Casas, Bartolomé de las, 1474-1566

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1474
Death 1566-07-18
Spaniards,
Spanish; Castilian,

Biographical notes:

Bartolomé de las Casas (1474-1566) was a Spanish missionary and historian who was opposed to the slavery and forced labor of the Indians of Spanish America. He traveled in Peru and Central America and served briefly as Bishop of Chiapas. His writings concern anthropological and historical matters in the New World.

From the description of Columbus journal abstract, 1492-1493. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122431540

Bartolomé de las Casas (c.1484-1566), was an early Spanish historian of the New World. La Casas' father, Pedro de las Casas, was a merchant and early Spanish settler in Espanola who traveled with Columbus on his second expedition. Las Casas was educated in law at the University of Salamanca and sailed for Hispaniola in 1502, possibly on a mining or military expedition. He returned to Spain in 1506 and became a Dominican priest in 1507. He then devoted himself to stopping Spanish brutality of the Indians in Mexico and the Caribbean. In 1542 he was made bishop of Chiapas, and in 1547 he returned to Spain, where he devoted his energies to criticizing Spanish brutality in the New World. From 1547-1566, las Casas worked as an attorney-at-large in the court of Charles V, where he fought for legal reforms to protect the indigenous peoples. He wrote a series of controversial books describing the atrocities, including the influential Brevissima Relacion de la Destruccion de las Indias, written in 1539, and later published throughout Europe.

From the guide to the Bartolomé de las Casas Tyrannies et Cruautez des Espagnols Perpetrees es Indes Occidentales..., Casas, Bartolomé de las, Tyrannies et Cruautez des Espagnols Perpetrees es Indes Occidentales..., 1582, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)

Clergyman, missionary, historian, and author.

From the description of Descriptive account of Bartolomé de las Casas, 1550. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79454972

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Subjects:

  • Slavery
  • Slavery
  • Bookplates
  • Conquerors
  • Indians of Central America
  • Indians of Mexico
  • Indians of Mexico
  • Indians of North America
  • Indians of South America
  • Indians, Treatment of
  • Indians, Treatment of
  • Lucayan Indians
  • Manuscripts, Spanish
  • Missionaries
  • Torture
  • TRATO A LOS INDIOS
  • Voyages and travels
  • Voyages and travels

Occupations:

  • Authors
  • Clergy
  • Historians
  • Missionaries

Places:

  • Latin America (as recorded)
  • Latin America (as recorded)
  • ESPAÑA (as recorded)
  • Spain (as recorded)
  • Latin America (as recorded)
  • America (as recorded)
  • Spain (as recorded)
  • Latin America (as recorded)
  • Spain (as recorded)
  • Mexico (as recorded)
  • AMERICA (as recorded)
  • America (as recorded)
  • Spain (as recorded)
  • America (as recorded)
  • Mexico (as recorded)
  • America (as recorded)
  • Hispaniola (as recorded)

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