom in the ende they burned Here let be considered the right and title of this warfare the imprisonment of this prince the sentence and the execution of his death and the conscience whereby they possesse great treasures as in deed they haue robbed in those realmes from this king and other seuerall lordes infinite As touching the innumerable cruelties and notable for y e mischiefes and enormities withall committed in the rooting out of those peoples by them who call them selues Christians I will here rehearse some certayne the which a fryer of S. Frauncis order sawe at the beginning and the same certified vnder his name and signe sending them into all those quarters and amongst others into this realme of Castile whereof I retayne a copie in my keeping in the which it is thus written I Frier Marke of the order of Saint Frauncis commissarie ouer the other friers of the same order in the prouinces of Peru and who was one of the first religious men w t entred into the saide prouinces with the Spaniardes doe say bearing true testimonie of certayne things the which I haue seene with mine eyes in that countrey namely concerning the entreating and conquestes made ouer the naturall inhabitaunts of the countrey first of all I am an eyed witnesse and haue certayn knoweledge that those Indians of Peru are a people the most kinde hearted that hath been seen among all the Indians beeing curteous in conuersation and friendly vnto the Spaniardes And I sawe them giue to the Spanishe in abundaunce golde siluer and precious stones and all that was asked them and that they had doing them all kinde of seruice lawfull And the Indians neuer yee ded foorth to warre but kept them in peace so long time as they gaue them not occasion by their euill entreating of them and their cruelties but contrariwise receiued them with all amitie and honour in their boroughes in giuing them to eate and as many slaues mankinde and women kind as they demaunded for their seruice Item I am witnesse that without that the Indians gaue occasion the Spanish as soone as they were entred the lande after that the greate Cacike Atabaliba had giuen to the Spanish more then two millions of gold and had put into their power the whole countrie without resistance incontinent they burned the said Atabaliba which was Lord of the whole countrie And after him they brent his captayne generall Cochilimaca who had come to the gouernour in peace with other Lords In the like maner also a fewe dayes after they burned a great Lorde named Chamba of the prouince of Quito without any fault at all and without hauing giuen the least occasion that might bee In like maner they burned vniustly Schappera Lorde of the Canaries Also they brent the feete of Aluis a great Lorde amongst all those which were in Quito and caused him to endure sundrie other torments to make him tell where was the gold of Atabaliba of the whiche treasure as it appeared hee knewe nothing Also they brent in Quito Cosopanga who was gouernour of all the prouinces of Quito which vpon the request to him first made by Sebastian of Bernalcasar Captayne vnder the gouernour was come to them in peace and onely because hee gaue them not golde so much as hee demaunded of him their burned him with very many other Caciks and principall Lorde And for ought that I can vnderstand the intente of the Spaniards was that there shoulde not bee lefte aliue one Lorde in the whole countrey Item I certifie that the Spaniardes caused to assemble a great number of the Indians and socked them vp in three great housen as many as coulde be pored in and setting to fire they burned them all without that they had done the least thing that might bee or had giuen to the Spanishe the least occasion thereof whatsoeuer And it came to passe that a priest who is named Ocanna drewe a young boy out of the fire in the which hee burned which perceiuing an other Spaniarde tooke from out of his handes the boy and flunge him into the middest of the flames where he was resolued into ashes together with others The which Spaniarde returning the same day to the campe fell downe dead suddenly and mine aduice was hee should not bee buried Item I affirme to haue seene with myne owne eyes that the Spanishe haue cutte the handes the noses and the eares of the Indians and of their women without any other cause or purpose saue onely that so it came into their fantasie and that in so many places and quarters that it shoulde bee too tedious to rehearse And I haue seene that the Spanishe haue made their Mastiues runne vpon the Indians to rent them in pieces And moreouer I haue seene by them brent so many houses and whole borughes or towneshippes that I am not able to tell the number Also it is true that they violently plucked the little infants from the mothers dugges and taking them by the armes did throwe them from them as farre as they coulde Together with other enormities and cruelties without any cause whiche gaue me astonishment to behold them and woulde be to long to rehearse them Item I sawe when as they sent for the Cacikes and other principall Indians to come see them in peace and assuraunce to them made promising them safe conduct and incontinent as they were arriued they burned them They burned two whiles I was present the one in Andon and the other in Tumbala and I coulde neuer preuaile with them to haue them deliuered from burning preached I vnto them neuer so muche And in God and my conscience for ought that euer I coulde perceiue the Indians of Peru neuer lift themselues vp nor neuer rebelled for any other cause but for the euill entreating of the other side as is manifest vnto euery one and for iust cause the Spaniardes destroying them tyrannously against all reason and iustice with al their countrey working vpon them so many outrages that they were determined to die rather then
THE Spanish Colonie OR Briefe Chronicle of the Acts and gestes of the Spaniardes in the West Indies called the newe World for the space of xl yeeres written in the Castilian tongue by the reuerend Bishop Bartholomew de las Casas or Casaus a Friar of the order of S. Dominicke And nowe first translated into english by M. M. S. ¶ Imprinted at London for William Brome 1583. To the Reader Spanish cruelties and tyrannies perpetrated in the West Indies commonly termed The newe found worlde Briefly described in the Castilian language by the Bishop Tryer Bartholomew de las Casas or Casaus a Spaniarde of the order of Saint Dominick faithfully translated by Iames Aliggrodo to serue as a President and warning to the xij Prouinces of the lowe Countries Happie is hee whome other mens harmes doe make to beware GOds iudgementes are so profound as mans wisdome no not the power of Angels is able to enter into their depth Thou shalt frendly Reader in this discourse beholde so many millions of meÌ„ put to death as hardly there haue been so many spaniardes procreated into this worlde since their firste fathers the Gothes inhabited their Countries either since their second progenitors the Sarazens expelled and murdered the most part of the Gothes as it seemeth that the Spaniardes haue murdered and put to death in the Westerne Indies by all such meanes as barbarousnesse it selfe coulde imagine or forge vpon the anueld of crueltie They haue destroyed thrise so much lande as christendome doth comprehende such torments haue they inuented yea so great and excessiue haue their trecherie been that the posteritie shall hardly thinke that euer so barbarous or cruell a nation haue bin in the worlde if as you woulde say we had not with our eyes seene it and with our hands felt it I confesse that I neuer loued that nation generally by reason of their intollerable pride notwithstanding I can not but coÌ„mend loue sundry excellent persons that are among theÌ„ Howbeit God is my witnes hatred procureth me not to write those things as also the authour of the booke is by nation a Spaniard and besides writeth farre more bitterly then my selfe But two reasons haue moued me to publishe this preface which I do dedicate to all the prouinces of the Lowe countreys The one to the end awaking theÌ„selus out of their sleep may begin to thinke vpon Gods iudgements and refraine from their wickednes and vice The other that they may also consider with what enemie they are to deale and so to beholde as it were in a picture or table what stay they are like to bee at when through their rechlesnesse quarrels controuersies and partialities themselues haue opened the way to such an enemie and what they may looke for Most meÌ„ do ground their opinion vpon the goodnesse of their cause concluding that in as much as God is iust he will graunt victorie to the right and will ouerthrowe the wicked This was Iobes friendes disputation where they concluded that for that Iob was afflicted vndoubtedly he was wicked Which reason is drawen out of a certaine rule which it seemeth that nature hath printed in our hartes that is that God punisheth the euill and in mercie rewardeth the good deedes There vpon did the inhabitants of Malta report that Gods vengeance would not permit S. Paul to liue when after he had escaped so dangerous shipwracke the Viper leaped vpon his hande Howebeit notwithstanding this rule be certaine and true yet do manie therein diuersely deceiue them selues concluding thereby that GOD sendeth no affliction but to the wicked as if hee laide not his crosse also vpon the good As Iob the Prophetes and Martyres yea his owne sonne Iesus Christ and that for the mortifiyng of the fleshe and more and more to quicken man in good liuing and for his sonne to the ende in him to punish our sinne which hee tooke vpon him Others doe beleeue that God wil neuer suffer sinne to bee long vnpunished notwithstaÌ„ding y t hauing long waited patieÌ„tly for our repentaÌ„ce his clemencie is at length conuerted into iustice Some againe that it is vnpossible for the wicked to gette the vpper hande in an euill cause notwithstanding wee dayly see it fall out contrary vndoubtedly the Turkes victories conquestes in Christendome haue no foundation but consist vpon meere tyrannie and vsurpation For although Christians sinnes especially the great abuse in Gods seruice haue bin the causes of our punishment yet must we confesse that the christians what errors soeuer some of them do in their doctrine maintain are not neuertheles so farre deuoid of the truth as are the Turkes and yet do we see howe mightily in few yeres they haue coÌ„quered encroched vpoÌ„ christendom Also before the comming of the Turkes namely soone after the time of Mahamet there came such a flock of Sarazins that they deuoured first Egypt then all Affrick rooting out Christianitie out of the said countries seazed vpon al Spaine yea proceeding forward they camped in Aquitain vpon the riuer of Toyre insomuch that it was to be doubted y t they might soone haue caught hold vpon France so vpon the rest of christeÌ„dom had not God raised vp that mightie Duke of Brubant Charles Martel who defeating them driue them beyond the Pirenean mountaines But if we list to consider the examples contained in the holy Bible whose reasons are more exactly expounded by the prophets we do find that in the time of K. Hezechias although the head citie namely Hierusalem was not forced yet the lesser townes being taken by the enemie the flatte countrey spoyled the K. and the princes of Iuda had no more left them but the bare walles of Hierusalem Also albeit God did marueilously strike the armie of Senacherib and that his own children flew him in his gods temples yet were not gods people free from suffering much and from seeing the enemie enioy the most part of their law their coÌ„mons did beare that which nowe we know more then we would that is what an enemy entring by force of armes into a land is able to do But Nabuchadnezers victories were far others wheÌ„ he tooke burned sacked eueÌ„ the head citie together with y e very temple of HierusaleÌ„ took their K. P. hie P. prisoners â—lu pulled out y e eies fettered some of theÌ„ forcing the coÌ„mons during the siege to eate their own dong Who is hee therefore that dare accuse God of wrong sith such tyrants be called the Axe in the Lordes hands as the executioners of his iustice Further wee see that those that haue the most right are by the wicked robbed slaine murdered which is neuerthelesse Gods doing For it is said Cursed be he that doth the Lordes worke negligently in which place the holy scriptures do speake of such ministers and instruments of God In this discourse of Don Bartholomew de las Casas wee do finde a manifest example For I pray you
what right had the Spaniards ouer the Indians sauing that the Pope had giuen them the said land and I leaue to your iudgemente what right hee had therein for it is doubtfull whether his power doe stretch to the distributing of worldly kingdomes But admit hee had that authority was there therefore any reason that hee should for crying in the night There is a God a Pope a King of Castile who is Lord of these Countries murder 12. 15. or 20. millions of poore reasonable creatures created as our selues after the image of the liuing God Heere doe I as in the beginning I said see a bottomlesse depth of Gods iudgements For it is a small matter to say that the wicked doe molest better men then themselues for the causes aforesaide but to see a whole nation yea infinite nations perish so miserablie and as it semeth without any cause is it that maketh most men to wander yea euen astonisheth such as do examine these effects by the rule of their owne reasons Howebeit we haue two examples in the Bible though not altogether like yet very neere It is saide in the ouerthrowe of Sehon In those dayes wee tooke all his townes and destroyed men women and childen in the same neither left we any thing remaining The like sentence is there also of Og king of Basan yea Moses sone after alloweth all that was done commaundeth Iosua to doe as much to all the other kinges in his iourney as was done to those two If wee seeke the cause of such executions man will bee as it were at his wits ende and stande mute Againe if men should consider the example of king Saule whom God reiected because he did not wholy discomfit Amelec but saued their king and reserued the fattest of their cattell for the sacrifices their vnderstanding woulde giue sentence cleane contrarie to gods What will they say was it not a comeÌ„ndable yea a noble minde for a king to spare his brother either for an Israelite to spare the cattell to the ende to sacrifice them to the God of Israel yet was Gods sentence pronounced by Samuel cleane repugnant thereto God loueth obedience better then sacrifice And not long before God had commaunded both namely that the Cananites and Amalekites shoulde bee rooted out and therefore hee was to bee obeyed and for their disobedience the Cananites remained thornes in the eyes of Israel and the king of Amalec whome Samuel neuerthelesse hewed in peeces was the subuersion of Saule and his royall familie But here may expresse reasons be alleadged for such iudgements of God which seeming seuere to man are neuerthelesse in that they proceeded from God meere iustice Moses saith when the Lord thy God hath reiected them before thy face think not in thine hearte saying The Lorde for my righteousnesse hath caused mee to enter possession of this lande seeing hee hath for their wickednesse rooted out these nations before thy face For thou art not through thy righteousnes and vprightnesse of heart come to inherite their land but it is for the abhominatioÌ„s of these people whom the Lord thy god hath expelled before thy face True it is that as in a cleeare sunnie light we may more easily discerne all that is obiect to our sight euen so of things conteined in the holy Scriptures commonly the causes are to bee founde but for other matters as the destruction of diuers nations among the Heathen and finally for this so cruell and horrible example conteined in this booke there can bee alleadged no particuler reason other then that gods iudgemeÌ„ts are bottoÌ„lesse pits also that sith he hath done it it is iustly done And yet are not the Spaniardes beeing the executors of this vengeance more excusable then Pilate for condeÌ„ning our sauiour or Annas or Caiphas for procuring his death notwithstanding gods counsaile and hand wrought those things For behold gods sentence pronounced against the wicked whom he vseth in chastening the good whom by those meanes he doth trie and punisheth the wicked according to their desarts Oh Asshur the rod of my wrath and the staffe in their hands is my indignation I will sende him to a dissembling nation I wil giue him a charge against the people of my wrath to take the spoyle and to take the pray to treade them vnder foote like the mire in the streete But he thinketh not so neither doth his heart esteeme it so but he imagineth to destroy and to cut off not a few nations For he saith Are not my princes altogether kings Is not Calno as Charchemish Is not Hamath like Arpad Is not Samaria as Damascus Like as my hande hath found the kingdomes of Idols seeing their idols were aboue Ierusalem aboue Samaria Shall not I as I haue done to Samaria and to the Idols thereof so do to HierusaleÌ„ to the idols thereof But when the Lord hath accoÌ„plished al his worke vpoÌ„ mount SioÌ„ IerusaleÌ„ I wil visit the frute of the proude hart of the K. of Ashur his glorious proud lookes because he said by the power of my own hand haue I done it by my wisdom because I am wise Therfore I haue remoued the borders of the people haue spoiled their treasures and haue pulled downe the inbabitants like a valiant man And my hand hath found as a nest c. So that although the wicked for a time doe triumph yet doth not God leaue their abhominable cruelties vnpunished But Gods iudgements being in the mean time such that by the wicked he punisheth those that be wicked notwithstanding their wickednes be somewhat lesse as also the good bee chastised by the cruell and bloodthirstie it is certaine that wee are not thereby to iudge that our selues shall haue the victorie ouer our enemies because our cause is the better for we are replenished with vice enough whereby to leaue vnto god sufficient matter to punishe vs. And therefore as I saide two thinges mee thought and yet mee seemeth in these Countries worthie admiration One is that wee trusting that the defence of our libertie is vnto vs a iuste occasion doe not in the meane time consider that wee commit no lesse faults then those which Ezech cast in the Sodomites teeth Beholde the iniquitie of thy sister Sodom was pride fulnesse of bread and the ease of Idlenes these were in her in her daughters and 〈…〉 as if we had made attonement with death we fear not gods iudgemeÌ„ts If we looke vpon the 〈…〉 may see a great abuse in gods seruice but so far are we from indeuoring to correct it that contrariwise some would that the remembrance of God at the least for this time might be buried in obliuion therein resembling on or the children which would that during their infancie there might grow no twiggeâ— in the woodâ— Others 〈…〉 reformed being neuer the lesse reformed but in mouâ—◠〈◊〉 For the wine and the harpe as the prophet saith are as common in their bankets
instant those that seemed thē good those whō they took prisonners they caused thē cruelly to die vpō y e rack to make thē to tell in what places there were any more golde thē they found w t them and others which remayned aliue they made them slaues marking them with a hot iron so after the fire being out quenched they go seeke the golde in their houses This is then the deportement in these affayres of this mischieuous person with all the bond of his vngodly Christians which hee trayned from the fourteenth yeere vnto the one and twentie or two and twentieth yeere sending in these exploytes sixe or moe of his seruants or souldiers by whom he receiued as many shares ouer and beesides his Captaynes Generalles part which he leuied of all the golde of all the pearles and of all the iewels which they tooke of those whom they made their slaues The selfsame did y e kings officers euery one sending forth as many seruants as he coulde The Byshoppe also which was the chiefe in the Realme hee sent his seruauntes to haue his share in the bootie They spoyled more golde within the tyme and in this realme as farre foorth as I am able to recken then woulde amount to a million of Ducates yea I beleeue that I make my reckoning with the least Yet will it bee founde that of all this great thieuing they neuer sent to the king ought saue three thousande Castillans hauing there about killed and destroyed aboue eyght hundred thousande soules The other tyraunt gouernours which succeeded after vnto the yeere thirtie and three slue or at least wise consented for all those which remayned to slay them in that tyrannicall slauerie Amongst an infinite sorte of mischiefes which this gouernoure did or consented vnto the doing during the time of his gouernment this was one To witte that a Cacike or Lorde giuing him eyther of his good will or whiche is rather to bee thought for feare the weight of niene thousande Ducates the Spaniardes not content withall tooke the saide Lorde and tyed him to a stake setting him on the earth his feete stretched vp against the which they set fire to cause him to giue thē some more golde The Lorde sent to his house whence there were brought yet moreouer three thousand Castillans They goe a freshe to giue him newe tormentes And when the Lorde gaue them no more eyther because he had it not or because hee woulde giue them no more they bent his feete agaynst the fyre vntill that the very marrowe sprang out and trylled downe the sowles of his feete so as hee therewith died They haue oftentimes exercised these kinde of tormentes towardes the Lordes to make them giue them golde wherewith they haue also slayne them An other tyme a certayne companie of Spaniardes vsing their theftes and robberies came to a mountayne where were assembled and hid a number of people hauing shunned those men so pernicious and horrible whom incontinent entring vpon they tooke a three or fourescore as well women as mayds hauing killed as many as they could kill The morrowe after there assembled a great companie of Indians to pursue the Spaniardes warring against them for the great desire they had to recouer their wiues and daughters The Spaniards perceiuing the Indians to approche so neere vpon them would not so forgo their pray but stabd their swords thorowe the bellies of the wiues and wenches leauing but one alone aliue of all the fourescore The Indians felt their hearts to burst for sorrowe and griefe which they suffered yelling out in cries and speaking suche woordes O wicked men O yee the cruell Spaniardes doe yee kill Las Iras They terme Iras in that countrey the women as if they woulde say To kyll women those be actes of abhominable men and cruell as beastes There was a tenne or fifteene leagues from Ioanama a great Lorde named Paris which was very riche of golde The Spaniardes went thither whome this Lorde receiued as if they had been his own brethen and made a present vnto the Captaine of fiftie thousand Castillans of his own voluntarie accord It semed vnto the Captaine and the other Spaniardes that he which gaue such a great summe of his owne will shoulde haue a great treasure which shoulde be the ende and easing of their traueyles They make wise and pretende in wordes to depart but they returne at the fourth watch of the morning setting vpon the towne which mistrusted nothing set it on fire whereby was burnt and slayne a great number of people by this meanes they brought away in the spoyle fiftie or threescore thousand Castillans moe The Cacik or Lorde escaped without being slayne or taken and leuied incontinent as many of his as he coulde And at the ende of three or foure dayes ouertaketh the Spaniardes whiche had taken from him an hundreth and thirtie or fourtie thousande Castillans and set vppon them valiantly killing fiftie Spaniardes and recouering all the golde whiche they had taken from him The others saued them selues by running away beyng well charged with blowes and wounded Not long after diuers of the Spanishe returne against the saide Cacik and discomfite him with an infinite number of his people Those which were not slayne they put them to the ordiuarie bondage in such sort as that there is not at this day neyther track nor token that there hath bin liuing there eyther people or so much as one man alone borne of woman within thirtie leagues of the lande which was before notably peopled and gouerned by diuers Lordes There is no reconing able to be made of the murders which this caitiffe with his companie committed in these realmes which he so dispeopled Of the prouince of Nicaragua THe yeere a thousande fiue hundred twentie and two or twentie three this tyraunt went farder into the lande to bring vnder his yoke the most fertile prouince of Nicaragua so in thither hee entred in an euill houre There is no man which is able worthely and sufficiently to speake of the fertiltie healthsomenesse prosperitie and frequencie of those nations that there were It was a thing wonderfull to beholde howe well it was peopled hauing townes of three or foure leagues in length full of maruilous fruites which fruites were also the cause of the frequencie of the people These people for as muche as the countrey was flatte and leuell hauing no hilles where any might hide them and for that it was so pleasant and delectable that the natiue inhabitauntes coulde not abandon it but with great heart griefe and difficultie for which cause they the rather endured and suffered grieuons persecutions supporting as muche as they coulde the tyrannies and seruitudes inflicted by the Spanishe Also for that by their nature they were verye softe natured and peaceable people these I say this tyraunt with his mates made to endure that which hee had vsed also to doe to destroy likewise other realmes so many dammages so many murders
remayning of the butcheries and tyranuous murders which the Spanish had bin perpetrating seuen continuall yeres And I beleeue that these same were those religious persons the which in the yeere 34. certaine Indians of the Prouince of Mexico sending before them messengers in their behalf requested them that they woulde come into their countrie to giue thē knowledge of that one onely God who is God and very Lorde of all the worlde and for whose occasion the Indians helde a councel sundrie times parlementing and informing themselues in their folke motes to wit what kinde of men those might be which were called by the speciall name of fathers and brethren and what it was that they pretended and wherein they differed from the Spaniardes of whom they had receiued so many outrages and iniuries according in the ende to admit them with condition that they should enter themselues alone and not the Spaniardes with them that which the religious promised thē For it was permitted them yea commaunded them so to doe by the Viceroy of new Spaine and that there shoulde no kinde of displeasure bee done vnto them by the Spaniardes The Religious men preached vnto them the Gospell of Christe as they are accustomed to doe and as had been the holy intention of the kinges of Castile that shoulde haue been done Howbeit that the Spaniardes in all the seuen yeres space past had neuer giuen thē any such notice of the truth of the Gospel or so much as that there was any other king sauing himselfe y t so tyrannised ouer them and destroyed them By these meanes of the religious after the ende of fortie dayes that they had preached vnto them the Lordes of the countrie brought vnto them and put into their handes their idols to the end that they shoult burne them After also they brought vnto them their young children that they should catechise them whom they loue as the apple of their eye They made for them also Churches and Temples and houses Moreouer some other prouinces sent and inuited them to the ende that they might come to them also to preache and giue them the vnderstanding of God and of him whom they saide to be the great king of Castile And beeing perswaded and induced by the religious they did a thing which neuer yet before hath been done in the Indies For whatsoeuer the tyrants some of those which haue spoyled those Realmes great Countries haue contriued to blemishe and defame the poore Indians withall they are mockeries and leasings twelue or fifteene Lordes which had very many subiecets and great dominion assembling euery one for his owne part his people and taking their aduise and consent of their owne voluntarie motion yeelded themselues to the subiection and to bee vnder the domination of the kinges of Castile admitting the Emperour as king of Spain for their liege Soueraigne Wherof also they made certaine instrumentes by them consigned which I keepe in my charge together with the testimonies thereunto of the said religious The Indians being thus onwarde in the way of the faith with the great ioy and good hope of the Religious brethren that they shoulde bee able to winne vnto Iesus Christe all the people of the Realme that were the residue beeing but a smal number of the slaughters and wicked warres passed There entred at a certaine coaste eighteene Spaniarde tyrantes on horse backe and twelue on foote driuing with them great loades of Idols which they had taken in the other Prouinces of the Indians The Captaine of those thirtie Spaniards called vnto him a Lorde of the countrie there aboutes as they were entred and commaundeth him to take those idols and to disperse them throughout al his countrie selling euery idol for an Indian mā or an Indian woman to make slaues of them with threatening them that if hee did not doe it hee woulde bidde them battaile That saide Lorde beeing forced by feare distributed those Idols throughout all the countrie and commaunded all his subiectes that they should take them to adore them and that they shoulde returne in exchaunge of that ware Indies and Indisses to make slaues of The Indians beeing affeard those which had two children gaue him one and he that had three gaue him two This was the ende of this sacrilegious trafficke and thus was this Lord or Cacick faine to content these Spaniards I say not Christians One of these abhominable chafferers named Iohn Garcia beeing sicke and neere his death had vnder his bed two packs of Idols and commaunded his Indish maide that serued him to looke to it that she made not away his idols that there were for Murlimeus for they were good stuffe and that making bent of them she should not take lesse then a slaue for a peece one of them with another and in fine with this his Testament and last will thus deuised the caytife dyed busied with this deep goodly care and who doubteth but that he is lodged in the bottome of hell Let it nowe bee considered and well weyed what kinde of aduancement of religion it is and what are the good examples of Christianitie of the behalfe of the Spanishe that sayle to the Indies What honour they doe vnto God how they paine themselues to haue him knowen and adored of those nations what carke and care the haue of the doing of it that by their meanes the rather the sacred faith shoulde bee dispersed encreased and enlarged in the free passage thereof amongest those silly creatures And let it with all bee discerned if the sinne of these men be any whit lesse then the same of Ieroboam Which made Israel to sinne by making two golden Calues for the people to fall downe before and worshippe or otherwise if it bee not like to the treason of Iudas and which hath caused more offence These bee the iestes of the Spaniardes whiche goe to the Indies whiche of a truth very many times yea an infinit sort of times for couetyse and to scratche golde haue solde and do sell haue reneaged and do reneage as yet hitherto and at this present day Christ Iesus The Indians perceiuing that that which the religious had promised them was as good as nothing namely that the Spaniardes shoulde not enter those Prouinces and seeing the Spaniards whiche had laded thither idols from other places there to make vent of them they hauing put al their idols afore into the handes of the Fryars to the ende they shoulde bee burned and to the ende the true God shoulde bee by them adored all the Countrie was in a mutinie and a rage against the religious Fryars and the Indians comming vnto them say Why haue you lyed vnto vs in promising vs by deceites that there should not enter any Spaniardes into these Countries And why haue you burnt our gods seeing the Spaniards doe bring vs other gods from other nations Were not our gods as good as the gods of other prouinces The fryars pacified them in the best maner
audit vnto the gouernour But in deede he went to Quito taking by the way very many Indians men and women which all dyed by the way or at the place at Quito Ouer and besides that he altered the coyne royall of the mynt which he had made Here is to be remembred a word which this man spake of himselfe as one not ignorant of so many euils and mischieues which he wrought Fiftie yeres hence those the which shall passe by this way and heere speake of these things shall say This way went a Tyrant Your highnes may know and be well assured that these entries and assaults made vnto these realmes and this maner of visiting the Indians which liued in securitie in their regions and the vngraciousnesse which he did in those same haue been practised and executed by the Spaniards which haue alwayes followed the same traine and maner of doing from the time that they first began to discouer vnto this present day throughout all the Iâ—deâ— To the Reader AMong diuers the remedies by Fryar de lat Casas Bishop of the royal towne called Chiapa propounded in the assembly of sundrie prelates named Parsons by his maiesties coÌ„mandement gathered together in the towne of Valladolid the yeere of our Lord 1542 for order and reformation to bee obserued in the Indies the eight in order was this insuing which consisteth vpon twentie reasons motions whereupoÌ„ he did coÌ„clude That the Indies ought not to be giuen to the Spaniardes in Commendam fee farme or vasselage neither vnder any other title whatsoeuer if his maiestie will according to his desire ease them of such tyrannies and losses as they doe susteine deliuering them as it were out of the Dragons throate least they doe wholy consume and slay theÌ„ so all that world remaine desart voide of the naturall me habitants wherewith we haue seene it replenished THe eight remedie is among all other principall and most in force as without which all the rest are to no purpose for that they all haue relation therunto as euery motion to his proper end in whatsoeuer toucheth or is of any importaunce vnto your Maiestie which no man can expresse in as much as therupon dependeth at the least the whole losse or preseruation of the Indies And the remedie that I speake of is this that your Maiestie do determin decree coÌ„â—â—d soleÌ„nely in your soueraigne courts ordein by pragmaticall saÌ„ctions royal statuts y t all the Indies as well alreadie subdued as heereaâ—â—â—â— to bee subdued may bee inserted reduced and incorporate into the royal crowne of Castile Leon to be holden in chief of your maiestie as free subiects vassals as they are Likewise that they bee not giuen in commendaÌ„ vnto the Spaniards but that it stand as an inuiolable constitution determination and royall lawe that they neuer neither at this time neither hereafter in time to come may bee alienated or taken from the saide royall crown neither that they bee giuen commanded demised in see farme by depost commandement or alienatioÌ„ either vnder any other title or maner what soeuer and bee dismembred from the royall crowne for any whatsoeuer the seruice or desart of any either vpon any necessitie that may happen or for any cause or colour whatsoeuer that may be pretended For the inuiolable obseruation or establishement of which law your maiestie shall formally sweare by your faith and on your worde and royall crowne and by all other sacred thinges whereby Christian Princes doe vsually sweare that at no time neither your selfe neither your successours in these 10. Dominions or in the Indies so faire as in you shall he shal reuoke the same and you shall further set downe in expresse wordes in your royall will and testament that this decree be euer kept mainteined and vpholden also that so farre as in your self or in them shal lie they shall coÌ„firme and continue the same And for porofe of the necessitie hereof there bee twentie reasons to be alleadged out of which twentie we haue drawen and put in writing so many as may seeme to serue to our purpose Extract out of the second reason THe Spaniardes through their great auarice and couetousnes to get doe not permit any religious persons to enter into their townes and holdes which they possesse alleadging that they receiue double losse by them One and the principall is that religious persons do keepe the Indâ—es occupied when they gather them togethar to their Sermons so as in the meane time their worke is omitted while the Indians being 〈◊〉 laboureâ— yea it hath so fallen out that the Indians being in the Church at the Sermon the Spaniarde comming in in the face of all the people hath taken fiftie or a hundred or so many as he hath needed to carry his baggage and stuffe and such as would not goe he hath lâ—den with stripes spurning them foorth with his feete thereby to the great griefe both of the Indians and of the 〈…〉 persons â—â—oubling molesting all that were present so defeating theÌ„ al of the benefit of their saluatioÌ„ Their other hinderance that they say they doe susteine is that after the Indians are taught become Christians they take vppon them as masters pretending more knowledge then they haue therefore will not be so seruiceable as afore The Spaniards require no more of the Indians but authority to commaund them and that they worship them as Gods The Spaniards openly and of set purpose do hinder the course of the gospel and keepe the Indians from Christendome Sometime it falleth so out that a towne or borow is giuen betweene three or foure Spaniardes to one more to another lesse so as sometime one hath for his portion the husband another the wise and the third the childreÌ„ as they were swine Thus doe they possesse the Indians One appointeth them to labour a peece of lande another sendeth them to the mines loaden like beastes another hyreth them by two and two as they were moyles to carry burdens thirtie fortie fiftie a hundred or two hundred miles out right And this haue we seen to be a daily vse heereof commeth it that the Indians cannot heare Gods word or bee instructed in Christian faith they make them of free meÌ„ very strange bondslaues They haue subuerted and dispersed great townes and a whole worlde of people so as they haue not left any houses standing together no not so much as the children with the fathers The Spaniards make no more account neither haue any more regard of conuerting the Indians then if al those reasonable soules should perishe with the bodies and were not hereafter to receiue immortall life glory or paine no more then beastes Out of the thirde reason THe Spaniards are charged to instruct the Indians in our holy catholike saith whereupon on a time when we examined Iohn Colmenere of S. Mâ—râ—he a fantastical ignorant and foolish man who had gotten a great towne in commendam and had a
labour and cares and often times with the loffe and destruction of diuers Which when the Bishoppe of Chiapa vnderstoode hee determined also to write an apologie in the vulgar tongue against the saide doctors summarie in defence of the Indies there in impugning and vndermining his soundations and answering all reasons or whatsoeuer the doctor coulde alleadge for him selfe therin displaying setting before the peoples face the dangers inconueniences and harmes in the sayde doctine contayned Thus as many thinges passed on both sides his Maiestie iâ— the yeere 1550. called to Valadolid an assemblie of learned men as well Diuines as Lawyers who being ioyned with the Royall counsaile of the Indies shoulde argue and among them conclude whether it were lawfull without breach of Lustice to leuie warres commonly tearmed conquestes against the inhabitantes of those conneries without any newe offence by them committed their infidelitie excepted Doctor Sepulued a was summoned to come and say what hee coulde and being entred the counsayle chamber did at the first session vtter his whole minde Then was the sayde Bishoppe likewise called who for the space of fiue dayes continually did reade his Apologie but being somewhat long the Diuines and Lawyers there assembled besought the learned and reuerende father Dominicke Soto his Maiesties confessour and a dominican Fryer who was there present to reduce it into a summarie and to make so many copies as there were Lordes that is fourteene to the ende they all hauing studied vpon the matter might afterwarde in the feare of God say their mindes The sayde reuerend father and Master Soto set downe in the saide summarie the doctors reasons with the Bishops answeres to the same Then had the doctour at his request a copie deliuered him to aunswere out of whiche Summarie he gathered twelue against him selfe whereto hee made twelue answeres against which answeres the Bishoppe framed twelue replies Doctor Sepulueda his prologue to the Lordes of the assemblie MOst worthie and noble Lordes sith your Lordshippes and graces haue as iudges for the space of fiue or sixe dayes heard the Lorde Bishop of Chiapa read that booke whereinto he hath many yeeres laboured to gather all the reasons that either himself or others could inueÌ„t to proue the coÌ„quest of the Indies to be vniust as seeking first to subdue barbarous nations before we preach the Gospell vnto them which haue been the vsuall course correspondent to the graunt made by Pope Alexander the sixt which all kinges and nations haue hetherto taken obserued it is meet and I doe so desire you that I who take vpon mee to defende the graunt and authoritie of the Apostolike sea together with the equitie and honour of our kinges and nation may haue the like graunt and that it may please you diligently to giue me audience while briefly and manifestly I do answere his obiections and subtilties so doe I hope in God and the trueth which I take vpon me to defende that I shall plainely set before your eyes and shew you that al y t is spoken on the contrarie part before so noble and wise iudges who are not any way to be suspected of preferring whatsoeuer may be alleaged before truth and equitie which are of such importance doth consist only vpon friuelous and vayne reasons I will therefore cutting off my speech come to the purpose For it is small honour or curtesie to vse tediousnes among suche persons beeing occupied in waightie affaires namely in the gouernement of the common wealth The Bishoppe of Chiapa his prologue to the Lordes of the assemblie MOst worthie and noble Lords right reuerend and learned fathers hitherto in whatsoeuer I haue read or in writing exhibited in this so notable and honourable assemblie I haue generally spoken against the aduersaries of the Indian enhabitants of our Indies that lie in the Occean sea not naming any although I knowe some who openly doe seeke to write Treaties thereof and frame their grounde vppon an excuse and defence of suche warres as were are and yet may be prosecuted against those people which haue beene the occasions of so muche mischiefe so manye ouerthrowes losses and subuersions of suche and so great kingdomes together with manie townes and infinite numbers of soules Also that they subduing of those nations by warres before they haue by preaching hearde of the faith or name of Iesus Christe is a marter conformable to our Christian lawe also that such warres are iust and lawfull whereof it seemeth that the reuerende and worthie Doctor Sepuluâ—da hath nowe opened and declared him selfe the principall vphoulder and defendour in that hee answereth to those reasons authorities and obiections that bee to the contrary which in detesting the saide warres and to the ende to shewe that the same beeing by another name called conquestes are wicked and tyrannous I haue drawen into this our Apologie whereof I haue read part vnto your excellencies and Lordeshippes And seeing hee hath sought to disclose him selfe and feared not to bee taken for the authour of so execrable impietie whiche doe redownde to the slaunder of the faith the dishonour of the name of Christianitie and the domage as well spirituall as temporall of the most part of mankinde I thought it verie meete as it is so openly to impugne it and for cutting off of the poysoned cancker whiche hee seeketh to disperse abroade in these countreys to the destruction and subuersion of the same to set my selfe as an aduersarie and partie agaynll him Wherefore I beseech your noble Lordeshippes graces and fatherhoodes to way this so waightie and daungerous matter not as any peculiar cause for I pretende no farther but to defende it according as becommeth a Christian but as apperteining to God his honour the vniuersall Churche and the estate as well temporall as spirituall of the kinges of Castile who are to giue accoumpt of the losse of soules alreadie perished and hereafter to perish vnlesse the gate be shutte vp against this heauie course of warres whiche Doctour Sepulueda endenoureth to iustifie Also that this honourable assemblie admitte no Sophistrie by him vsed to couer and cloake his hurtfull opinion whereby hee sheweth a pretence to colour and defende the authoritie by him called Apostolike and the Empire whiche the kinges of Castile and Leon haue ouer these Iudians For no Christian can lawefully and honestly confirme and defende the authoritie tearmed Apostolike eyther the soueraignetie of any Christian king by vniust warres by filling hilles and valyes with innocent blood either with the infamie and blaspheming of Christ and his faith But the Apostolike sea is rather by suche meanes defamed and looseth her authoritie the true God is dishonoured and the true title and right of a king is loste and perisheth as euery wise and Christian man may easily gather by that which Doctor Sepulueda him selfe hath propounded This title and right is not founded vpon the entrie into those countries and against those people to robbe slay and tyrannosly to
doe for that otherwise those Lordes one day woulde doe vs a shrewde turne I founde meâ— selfe in a great deale of trouble to saue them from the fire howbeit in the ende they escaped After that the Indians of this Islande were thus brought into bondage and calamitie like vnto those of the Ile of Hispaniola and that they sawe that they dyed and perished all without remedie some of them began to flie into the mountaynes others quite desperate hanged them selues and there hung together huâ—sbandes with their wiues hanging with them their litle children And through the crueltie of one onely Spaniarde whiche was a great tyraunt and one whom I knowe there hunge them selues more then two hundred Indians and of this fashion died an infinitie of people There was in this Ile an officer of the kinges 〈◊〉 whome they gaue for his share three hundred Indians of whome at the ende of three monethes there died by him in the trauayle of the mynes two hundred and sixtie in suche sorte that there remained nowe but thirtie which was the tenth part Afterwardes they gaue him as many more and more and those also be made hauocke of in like maner and still as many as they gaue him so many hee flewe vntill hee dyed him selfe and that the diuell carried him away In three or foure monethes mee selfe beeing present there died more then sixe thousande children by reason that they had plucked away from them their fathers and mothers whiche they sent into the mines I behelde also other things frightfull Shortly after they resolued to climbe after those whiche were in the mountaynes where they wrought also ghastly slaughters and thus laide waste all this Ile which wee behelde not long after and it is great pitie to see it so dispeopled and desolate as it is Of the firme lande IN the yeere one thousand fiue hundred and foureteene there landed in the maine a mischieuous gouernour a most cruell tyraunt which had neyther pitie nor prudencie in him being as an instrumeÌ„t of the wrath of God fully resolued to set into this land agreat nuÌ„ber of Spaniards And howbeit y t aforetime certayne other tyrauntes had entred the lande and had spoyled murdered and cruelly entreated very many folke yet was it not but on the sea coast that they spoyled and robbed and did the worst that they could But this surpassed all the others whiche came before him and all those of all the Ilandes howe cursed and abhominable soeuer they were in all their doings He not onely wasted or dispeopled the sea coast but sacked also great realmes and countreys making hauockes by slaying and murdering of peoples infinite to bee numbred and sending them to hell He ouer ranne and herried most of the places in the land from Darien vpwarde vnto the Realme and Prouinces of Nicaragua within being which are more then fiue huÌ„dred leagues of the best and most fertile grounde in the whole worlde where there were a good number of great Lordes with a number of townes borrowes and villages and store of gold in more abundaunce then was to bee founde on the earth vntyll that present For albeit that Spaine was as it were replenished with gold of the finest that came from the Ile Hispaniola the same had been only drawen out of the entrals of the earth by the Indians of y e mines aforesaid wher they died as hath been sayde This gouernour with his men found out newe sorts of cruelties and torments to cause them to discouer and giue him golde There was a captayne of his which flue in one walke and course which was made by his commaundement to robbe and roote out more then fourtie thousand soules putting them to y e edge of the sword burning theÌ„ giuing theÌ„ to y e dogs tormeÌ„ting them diuersly w c also a religious man of the order of S. Francis who went w t him beheld w t his eies and had to name frier Francis of S. Romaine The most pernicious blindnes w c hath alwaies possessed those who haue gouerned the Indians in stead of the care w c they shold haue for the conuersion saluation of those people w c they haue alwaies neglected their mouth w t painted fables speaking one thing but their heart thinking another came to y e passe as to coÌ„mand orders to be set down vnto y e Indians to receiue the faith render theÌ„selues vnto y e obedieÌ„ce of the K. of Castile or otherwise to bid theÌ„ battel w t fire sworde to slay theÌ„ or make theÌ„ slaues As if y e sonne of God which died for euery one of theÌ„ had coÌ„manded in his law wher he saith Go teach al nations y t there should be ordinaÌ„ces set down vnto infidels being peacefull quiet in possession of their proper lande if so be they receiued it not foorth with w tout any preaching or teaching first had if y t they submitted not theÌ„selues to y e dominioÌ„ of a king whoÌ„ they neuer sawe whom they neuer heard speake of namely such a one as whose messengers meÌ„ were so cruel so debarred froÌ„ all pitie such horrible tyraÌ„ts y t they should for y e lose their goods lands their liberty their wiues childreÌ„ w t their liues Which is a thing too absurd fond worthy of al reproch mockery yea worthy of hel fire in such sort as wheÌ„ this wicked and wretched gouernour had accepted the charge to put in execution the sayde ordinances to the end to make them seeme y e more iust in appearance For they were of theÌ„selues impertinent against all reason law he commanded or peraduenture y e thieues whom he dispatched to doe y e executioÌ„ did it of their own heads wheÌ„ they were purposed to go a rouing robbing of any place where they knewe y t there was any gold y e Indians being in their towns dwelling houses w tout mistrusting any thing y e wicked Spaniards would go after y e guise of thieues vnto within halfe a league neere some town borowe or village and there by themselues alone by night make a reading publication or proclamation of y e said ordinances saying thus Oyes Caciques Indians of this firme land of such a place Be it knowen vnto you that there is one God one Pope one king of Castile which is L. of these landes make your appearance al delay set aside here to do him homage c. Which if you shall not accomplish Be it knowen vnto you y t we wil make war vpoÌ„ you and we wil kil you make you slaues Hereupon at the fourth watch in y e morning the poore innocents sleeping yet with their wiues and children these tyrantes set vppon the place casting fire on the houses which commonly were thatched so burn vp all quick men womeÌ„ children more sodainely theÌ„ that they could of a great many be perceiued They massacred at the