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On May 1, 1539, de Soto’s ships approached
Florida’s west coast and sailed into a bay he
named Espíritu Santu(Holy Spirit). Some his-
torians believe they landed at Tampa Bay, while
others place the landing site farther south in
Charlotte Bay. As supplies were slowly(^94) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
The Requerimiento=
Mistreatment of Native Americans was against the declared wishes of Spanish
royalty, who felt themselves morally obliged to bring Christianity to the Ameri-
cas. To protect the Indians—without slowing exploration and colonization—in
1512 King Ferdinand directed a council of theologians to define when military
action might be taken against Indians who opposed incursions into their lands.
The result was a long legal document called the requerimiento,a term that, lit-
erally translated, means “requirement.” Conquistadores like de Soto were
required to read the document aloud in a so-called ceremony of possession
whenever they moved into new lands inhabited by Native Americans.
The requerimientodemanded that Indians “acknowledge the Church as the
ruler and superior of the whole world,” under the authority of “the high priest
called Pope” and the rulers of Spain. The requerimientoalso demanded that
Indians consent to religious instruction by priests. In principle, the document’s
terms were nonbinding:
We in their name shall receive you in all love and charity, and shall leave you your
wives, and your children, and your lands free without servitude, that you may do
with them and with yourselves freely that which you like and think best, and they
shall not compel you to turn Christians, unless you yourselves, when informed of
the truth, should wish to be converted to our holy Catholic faith.
Refusal to accept the terms of the requerimiento,however, amounted to a dec-
laration of war and held the Indians responsible for any violence:
But if you do not do this or maliciously make delay in it, I certify to you that, with
the help of God, we shall powerfully enter into your country, and shall make war
against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke
and obedience of the Church and of their highnesses; we shall take you, and your
wives, and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and
dispose of them as their highnesses may command; and we shall take away your
goods, and shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can... and we
protest that the deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault...
Conquistadores often read the complex document too quietly for its audi-
ence to hear. In most cases, the Native Americans simply could not understand
the Spanish. Yet throughout the exploration of the Americas, conquistadores
used the requerimientoas justification for conquest of any land where their
entry was opposed.
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