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Bartolomé De Las Casas: Prophet of the New World Author(s): Paul S. Vickery Source: Mediterranean Studies, Vol. 9 (2000), pp. 89-102 Published by: Penn State University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41166913 Accessed: 14-05-2020 05:23 UTC

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Bartolomé De Las Casas: Prophet of the New World

PaulS. Vickery

Sometime after 1527 a weary Dominican priest wrote, "What really moved me to write this book was the great and desperate need of all Spain to have truth and enlightenment on all things concerning the world of the Indian." Because of the lack of this knowledge, he continued, "what damage, calamities, disruptions, decimations of kingdoms, how many souls lost, how many unforgivable sins committed, how much blindness and deadness of conscience." Furthermore, as a result of these failings, he prophesied, "what harms and evils have occurred and still each day happen to the kingdoms of Castile. I am very sure we will never know, nor be even able to estimate, until that great and final day of terrible judgment and divine justice...." Thus wrote Bartolomé de las Casas in his Prologue to his multi-volume work Historia de las Indias. x

Las Casas was one of the most influential men of sixteenth-century Spain. He also provoked much controversy. During the course of his life and in the centuries that followed, Las Casas has been awarded many titles and called by many names. Among these are "reformer at the court of Spain, unsuccessful colonizer in Venezuela, friar in Hispaniola, obstructor of wars he considered unjust in Nicaragua, fighter on behalf of justice for the Indians, promoter of the plan to conquer the Indian by peaceful means alone, successful agitator at the court of Emperor Charles V on behalf of the New Laws, and Bishop of Chiapa."2 Others believe him to be creator of the Black Legend,3 and even the very conscience of Catholic Spain.4 Simón Bolívar called him "that friend of humanity." Others have viewed him as the "father of America," the unwitting

'Bartolomé de las Casas, Historia de las Indias, 3 vols., Augustin Millares Campo, éd. (Mexico, 1951), 1: 13. Las Casas entered the Dominican Order in 1522 at the age of thirty-eight. 2 Lewis Hanke, Bartolomé de Las Casas, Historian (Gainesville, 1952), 2.

3Juan Comas, "Historical Reality and the Detractors," in Juan Friede and Benjamin Keen, eds., Bartolomé de Las Casas in History: Toward an Understanding of the Man and His Work (DeKalb, 1971), 488. 4Lesley Byrd Simpson, The Encomienda in New Spain (Los Angeles, 1950), xi. Simpson quotes the Congreso de Americanistas that met in Seville in 1935 and voted Las Casas "the authentic representative of the Spanish conscience." Simpson concludes that Las Casas had very little impact on changing the royal policies of the forced labor system.

89

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90 Paul S. Vickery

progenitor of today's Liberation Theology, and a court gadfly.5 A strong critic of Las Casas diagnosed him "a hopeless paranoie."6 To this long list of appellations, I would like to add the title of "Prophet of the New World."

By Las Casas' s own account, since that Pentecost Day, 4 June 1514, when the "darkness left his eyes," he dedicated himself to seeking not only the temporal physical preservation of the Native Americans, but also the eternal spiritual salvation of their souls. At the same time, he challenged the continued physical prosperity of the Spanish nation, as well as the preservation of the eternal souls of those involved in the exploitation and destruction of the Indians. In short, he prophesied both physical and spiritual destruction of all who did not heed his words. He did so unreservedly, dedicating himself, both physically and spiritually, to the preaching of that message for half a century, "without fears of adversaries, censures, intrigues, and calumnies."7 His direct, unwavering single- mindedness is reminiscent of those biblical prophets who challenged ancient Israel and the Christian Church to "make straight the way of the Lord," or to accept the consequences. By examining certain Las-Casian texts, it becomes obvious that Las Casas

had a definite sense of his own calling and considered himself a prophet in the biblical mode. Using both Scripture and writings of the Church Fathers, filtering these through his own experiences, and refining them by his Dominican theological training, Las Casas developed a prophetic theme that he repeated and refined over the years. Through the example of his life, and woven into the fabric of his work, is the consistent message that both the leadership of Spain and those under its authority would come under the judgment of God if that nation did not repent of its policies, change its actions, and make restitution for past atrocities. This is the classic message of the prophet. It is also the pattern for the life of Las Casas.8

By appealing to Scripture, the traditional evangelical mission of the Church, as well as legal precedent, all of which he interpreted through his own New World experiences, Las Casas forced the monarchy to confront its practices and the laws that were leading to the decimation of its subjects - people for whom he

5 Anthony Pagden, "Introduction" to Bartolomé de Las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, translated by Nigel Griffin (New York, 1992), xiii. 6Ramón Menéndez-Pidal, El Padre Las Casas: Su doble personalidad (Madrid, 1963), xiv. Here, one of Las Casas's most vitriolic critics writes that Las Casas "was not a saint, nor an impostor, nor was he evil nor crazy, he was simply paranoid." 7Venancio Carro, "The Spanish Theological- Juridical Renaissance and the Ideology of Bartolomé de Las Casas," in Friede and Keen, eds. Las Casas in History, 264. Las Casas recorded his awakening experience in Historia, 2: 92-3. 8For a general overview of prophets and prophesy, consult Abraham Heschel, The Prophets (New York, 1962), and William A. Van Gemeren, Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, 1990).

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Bartolomé De Las Casas : Prophet of the New World 9 1

believed Christ had died. He prophetically warned the Crown of the impending judgment of God should calls for change go unheeded, and that nation not alter its colonial policies. Since the day of his own "conversion" or "awakening" and concurrent change of heart and mind, when he recognized and repented of the injustices of his own life and actions - which he considered representative of the those of his native land - his thoughts, words and deeds were on behalf of his beloved Indians.9

Las Casas fits the definition of the term "prophet" from both a secular and theological perspective. The Greek word prophètes literally means "one who proclaims or speaks for another."10 In classical Greek, this word meant a person who interpreted the will of the gods to the general populace, one whom individuals consulted about the specific intent of the gods in a given situation. Their methods could involve listening to oracles, divining dreams, or making sense out of chicken entrails. Prophets were able to state or present issues in a clear way. They had the ability to articulate and clarify concerns of the day in such a way that all could comprehend them. They not only defined the problem but also gave specific solutions to the problem. The hearer then had the prerogative of heeding the message or rejecting the prophet.11

The gift of prophecy in the New Testament is one way in which the Church is built up or strengthened (Ephesians 5). This office has been present since the inception of the Christian Church. The title also carried the connotation of one who spoke on behalf of God and thereby interpreted the Word of God to a specific people at a given time in history. In other words, the prophet made the ancient Scripture relevant and understandable to those listening to it. During the first centuries of the Christian Church, false and true prophets were judged by the Church according to the consistency of their message with Scripture. Prophets have held a respected office in the Church since the time of the Chief Prophet - Christ Himself.12

9Some scholars, such as Manuel Giménez Fernández, Bartolomé de Las Casas: Delegado de Cisneros para la Reformación de las Indias (1516-1517) (Seville, 1960), 50, consider this a "road to Damascus" experience similar to that of Saint Paul. Others, such as Gustavo Gutiérrez, Las Casas: In Search of the Poor of Jesus Christ (New York, 1993), 482, n.l, state that Las Casas continually refers to this event as the "originating moment in his life," and labels this event a "prophetic call." Marcel Bataillon, in Estudios Sobre Bartolomé de Las Casas (Madrid, 1976), 48, n.9, emphasizes that Las Casas himself referred only to his decision to enter the Dominican Order as a "conversion." Demetrio Ramos Perez, "La 'Conversion' de Las Casas en Cuba: El Clérigo y Diego Velazquez," in Estudios Sobre Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (Seville, 1974), 247-57, believes that this decision was made over a period of months. l0Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1988), 953. "Ibid., 954-7. Ibid., 960-65. This discussion is also carried on in Isacio Pérez Fernández, "El perfil profético del

Padre Las Casas," Studium, 15 (1975): 281-359.

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92 Paul S. Vickery

The Hebrew word for prophet, nabi, means "one who is called," and also carries the connotation of an "authorized spokesperson." The word contains the meaning not only of "forthtelling" or speaking on behalf of someone else, such as God, but also "foretelling" or predicting future events. A true prophet could only be a person with a clearly defined directive to share. This message must conform to the already revealed truths about God or be consistent with God's character and morality. The prophet was always aware that God had chosen him as spokesperson and had a sure belief of this choice and that he was to convey a specific message to a particular people at a particular place or in a determined circumstance. The common denominator for all prophets is the clear sense of being chosen.13 The call of a prophet, according to both biblical and secular accounts, could

come in a number of ways - through prayer and meditation, after reflective study, in conjunction with specific occurrences, or suddenly. Just as the occupations and backgrounds of the prophets varied, so too did the way they received and understood their charge. Although the basic message came from outside the prophet, i.e. from God, the interpretation and presentation of that message reflected the individual personality of the prophet and the contemporary culture to which it applied. The prophet's own language, mannerisms, customs, traditions, and even idiosyncrasies would then be used to transmit the message.14 Las Casas's prophetic call came while reading Scripture and preparing to

deliver a sermon for the Pentecost Service in 1514. His text came from the

apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, chapter 34. The verses that stuck in his mind were:

Unclean is the offering sacrificed by an oppressor. Such mockeries are not pleasing to God. The Lord is pleased only by those who keep to the way of truth and justice. The Most High does not accept the gifts of unjust people, He does not look well upon their offerings. Their sins will not be expiated by repeat sacrifices. The one whose sacrifice comes from the goods of the poor is like one who kills his neighbor.

l3Laird R. Harris, ed. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 2 vols. (Chicago, 1980), 2: 1275- 6.

l4David Atkinson, "Prophecy," Eerdman 's Handbook to Christian Belief, Robert Koeley, ed. (Grand Rapids, 1982), 316-17. Concerning Las Casas, see also José Luis Espinel, "Aspecto profético de la vida cristiana según el Nuevo Testamento," Ciencia Tomista, 98 (1971), 7-53. In sixteenth-century Spain there were many, both men and women, who claimed prophetic insight. Richard L. Kagan, in Lucrecia 's Dreams: Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century Spain (Berkeley, 1 990), describes one such woman. Also, Keith Thomas, in Religion and the Decline of Magic (New York, 1 97 1 ), covers this period in England. Although there were many who spoke in a prophetic manner concerning the church and government in early modern Spain, Las Casas is unique in that his prophecies continued for a lifetime, he spoke from an official position within the Catholic Church, and he left a corpus of works that trace his development in the tradition of the biblical prophets.

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Bartolomé De Las Casas: Prophet of the New World 93

The one who sheds blood and the one who defrauds the laborer are kin

and kind.15

As he reflected upon these words, he realized that all that the Spanish had done to the Indians since their arrival in 1492 was unjust and tyrannical and thus displeasing to God. Surely, God would intervene to punish the Spanish for their actions. Previously, he too had been blind to the actions of his fellow colonists. Even the fact that the Dominicans in the area refused to confess those who

utilized Indians for their own benefit had not convinced him of the truth.

Through the reading of the Scripture and meditation upon its significance, "the darkness left his eyes." He then made the decision to preach his conclusions and confront first the colonists, then the monarchy with the truth of his own revelation and their sinfulness.16

The prime target of his attack was the Spanish use of the natives in the encomienda system. He viewed this practice of "commending" the Indians to the Spanish to be the root of all the evil perpetrated by the colonists. In theory, the encomienda system was to benefit both the Indians and the Spaniards. The Crown allotted land and Indians to work for the conquistadores as a reward for their service to the nation. The Spaniards were to evangelize and lead the Indians in Christianity. Unfortunately, the arrangement degraded into a system of forced labor for the Indians with very little indoctrination, either by word or example, in Christianity on the part of their overseers. Las Casas himself was a part of this system.17 In 1513, because of his part in the "pacification" of Cuba, Governor Diego Velasquez assigned him and a partner both land and natives to work it near the port of Xagua.18

Las Casas quickly recognized that he could not prophesy destruction for those involved in the encomienda system and still be a part of it. Even though he treated "his" natives well, albeit paternalistically, the priest knew he must give them up in order to live an ethically consistent life and escape the wrath of God. Las Casas believed a prophet could not preach one thing, practice another, and

l5Las Casas, Historia, 2: 92-3. The scripture is from the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, 34: 18 ff.

Las Casas, Historia, 5: 93. Chapters 7ö and /У contain the story ot his conversion or prophetic call." Even Las Casas was refused absolution by a Dominican because of his participation in the encomienda system. Giménez Fernández, Las Casas: Capellán de S.M. Carlos I, Poblador de Cumaná (1517-1523) (Seville, 1963), 386, n. 1331, identified this priest as "most certainly being Pedro de Córdoba."

l7Two excellent summaries of the encomienda system are, Silvio Zavála, La encomienda indiana (Mexico, 1973), and Simpson, The Encomienda in New Spain. Las Casas, Historia, 3: 545-6. Las Casas' s actual role in the "pacification" was probably limited to

priestly duties. In Bartolomé de Las Casas: The Only Way, Helen Rand Parish, ed. with Francis P. Sullivan, trans. (Mahwah, 1992), 14, n. 12, Parish indicates there is no evidence that Las Casas, either Bartolomé or his father, engaged in actual warfare in the New World.

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94 Paul S. Vickery

retain credibility. He consistently berated the hypocrisy of those who said one thing but did another. By freeing the Indians assigned to him, Las Casas demonstrated the reality of his faith, his prophetic call, and subsequent change of life. He wrote, "Such an action [giving up his Indians] was considered then and always the consummate proof that could demonstrate sanctity."19 He immediately began to warn others of his conclusions through his preaching and writings.

Initially, Las Casas asked the Governor not to reveal his plans to give up his Indians but to wait until he had spoken with his partner Pedro de Rentería.20 Subsequently, Las Casas made public his plans while preaching on the feast day of the Assumption of Our Lady in the Cuban town of Sancti Espíritus. Through this initial sermon, given soon after his prophetic call, the prophetic nature of his message is revealed. Las Casas sets the tone for future writings - his emphasis on both the practical and spiritual nature of the Gospel, his warning to those who failed to heed his message, the need for consistency in word and deed, and the call for restitution for past atrocities. In his Historia, Las Casas informs us of his words to the congregation. "He [Las Casas typically refers to himself in the third person] was explaining the contemplative and the active life, the theme of the gospel reading of the day, talking about the spiritual and temporal works of mercy." After declaring that he was going to make an announcement concerning his setting free of the natives commended to him, Las Casas continued his sermon,

he began to expose to them their own blindness, the injustices, the tyrannies, the cruelties they committed against such innocent, such gentle people. They [the hearers] could not save their own souls, neither those who held Indians by allotment, nor the ones who handed them out. They were bound by obligation to make restitution. He himself [Las Casas] once he knew the danger of damnation in which he lived, had given up his Indians, had given up many other things connected with the holding of Indians.

Of course the reaction to the prophet's message was not positive. Las Casas records that many were stupefied or believed they were having a bad dream. They believed they could hold the Indians without sinning, and likened it to making use of the beasts of the field. Las Casas labeled their reaction as

l9Las Casas, Historia, 3: 94. Las Casas, Historia, 3:545-6. It is interesting that when Las Casas related how he and Rentería

received their allotment, Las Casas described himself as the businessman and Rentería as the spiritual one.

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Bartolomé De Las Casas: Prophet of the New World 95

"unbelievable."21 Although Las Casas wrote the Historia years after the events he recorded occurred, the foundational and consistent message of the prophet is obvious.

As Las Casas matured, so did his message. His early works demonstrate a tendency toward vagueness and generalities. The more mature works, however, become ever more refined, forceful and direct and there is no hint of ulterior motivation. Foundational to all of Las Casas's writings is his desire to bring liberty to the Indians while evangelizing them to the Christian faith. He believed spreading the message of the Church was the overriding reason for the Spanish presence in the New World.

On 23 January 1516, King Ferdinand died. Las Casas immediately met with the regent, Cardinal Cisneros, and presented him with his first written proposal for the salvation of his beloved Indians. This tract, Memorial de remedios, is another indication of the budding prophet and his message. It is also where he articulates his belief in the importance of evangelism. "The principal goal for which all has been ordained," he wrote, "or could be ordained, and the prime goal for which we must strive is the salvation of the Indians, which must be effected through the Christian doctrine as His Highness commands."22 The "principal end," as the priest called it, was the training in Christian doctrine. As mentioned previously, this was the theory behind the Spanish system of land acquisition and use, the encomienda system. Las Casas was always adamant that the faith must be proclaimed in both message and witness. The unfortunate result was that "the Spanish, to whom the Indians are commended, do not know what to teach, and if some do know, because of the little charitable love they have, do not demonstrate it, but are more concerned with getting rich than saving souls."23 Las Casas closed this tract with an admonition. We might also note the creeping sarcasm that characterized his writings:

I beseech your most reverend lordship, that you consider, as without a doubt I know you will consider, that the first and last aim that must motivate us is the remedy that those sad souls must be for God, and how to attract them to heaven; because God did not redeem them nor discover them so that they might be cast into hell, having no thought for them but to acquire wealth. This does not seem unreasonable, let alone a great burden.24

2 'Las Casas, Historia, 3: 95. This entire sermon is translated in Parish, ed., The Only Way, 191. 22Bartolomé de Las Casas, "Memorial de remedios para las indias" (1516), Opúsculos, cartas, y memoriales. Obras escogidas de Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, Juan Pérez de Tudela Bueso, ed., 2 vols. (Madrid, 1958), 1:20. "Ibid.

24Ibid., 27.

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96 Paul S. Vickery

In this tract Las Casas addressed the main dilemma of Spain in the New World. Were the Spanish concerned with the acquisition of wealth or the spread of the Gospel? The companion of Cortés and the chronicler of his conquest of the Aztec empire, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, perhaps stated it best and most succinctly when he wrote in his True History Concerning the Conquest of New Spain, concerning the Spanish motivation for New World conquest, "We came here to serve God, but also to get rich."25 Unfortunately the choice between souls and mammon bedeviled the Spanish from the first. Again, unfortunately for the Indians, whenever there was a clear choice between financial gain and any otherworldly concept of spiritual duty, the Crown's material interests won out.26

Las Casas gave a second and more direct prophetic speech, probably in 1518, before the young King Charles. This dealt with Las Casas's plan to establish a colony along the coast of present-day Venezuela, known as Tierra Firme. His goal was to settle the area with priests and farmers instead of traders or those who might exploit the Indians for profit. These farmers could both teach and model Christianity to the Indians, and thus bring them willingly into the Church. He also hoped miscegenation would occur as the Indians and Spanish worked together.27 The first person to address the monarch concerning this area was the Bishop of Darien, Juan Cabedo. His opinion was that the Spanish arrived at the right time and were doing the right thing in the Indies. His observation of the Indians of Darien as well as those on the islands he had visited

was that "those people are servile a natura and they hold in high esteem and have much gold, which they work hard to obtain." He implied that because the natives were by nature servile, the Spaniards had every right to take advantage of them and use them for their own benefit.28 After Cabedo's observations, Las Casas addressed the court.

Las Casas began by describing how the Indians died at the hands of the Spanish. Either they were killed outright or they died by working in the mines.

25Quoted in Lewis Hanke, The Spanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of America (Philadelphia, 1949), 7. 26Simpson, Encomienda, 2. 27Las Casas, "Memorial de Remedios" (1518), Opúsculos, 35-9, contains his plan for Tierra Firme. There is an interesting debate concerning the motivation behind Las Casas and his plan for Tierra Firme. Marcel Bataillon, "The Clérigo Casas," in Friede and Keen, Las Casas in History, 406-7, argues that Las Casas again became codicioso (greedy) in his plans. Less judgmental are Henry Raup Wagner and Helen Rand Parish, The Life and Writings of Bartolomé de Las Casas (Albuquerque, 1967), 62-3, who believe his motivation was correct but his judgment was poor. Gutiérrez concludes his goal was evangelism above all else, In Search of the Poor, 54. In a well- known passage of his Historia, 3: 308-9, that Gutiérrez labels "one of the most impressive passages anywhere in his works," Las Casas admits to the "sale of the Gospel" if that is what is needed to evangelize the natives. 28 Las Casas, Historia, 3: 341.

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Bartolomé De Las Casas: Prophet of the New World 97

He then recounted his own eye-opening experience which brought him to repentance and a change of mind and action. Furthermore, he renounced any financial gain that the young king might assign to him and emphasized the rational ability of the Native Americans to respond to the message of evangelism. Discounting Cabedo's assertion that the Indians were a natura servile, he said, "Those Indian peoples . . . and the entire New World which is füll of throngs of them, are supremely capable of the Christian faith, of all virtue, civilized behavior, tractable to both reason and revelation, and a natura free peoples."29 The Catholic faith is a universal faith, an inclusive not exclusive Church, and is open to all regardless of their current knowledge. Las Casas emphasized that teaching was needed to bring understanding to the pagans, who were reasonable individuals.

In closing this speech, Las Casas aimed the full force of his prophetic message at the monarch, as he gave him a specific directive from the Word of God, and a veiled threat of what would occur in the future if he failed to heed the

message. "Therefore it is Your Majesty's role to root out, at the start of his reign, the tyranny, monstrous and horrible before both God and the world, which causes such evil, such irreparable harm," he thundered. Las Casas concluded in the true nature of a prophet, "the damnation of a major part of the human race, [remove it] so that the Royal Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for these Indian peoples, might grow in length of days."30 By not stopping the oppression, which was his responsibility as monarch and representative of God, Charles was in danger of bringing many to damnation, both Spaniard and Indian, and holding up the progress of the spread of God's Kingdom in the earth. In his presentation to the Crown, Las Casas interceded, or spoke on behalf of, the Indians and attempted to speak for God on their behalf. He also spoke for the nation as he attempted to avert disaster for its sinfulness. After nearly a year of waiting, Las Casas received the grant he sought to establish a community at Cumaná along the Venezuelan coast.31

Although the experiment at Cumaná proved unsuccessful in establishing a peaceful, non-violent agricultural community, the experience led Las Casas into the Dominican Order. Las Casas blamed himself for the failure and believed he

needed a deeper commitment to God. He also desired the spiritual support of a religious community. After study and reflection, Las Casas took the vows of the Dominican Order in 1522.32 Perhaps because of his failure at Cumaná, perhaps because he was getting older, or perhaps because he saw no change in the royal policies, after 1522 his message became ever more direct and confrontational.

29Ibid., 3: 343. 30Ibid., 3: 344. 3lIbid., 3:361. 32Ibid., 3: 387.

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98 Paul S. Vickery

An example of this more confrontational message is from his 1542 work Entre los remedios, also known as The Eighth Remedy. In this tract Las Casas again expressed his love, concern, and fealty to his nation and the Crown. He warned, however, that if the Indians continued to die at the present rate the royal treasury would lose "riches and treasures it rightly should have, both from Indian vassals as well as the Spanish people."33 Therefore the Spanish kingdom would suffer loss and not be as powerful as it might be if its Indian subjects lived and prospered. Las Casas did not question native subjection to the Crown. In his opinion the Spanish had every legal right to the usufruct of the New World. Spain and Christianity, however, must earn obedience by showing themselves worthy of respect and superior to the native religions. Las Casas was adamant that Christianity, if taught and demonstrated according to the example of Christ, peacefully and rationally, would soon supplant the native faiths. Thus the concern of Las Casas was that the Indians were dying at such a rate there would be no one left to convert to the Church or work the land. He also expressed in this tract that the colonists in the Indies were in mortal danger of divine retribution. This punishment would also apply to those in Spain who were aware of the destruction of the Indians, but did nothing to better the situation. Sins of omission were just as damnable as sins of commission, according to Las Casas.34 After enumerating the complaints against the encomienda system and

explaining why the emperor did not legally have authority over those natives who did not voluntarily submit to him, and therefore why he ought to release them from this hated system, Las Casas continued his prophetic theme. He wrote that Charles could do a great service for those Christians living in the Indies. If the monarch abolished the encomienda system, he would, "free [the Spanish] from the great sins of tyranny, robbery, violence, and murders which they commit every day, oppressing and robbing and killing those people."35 The monarch had the responsibility to make laws that kept his people from sinning, and therefore free from the possibility of mortal danger. Las Casas now also emphasized the theme of restitution. He continued that not only must Spain stop its killing of innocent people, but also that they were liable for restitution or repaying the Indians for all they had stolen from them. Should this not be done, the prophet warned it would bring both "condemnation and retribution for all Spain." The inhabitants of the Old World would thus be held liable for the sins committed by those in the New. Ending this tract with the most dire and direct

"Bartolomé de Las Casas, "Entre los remedios," (1542), Opúsculos, 1 10a. 34Las Casas, The Only Way, 130. Las Casas in this work draws upon Chrysostom and Augustine to interpret the text from Matthew 25. This scripture reads in part, "Whoever helps one of the helpless, helps me [Jesus]." The one who helps the poor is an extension of Christ. Augustine noted, "They are damned, not for doing evil, but for not doing good." This concept is also discussed in Gutiérrez, In Search of the Poor, 63. Las Casas, The Only Way, 130. Las Casas, Opúsculos, 1 1 7a.

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Bartolomé De Las Casas: Prophet of the New World 99

warning yet, Las Casas wrote, "and because of all these sins, and because of what I read in the Sacred Scripture, God must punish, with terrible retributions, and perhaps even destroy all of Spain."36 The entire nation must pay for the monarch's refusal to heed the prophetic message.

For the first time the message of Las Casas became prophetic in the sense of prophesying destruction for the Spanish nation. The Spanish philologist, Menéndez Pidal, no friend of Las Casas, noted that, "in this tract he tells us ... the first instance that this great accusatory message includes a prophetic aspect; it is the first time he threatens horrible punishment and perhaps complete destruction of all Spain."37 The reason for this dire condemnation, according to Menéndez Pidal, is that Las Casas meditated much upon the Bible, especially chapter 30 of the prophet Isaiah. In this chapter, Isaiah prophesied against those who did not listen to the prophets, change their ways, and cease oppression. Judgment would come suddenly upon the unjust and totally destroy them.38 This may have been the first time the message took on such drastic tones, but it would not be the last.

Las Casas wrote another more controversial work in 1542, entitled the Brevísima relación da la destrucción de las indias?9 This work was not published until 1552 but quickly had a profound effect upon the image of Spain in the rest of the world, especially Protestant Northern Europe, which quickly publicized the atrocities of Catholic Spain. In this eye-witness account, or relación, which Las Casas dedicated to Crown Prince Philip, the Dominican desired to shock the sensibilities of his readers and emphasized the Spanish slaughter of the Indians. In his introduction to the work Las Casas pronounced a biblical judgment upon those who had been involved in the exploitation of the natives: "not a few of the people involved in this story had become so anesthetized to human suffering by their own greed and ambition that they had ceased to be men in any meaningful sense of the term, ... so totally degenerate and given over to a reprobate mind, they could not rest content."40 He soon moved from the fate of the individual to prophesying about the nation.

The text of this brief work is a litany of the destruction of the Indians in the various areas conquered by the Spanish. His message is condemnatory and graphic in its descriptions of slaughter, starvation, and cruelties. What broke Las Casas' s heart, however, was the lack of evangelism that had taken place and the

36Ibid., 119a 37Menéndez Pidal, El Padre Las Casas, 328. 38Ibid.

39There are several modern translations of this work. I have used Nigel Griffin, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (London, 1992). 40Griffin, Short Account, 3. Note 1 informs us that the biblical indictment is from Romans 1: 28. "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient."

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loo Paul S. ViCKERY

attitude of the Indians toward Christianity as a result of the Spanish actions. He wrote that the Spanish had no more interest in preaching the Gospel than if the Indians had been dogs or other animals, and that at present the Indians have no more idea of the Christian God than before the Spanish arrival. "They have no idea of whether He [God] is made of wood, or of air, or of water."41 The Indians even referred to the Spaniards as yares, or demons, and scoffed at God and His words.42 For this the Spanish Monarchy must be indicted.

In the conclusion to the Brevísima, Las Casas again stated his concerns about the impending judgment of God upon the nation. The only hope of the nation is to recognize its sinfulness, repent of its ways, and make restitution to those wronged. Las Casas wrote, "I do not wish to see my country destroyed as a divine punishment for sins against the honor of God and the True Faith."43 The prophet now spoke directly and forcefully: the nation remained prosperous only through divine mercy.

In 1556, Charles V abdicated and his son Philip II assumed the Crown of Spain. The encomenderos recognized Philip had not only inherited the throne but also the debts of his father. Therefore, they offered him eight million gold ducats to grant them permanent rights to the Indians under their control. Las Casas heard of this possible deal and made one of his own. On behalf of the Indians of Peru he made a counter-offer. Not only would the Indians pay the monarch more than the Spaniards had offered, but if granted their freedom, they would pay him tribute on a permanent basis.44

In a Memorial to King Philip II, written in 1556, Las Casas outlined twenty reasons why the king should not take the deal offered by the colonists. Several of these reasons appeal to the financial interest of the monarch, but in the last one Las Casas reverted to his prophetic nature and spoke directly concerning the mortal danger of Philip. He wrote, "This is the last [reason], the main of all the reasons presented - Your Majesty has more need of the light, the help of God than any other king in the world right now, at the start of your reign." Although many kings have had financial problems, Philip had the kind of problems that money alone could not solve - especially if this money was tainted. Las Casas then spoke directly to the judgmental quality of God if the monarch did not heed his words, "Your Majesty should be terribly careful not to do something that will unleash God's anger against his royal person."45 Las Casas ended the Memorial with the statement that the words he spoke were the product of long years of

4lIbid., 127. 42Ibid., 82. 43Ibid., 127.

Parish, The Only Way, 50-51. On Las Casas's plan see "Carta a Carranza," Opúsculos, 431b. Las Casas, "Memorial-Sumario a Felipe II," Opúsculos, 460b.

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Bartolomé De Las Casas : Prophet of the New World 1 0 1

searching out the truth, and, that he had always spoken the truth and was doing so now.

As Las Casas neared the end of his life he reflected upon what he had achieved and what he had yet to do. About two years before his death in 1566, he wrote his Last Will and Testament. Within this document we catch the final

glimpse of what was significant to Las Casas at the end of his life. As a spokesman for God, he believed he was compelled to speak and work on His behalf without regard for personal consequences or reward. As a spokesman for God, he did not consider himself responsible for the response of his hearers. The choice was theirs to accept or reject his message. His role was to preach the message; God would be concerned with the results. Each individual would bear the results of his or her own deafness. To Las Casas, it was his prophetic call, received when he was thirty years old, nearly fifty years prior to the writing of this document, that gave meaning and focus to his life. At the end of that life he emphasized and reiterated, now for the last time, how he had received the divine commission.

What I say next I hold as certain doctrine, I judge it certain, it is what the Holy Roman Church holds and values as a norm of belief for us. All that the Spaniards perpetrated against those [Indian] peoples, the robbery, the killing, the usurpation of property and jurisdiction, from kings and lords and lands and realms, the theft of things on a boundless scale and the horrible cruelties that went with that - all this was in

violation of the whole natural law, and a terrible blot on the name of Christ and the Christian faith. It was all an absolute impediment to faith, all a mortal damage to the souls and bodies of those innocent peoples. And I think that God shall have to pour out His fury and anger on Spain for those damnable, rotten, infamous deeds done so unjustly, so tyrannically, so barbarously to those people, against those people. For the whole of Spain has shared in the blood-soaked riches, some a little, some a lot, but all shared in goods that were ill-gotten, wickedly taken with violence and genocide - and all must pay unless Spain does a mighty penance. And I fear it will be too late or not at all, because there is a blindness God permits to come over sinners great and small, but especially over those who drive us or are considered prudent and wise, who give the world orders - a blindness because of sins, about everything in general. But especially that recent blindness of understanding which for the last seventy years has proceeded to shock and scandalize and rob and kill those people overseas. A blindness that is not even today aware that such scandals to our faith, such defamations of it, such robbing and injustice and violence and slaughter and enslavement and usurpation of foreign rule and rulers, above all

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such devastation, such genocide of populations, have been sins, have been monumental injustices [emphasis added].46

The thread that runs throughout the message of Las Casas is a prophetic one. His interest was in stopping the slaughter of his beloved Indians and bringing them the Gospel message of the Church he loved and served. In order to achieve these goals, the nation that he represented and the monarch he obeyed must come into line with the will and Word of God. Las Casas knew God had

appointed him as the messenger to his nation on behalf of the Indians, and he wholeheartedly gave himself to this task. Selections from his works after his dramatic call in 1514 reveal his consistent, if ever more direct, message to the monarchy that God's judgment was imminent to all who failed to heed his words. Because of his words and actions, along with his other roles, Bartolomé de Las Casas deserves the title of "Prophet of the New World."

46Bartolomé de Las Casas, Indian Freedom: The Cause of Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484-1566). A reader, translated by Francis Patrick Sullivan (Kansas City, 1995), 353-5.

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