THE CONTROVERSY OF VALLADOLID, 1550-1551

The proceeding of Valladolid, better known as Juntas de Valladolid  is a debate that happened in the Colegio De San Gregorio, in the city of Valladolid between 1550 and 1551. There  were discussed issues about the legitimacy and the need to provide a legal basis for the conquest of the Indies.  Although there were many participants, in this post we are going to focus on the most important two, or at least, on the best known ones, Bartolomé de Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. They kept two completely opposing positions, and these opinions will be our focus.

One the one hand we have Bartolomé De Las Casas, who made ​​a complete vindication of the Indians and the rights that belonged to them as human beings, rights which in his opinion were being brutally seized by the Spanish conquistadors from 1492. He defended the way of live and the dignity of the Indians and also that the religious or political issues could not take precedence over those rights.  In his “Antropología”, he talked about “the perfect primitive” as a superior person both physically, socially, and morally. He attributed these characteristics to a lot of factors, like the age at which parents conceive their children, which was earliest than in Europe. He also speaks about a better diet, because on his words “los indios son absentisímos y muy sobrios, de muy poco comer y beber, lo que les ayuda y favorece”. As we will see throughout this post, he made a difference between two types of infidel, the one who was infidel because of the ignorance, and the one who was infidel by choice. In the case of the Indians from the Americas, he classified them on the first group, because when the Spaniards arrived to America, they did not know about God.

On the other hand we have Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, who was one of the biggest defenders of the evangelization, the conquest and, at least, the war against the Indians. He also used some classic text from authors like Aristotle to defend his cause, but we have to say that he made a translation that it is supposed to be manipulated according to his interests. He talked about the just war, as a tool for evangelizing and solving conflicts. He and many Spaniards for who it was convenient to keep the situation of the Indians and black slaves in America, maintained that it was natural that the barbarians were servants and submissive to the civilized men, so if they showed opposition, the war should be fair.

Now let's see what were the reasons or the sins Sepulveda argued to defend its position.

1)      The natural division between different people.

The barbarians must serve civilized men, and if after being informed about the benefits of being Christianized, they did not accept, the conquerors could declare war on them.  

But, as we have said before, is not just that  De Las Casas considered them as a equal, is that he considered them superior in many aspects.  

2)      Cannibalism and idolatry.

In the opinion of Sepúlveda, all the Indians were cannibals and idolatrous, and it was against the natural laws and rights, so it was enough to justify the war, the occupation, domination and guardianship of Indians. Moreover, the Pope gave them the right to fight against the idolatrous.

But in response to this argue, Bartolome denied that the Spaniards had jurisdiction over these people to punish and dominate them, because they were out of their jurisdiction. It was not the case, for example, of Jews and Moors that were living in Castile.

3)      Avoid unnecessary suffering for those who would be victims of idolatry and sacrifices.

Sepulveda said that it was duty of Spaniards to defend the innocents that could be injured by the infidels, but Bartolome argued that they only can be judged if they were part of the Church and they decided to do these kinds of acts. But if they decided to be evangelized, the obligation of the Spaniards was to protect them, not to punish them. The way for the Indians cease to commit such crimes, was to achieve the Indians to turn into a religion that did not allow such crimes. But anyway, it could not be imposed, it must be the result of the evangelizing work.

4)      War makes easier the evangelization of the infidels and the indigenous.

In the opinion of Sepulveda, there were two ways to convert an Indian into the Christianity, the first was the doctrine and the second one was the terror and the force. But it is very important to realize that Sepulveda did not think that this was the way to coerce them to believe, far from it, he thought that it was the way to remove the barriers that opposed the propagation of the faith. In his words, once they were under the control of the Christians and away from their rituals, they would be happy to be baptized.

In response to this, Bartolome De Las Casas said that it was only suitable to heretics, but they only were infidels.

   
 BIBLIOGRAPHY:
MANERO SALVADOR, Ana; "La controversia de Valladolid: España y el análisis de la legitimidad de la conquista" Revista Electrónica Iberoamericana, vol.3, nº2, 2009. pag 85-112.