upon the death of his uncle Ahitzotl. Generous and
benevolent, Ahitzotl is well loved by his subjects but
weak in battle. His successor will chose to be a far
more stern and militaristic leader. Before the arrival
of the Spanish in his realm (see entries for 1519 and
for 1521), he will add some 40 communities to the
powerful Aztec Empire, inciting the wrath of those
conquered and fending off several rivals’ attempts
to subvert his authority.
1503Fall
Eighty-five Arawak leaders are executed by
the Spanish.
Soon after being appointed the Spanish governor,
Nicolás de Ovando sets about destroying the tra-
ditional political structure among the Arawak. He
targets the leaders of Jaraguá, who have paid trib-
ute to his rivals for control over Spanish claims.
Ovando’s troops invade Jaraguá, round up 84
chiefs, and sentence them to death by fire. The
Spaniards also capture Anacaona, a woman who
is the paramount leader of Jaraguá. She is killed
by hanging, which the Spanish considered a more
appropriate way of executing a person of her high
rank.
1511Antonio de Montesinos preaches about the
humanity of Indians.
In a sermon to the Spanish leaders of Hispaniola,
Dominican friar Antonio de Montesino protests
the hideous mistreatment of the Indians of the
West Indies at the hands of the Spanish. Condemn-
ing forced Indian labor, he insists that Indians are
human beings who have a right to freedom. The
issue of Indian humanity will be fiercely debated
by Spanish clerics and intellectuals for decades to
come (see entry for 1550).
1512The Catholic Church decrees that Indians
have souls.
Responding to the continuing debate on Indian hu-
manity (see entries for 1502 and for 1511), Pope
Julius II declares that Indians are descended from
Adam and Eve. At the Fifth Lateran Council, which
the pope assembles in Rome, Indians are found to
have souls. These declarations reinforce the obli-
gation of Spanish conquistadores and colonists in
North America to attempt to convert Indians to
Catholicism. (See also entry for 1550.)Spanish intellectuals approve holy wars
against non-Christian Indians.
As the Spanish Crown prepares to create a legal
code to govern Spaniards relations to Indians, it
seeks advice from legal scholars and the clergy. The
most significant contributors confirm that Spain
has a legitimate claim to title to its lands in North
America and to authority over the Indians living
there. They also agree that wars waged against
Indians in order to force them to convert to Ca-
tholicism are just.The Spanish Laws of Burgos formalizes the
encomienda system.
The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, a
code of laws to govern Spanish-Indian relations.
The laws focus on the encomienda system, through
which the nobles who had helped drive the Mus-
lims from Spain were rewarded with land grants.
The Laws of Burgos are intended to regulate the
granting of encomiendas in North America, where
conquistadores have already begun to institute the
system to reward their most valued men (see entry
for 1498). Many of these early encomienda owners
have made great fortunes by enslaving the Indians
on their lands and forcing them to farm, build
houses, and mine for gold and silver. The Indians
have been worked so hard and so ill treated that
they have died in large numbers.
The Laws of Burgos require that landowners
provide food for Indians on the encomiendas and