Strictly speaking, Indian law is the set of legislative provisions or legal rules enacted by the Spanish monarchs or their delegated authorities, both in Spain and in America, to be applied, generally or individually, in all the territories of the Indies. Western, during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mainly, dominated by Spain.
In a broad sense, Indian law is the legal system that was applied in America during the three centuries of Spanish rule, this law included:
The norms created especially for the Indians in the metropolis and in the American territories.
Castilian law, used in the absence of special provisions.
Indigenous law, typical of aborigines.
Carrying out work to establish periods in Indian law is difficult due to its casuistic and special character, as it is difficult to try to understand in all its complexity the circumstances that presided over the development of the colonizing work of Spain in America.
However, following its general guidelines, three main stages can be specified:
- Stages of formation, ranging from the Capitulations of Santa Fe to the reforms of Juan de Ovando (1492-1571). Consolidation stage, which extends from the reforms to the promulgation of the Compilation of Laws of the Indies (1571-1680).Stage of Bourbon reformism, which occurs throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
This research work is divided into the following parts: the first deals with the Crowns of Castile and Aragon, the Incorporation of territories from Marriage and the Sources and institutions. The second deals with Indian Law: concept and characteristics. The following focuses on the First sources of Indian law: the Capitulations of Santa Fe de Granada and the Bulas Alejandrinas. The fourth, enters the Defense of the Indians: Laws of Burgos and New Laws. The fifth refers to the Application of Spanish Law and Indigenous custom. Sex describes the compilation phenomenon up to the 17th century: Vasco de Puga's Cedulario, Ovando's draft code and Encinas' Cedulario. The penultimate, develops the Indiana Administration and the last, presents the European Legal Culture and its European projection.
We wish to express our gratitude to all those who have supported us for the successful completion of this monograph.
1- THEME:
1.1. Coronas de Castilla y Aragón
The Crown of Castile, as a historical entity, is usually considered to begin with the last and final union of the kingdoms of León and Castilla in 1230, or with the union of the Cortes, some decades later. In this year of 1230, Fernando III the Saint was crowned king of Castilla and León (which included the old kingdoms of Galicia and Asturias).
1.1.1 History
a- Two kingdoms: León and Castilla
The Kingdom of Castile appears first as a county within the Kingdom of León, swinging during the second half of the 10th century and the first half of the 11th century between it and the Kingdom of Navarre and later it will achieve royal status.
The kingdoms of León and Castilla had previously reunited on two occasions:
- In the year 1037, Ferdinand I unites for the first time the kingdoms of León and Castilla, after his death in 1065 the kingdoms are divided between his sons and therefore they separate. A second union will take place from 1072 with Alfonso VI until the 1157 at the death of Alfonso VII.
Ferdinand III the Saint received the Kingdom of Castile from his mother Berenguela (in 1217) and agreed in 1230, after the death of his father, Alfonso IX, to that of León. Likewise, he took advantage of the weakness of the Almohad kingdom to conquer the Guadalquivir valley, while his son Alfonso took the Kingdom of Murcia.
The kings of the Crown of Castile had the titles of King of Castile, León, Toledo, Galicia, Murcia, Jaén, Córdoba and Seville and Señor de Vizcaya y Molina. His heir carried the title of Prince of Asturias.
b. Unification of the Courts
The union of the kingdoms under one sovereign, had as an almost immediate consequence the union of the Cortes de León and Castilla. They were articulated into three arms that corresponded respectively to the noble, ecclesiastical and citizen estates and although the number of cities represented in Cortes varied over time, it was King John I who definitively established the specific cities that would have right to send solicitors to Cortes: Burgos, Toledo, León, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolis, Soria, Madrid, Guadalajara and Granada (from 1492).
With Alfonso X, most of the Cortes meetings are joint for all kingdoms. The Courts of 1258 in Valladolid are De Castiella and Estremadura e de tierra de León and those of Seville in 1261 De Castiella e de León e of all the other our Regnos. Later some separate Courts would be made, such as in 1301 (Burgos for Castilla, Zamora for León), but the representatives of cities ask that the unification be returned to:
The Castilian representatives request: Well, I now support these courts here in Castiella, apart from the people of Estremadura, from the land of León, who, henceforth, would not take it for granted
Like the Leonese: when he cuts off facer Cortes who makes them with all the omnes of my land in one in Leonese lands.
Although at first the singular kingdoms and the cities retained their particular rights (among which were the Fuero Viejo de Castilla or the different were municipal of the councils of Castilla, León, Extremadura and Andalusia), soon a territorial right was articulated Castilian around the Departures (h. 1265), the Order of Alcalá (1248) and the Laws of Toro (1505) that continued in force until 1889, the year in which the Spanish Civil Code was promulgated.
1.1.2 The Spanish language and the Universities
In the 13th century, there were in the kingdoms of León and Castilla numerous languages such as Castilian, Astur-Leonese, Euskera or Galician. But in this century, Castilian Spanish began to gain strength as a vehicular and cultural instrument (eg El Cantar de Mío Cid).
In the last years of Fernando III, Spanish began to be used for certain documents. But the Castilian language reaches the official title with Alfonso X, from then on all public documents will be written in Spanish, also the translations instead of being in Latin will be done in that language:
He sent to transfer the Arabic in Castilian language because the men understood it better and knew more about how to take advantage of it
Some people consider that the substitution of Latin for Castilian is due to the strength of the new language, others consider that it was due to the influence of Hebrew intellectuals, hostile to Latin because it is the language of the Christian church.
Also in the 13th century, a large number of universities in Castilla will begin to be founded, some, such as those of Salamanca or Palencia, will be the first European universities.
In 1492, with the Catholic Monarchs, the first edition of Antonio de Nebrija's Grammar on the Spanish Language will be published.
1.1.3 S. XIV-XV: Ascent of the Trastamaras to the throne
a- The Catholic Monarchs: Union with the Crown of Aragon
In 1469, Isabel and Fernando, Crown Prince of Aragon, married in secret. This link, had as a consequence the union of the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon in 1479 when Fernando accessed the Aragonese Crown, although it is not effective until the reign of his grandson, Carlos I. Isabel and Fernando were related familiarly and they had married without papal approval and were therefore excommunicated. Later, Alexander VI will grant them the title of Catholic Monarchs.
Due to the marriage of Isabel and Fernando, the king and half-brother of Isabel Enrique IV considered broken the Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando by which Isabel would accede to the throne of Castile at her death provided she had his approval to marry, Enrique IV, In addition, he wanted to ally the Castilian Crown with Portugal or France instead of Aragon. For these reasons, she declares her daughter Juana la Beltraneja as heir to the throne in front of Isabel. When Enrique IV died in 1474, a civil war began that lasted until 1479 for the succession to the throne between Isabel's supporters and those of Juana, in which Isabel's supporters won.
Thus, after the victory of Isabel in the Castilian civil war and the ascension to the throne of Fernando, the two Crowns will be united under the same monarchs, but Castilla and Aragon will be administratively separated, each Crown will retain its identity and laws, the Castilian courts they will remain separated from the Aragonese, the only common institution will be the Inquisition. Despite their titles as Kings of Castilla, León, Aragon and Sicily, Fernando and Isabel reigned more each in the affairs of their respective Crowns, although they also made common decisions. The central position of the Crown of Castile, its greater extension (3 times the Aragonese territory) and population (4.3 million compared to about 1 million of the Aragonese Crown) will make it take the dominant role in the union.
The Castilian aristocracy was powerful thanks to the Reconquest (as Henry IV could verify). Monarchs need to impose themselves on the nobles and the clergy. In the year 1476 the Council of the Brotherhood was founded, which will be known as the Holy Brotherhood. In addition, measures are taken against the nobility, feudal castles are destroyed, private wars are prohibited and the power of the advanced is reduced. The monarchy incorporated military orders under the Council of Orders in 1495, the royal power in justice was strengthened at the expense of the feudals and the Audience became the supreme body in judicial matters. The royal power also seeks to control the cities more, so in the Cortes de Toledo in 1480 the corregidores were created to supervise the city councils.In the religious aspect, religious orders are reformed and uniformity is sought. There is pressure for the conversion of the Jews and in some cases they are persecuted by the Inquisition, finally in 1492, for those unconverted their expulsion is decided, estimating that some 50,000 to 70,000 people had to leave the Crown of Castile. Since 1502 the conversion of the Muslim population has also been sought.
Between 1478 and 1497 the Canary Islands of Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife were conquered. On January 2, 1492, the kings entered the Alhambra in Granada, thus ending the Reconquest. The important figure of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (nicknamed the Great Captain) will appear. In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the West Indies and in 1497 Melilla was taken. After the seizure of the Kingdom of Granada for the Crown of Castile, foreign policy will turn towards the Mediterranean, Castilla will help Aragon with its armies in its problems with France, which will culminate in the recovery of Naples in 1504 for the Crown of Aragon. Later that year, Queen Elizabeth died.
Isabel had excluded her husband from the succession to the Crown of Castile, which passed into the hands of his daughter Juana (married to Felipe de Austria, nicknamed the Beautiful). But Isabel knew of the illness that her daughter suffered (for which she was known as Juana la loca) and appoints Fernando as regent in case Juana does not want or could understand in their government. In the concord of Salamanca (1505), the joint government of Felipe, Fernando and Juana herself was agreed. However, the bad relations between her (supported by the Castilian nobility) and her father-in-law, King Ferdinand the Catholic, make the latter relinquish power in Castile to avoid an armed confrontation. By Villafáfila's agreement (1506), Fernando retired to Aragon and Felipe was proclaimed King of Castile.The following year (1507) Felipe I died and Fernando el Católico returned to the regency.
Fernando continues the policy of expansion of both crowns, Castilla to the Atlantic and Aragon to the Mediterranean. In 1508 La Gomera was conquered for Castile, between 1509 and 1511 Oran, Burgia and Tripoli were conquered and he submitted to Algiers.
In 1515 Mers-el-Kebir was taken. When Gastón de Foix died, the Kingdom of Navarra was left without a successor in 1512, Fernando quickly occupied it, using his rights to the throne for his second marriage as an argument. Between 1512 and 1515 it became part of the Crown of Aragon, and in 1515 it passed into the hands of the Crown of Castile.
On Fernando's death in 1516, Cardinal Gonzalo Jiménez de Cisneros succeeded him as regent to pass the two crowns to his grandson, son of Juana and Felipe: The future Carlos I
1.1.4 XVI-XVII Centuries: From Empire to Crisis
a- Carlos I or Emperor Carlos V
Carlos I receives the Crown of Castile, that of Aragon and the Empire due to a combination of dynastic marriages and premature deaths.
From his father Felipe (died 1506) he inherits the Netherlands
When Ferdinand the Catholic (his grandfather) died, he received the Crown of Aragon in 1517 and also that of Castile (along with America) as his mother (Juana la loca) was unable to govern.
And as Maximilian's grandson, he receives in 1519 the Holy Roman Empire under the name of Charles V.
Carlos I was not well received in Castilla. He who was a foreign king (born in Ghent) contributed to this, and before his arrival in Castile, he granted important positions to Flemish and Castilian money was used to finance his court. The Castilian nobility and the cities were close to an uprising to defend their rights. Many Castilians preferred his younger brother Fernando (raised in Castile) and in fact the Council of Castile opposes Carlos's idea as King of Castile.
In the Castilian Cortes in Valladolid in 1518, a man (Jean de Sauvage) was appointed president, this provokes angry protests in the Cortes, which reject the presence of foreigners in their deliberations. Despite the threats, the Cortes (led by Juan de Zumel, representative for Burgos) resist and get the king to swear to respect the laws of Castile, remove foreigners from important posts and learn to speak Spanish. Carlos, after his oath, gets a grant of 600,000 ducats.
Carlos I is aware that he has many options to be emperor and he needs to prevail in the Crown of Castile and access his wealth for his imperial dream. Castilla was one of the most dynamic, rich and advanced territories in the Europe of the XVI century, and begins to realize that it can be immersed in an empire, this together with the lack of promise by Carlos, makes the Hostility towards the new king increases. In 1520 the Cortes in Toledo were summoned for another subsidy (the service), which the Cortes rejected. Santiago is called again with the same result. Finally they are called in La Coruña, a large number of representatives are bribed, others are not allowed to enter, and they get the service approved. The representatives who voted in favor are attacked by the Castilian people and their burned houses.The Cortes will not be the only opposition that Carlos will meet, when he left Castilla in 1520 the War of the Communities of Castilla broke out. The comuneros were defeated a year later (1521), after the defeat, the Cortes were reduced to a mere advisory body.
1-2 The incorporation of territories from marriage
It can be considered that the modern history of Spain began with the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (1474-1516), during which period it made decisive progress towards the integration, under a single sovereign, of the various kingdoms and territories into which it had been divided. the old Roman Hispania.
The marriage of Isabel and Fernando supposed the connection of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon, each of which was made up of a group of kingdoms. The Crown of Aragon included those of Aragon, Valencia and Mallorca, in addition to the principality of Catalonia and the kingdoms of Sicily and Sardinia, in southern Italy. The Crown of Castile covered most of the Iberian Peninsula, with the exception of the Aragonese territories, Navarra, Portugal and the kingdom of Granada; Its various kingdoms (fruit of the progressive incorporation of territories during the Reconquest to the initial nucleus of the Asturian kingdom) were different from those of the Crown of Aragon in that they did not maintain laws, institutions, coins or other exclusive elements, but were integrated into a unique set. They were kingdoms exclusively on paper;only the Basque provinces had a particular connection with the Crown, by virtue of which they maintained a series of their own laws and privileges.
There was no union with the Catholic Monarchs of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon. In accordance with the model that already exists in the latter, each of them maintained its laws, institutions and currencies, and customs continued in neighboring areas. However, both kings intervened, to varying degrees, in the Castilian or Aragonese governorate, and - what is more important - in the future both crowns will have the same king.
But the process towards the integration of the peninsular territory under a single sovereign is going to be much broader. The Catholic Monarchs conquered the kingdom of Granada (1492), and years later, after Isabel died, Fernando incorporated the kingdom of Navarra (1512). Four of the five kingdoms existing in Spain at the end of the Middle Ages became dependent on the same sovereign. Only Portugal was missing, which the kings tried to incorporate, without success, through arranged marriages. Outside the Iberian Peninsula, the Castilian troops conquered the kingdom of Naples (1504), as well as a series of squares in North Africa. At the same time, the Canary Islands were effectively incorporated, and the domain of what will be Spanish America began with the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. It wasn't just, therefore,of integration under the same king of the political territories of Roman Hispania; A great Mediterranean and Atlantic political power was emerging, which by virtue of the successive vicissitudes - and the marriage policy of the Catholic Monarchs - will soon also be a European power, when on the death of Fernando, the vast heritage of Castile and Aragon falls in Carlos I (1516-1556), heir also, by paternal line, of the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Franche Comté, as well as of the patrimonial dominions of the House of Austria and of the imperial title.that by virtue of the successive vicissitudes - and the marriage policy of the Catholic Monarchs - he will soon also be a European power, when the vast inheritance of Castile and Aragon falls to Carlos I (1516-1556), heir also, by paternal line, of the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Franche Comté, as well as of the patrimonial dominions of the House of Austria and of the imperial title.that by virtue of the successive vicissitudes - and the marriage policy of the Catholic Monarchs - he will soon also be a European power, when the vast inheritance of Castile and Aragon falls to Carlos I (1516-1556), heir also, by paternal line, of the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Franche Comté, as well as of the patrimonial dominions of the House of Austria and of the imperial title.
Thus appeared the so-called Hispanic Monarchy, or the Habsburgs, a supranational state made up of multiple kingdoms and territories whose only element of union was the person of the monarch. The Hispanic Monarchy (16th and 17th centuries) was also called the Catholic Monarchy, insofar as the defense of Catholic orthodoxy against Protestants became one of its main reasons for being. As in the primitive Castilian-Aragonese link, each of its member kingdoms and political territories will maintain its laws, institutions, currencies, and traditions. With Carlos I, the territorial space of the Hispanic Monarchy continued to grow, thanks to the incorporation of the Duchy of Milan and the rapid conquest of America. After his death, Philip II (1556-1598) did not inherit either the dominions of the House of Austria or the imperial title,but the expansion was completed with the incorporation of territories such as the garrisons of Tuscany, the Philippine islands, and above all, the kingdom of Portugal, with its extensive overseas empire in Africa, Asia and America.
The final years of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century were a decisive period in the European expansion beyond the ocean. The Crown of Castile, together with Portugal, was the main protagonist of such a process. By the middle of the 16th century, Spanish America had practically reached its maximum limits. In little more than half a century, the Spanish conquerors managed to incorporate vast territories in the north, center and south of the American continent. The two most important events were the rapid conquests of the Aztec (Hernán Cortés, 1519-1521) and Inca (Francisco Pizarro, 1531-1533) empires. From the remains of both, two great viceroyalties, that of New Spain (Mexico) and that of Peru, crowned the administrative organization of Spanish America.
The expansion and political dominance that began with the Catholic Monarchs could not be explained only by political skill, marriage combinations, or fortune. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Crown of Castile was one of the most vital spaces in Europe. Its weight in the whole of Spain was decisive, since it was not only more extensive than the other territories, but its population was greater, in absolute and relative terms, and grew more than that of other peninsular areas. At the end of the 16th century -the moment for which we have more reliable data- the Crown of Castile, without the Basque Country, had some 6,600,000 inhabitants, of a total population for the whole of Spain of just over 8,000,000. The Castilian economy was also the most prosperous on the peninsula; since the middle of the XV century,Castilla was in an expansionary phase, while the economy of the Crown of Aragon (mainly that of Catalonia) suffered a period of crisis and stagnation, after the prosperity of the 13th century.
The demographic growth of Castilla was especially important in the urban world. The most dynamic cities were inland, especially in the Douro and Guadalquivir valleys. In that one, apart from Valladolid, which stood out for its important political role as the preferred seat of the court until the middle of the century, cities such as Burgos, the main seat of Castilian trade abroad, experienced favorable moments; Segovia, essential nucleus of wool textile production; Medina del Campo, famous for its great international fairs, or Salamanca, which housed the most prestigious university. In the south, together with large urban centers that lived essentially on agriculture, the commercial monopoly with America made Seville, the main Spanish city of the 16th century, grow. In the last decades of that century,the establishment of the court would motivate the strong growth of Madrid. At the beginning of modern times, therefore, the most prosperous areas of the peninsula were located not only in the Crown of Castile, but especially in the interior.
The dynastic or personal character, which determined the membership of the monarchy of each of the kingdoms and territories that are part of it, and the strong autonomy that they retained, along with the existence of superior instances of government in the court, together with the king, made the monarchy of the Spanish Habsburgs a curious mixture of autonomy and centralization. The king's power was not the same in all kingdoms and territories, nor were their demographic and economic potential similar. In these conditions, the Castilian wealth and prosperity - later increased by the silver that came from America - together with the strong development of royal power in the Crown of Castile, made it, since the time of the Catholic Monarchs,in the fundamental nursery of human and material resources and in the center of gravity of the monarchy. This had clear advantages for the Castilian ruling groups: the high nobility, prominent members of the clergy or lawyers enjoyed the main positions of the monarchy, to the point of causing misgivings in other territories. However, for the common people, who paid the taxes, the imperial reality of the Habsburg monarchy only meant an increasing taxation and the sending of many of its men to supply the armies. Castile's submission to the imperial policy of the Habsburgs was even greater after the failure of the revolt of the Communities (1520-1521) - of an urban and popular nature - against the policy of the Emperor Charles I.This had clear advantages for the Castilian ruling groups: the high nobility, prominent members of the clergy or lawyers enjoyed the main positions of the monarchy, to the point of causing misgivings in other territories. However, for the common people, who paid the taxes, the imperial reality of the Habsburg monarchy only meant an increasing taxation and the sending of many of its men to supply the armies. Castile's submission to the imperial policy of the Habsburgs was even greater after the failure of the revolt of the Communities (1520-1521) - of an urban and popular nature - against the policy of the Emperor Charles I.This had clear advantages for the Castilian ruling groups: the high nobility, prominent members of the clergy or lawyers enjoyed the main positions of the monarchy, to the point of causing misgivings in other territories. However, for the common people, who paid the taxes, the imperial reality of the Habsburg monarchy only meant an increasing taxation and the sending of many of its men to supply the armies. Castile's submission to the imperial policy of the Habsburgs was even greater after the failure of the revolt of the Communities (1520-1521) - of an urban and popular nature - against the policy of the Emperor Charles I.to the point of causing misgivings in other territories. However, for the common people, who paid the taxes, the imperial reality of the Habsburg monarchy only meant an increasing taxation and the sending of many of its men to supply the armies. Castile's submission to the imperial policy of the Habsburgs was even greater after the failure of the revolt of the Communities (1520-1521) - of an urban and popular nature - against the policy of the Emperor Charles I.to the point of causing misgivings in other territories. However, for the common people, who paid the taxes, the imperial reality of the Habsburg monarchy only meant an increasing taxation and the sending of many of its men to supply the armies. Castile's submission to the imperial policy of the Habsburgs was even greater after the failure of the revolt of the Communities (1520-1521) - of an urban and popular nature - against the policy of the Emperor Charles I.Castile's submission to the imperial policy of the Habsburgs was even greater after the failure of the revolt of the Communities (1520-1521) - of an urban and popular nature - against the policy of the Emperor Charles I.Castile's submission to the imperial policy of the Habsburgs was even greater after the failure of the revolt of the Communities (1520-1521) - of an urban and popular nature - against the policy of the Emperor Charles I.
For much of the sixteenth century, successes accompanied Spanish international politics, despite the relative failure of Charles V in trying to prevent the spread of Protestantism in Germany. The defense of the western Mediterranean proved effective against the Turkish danger, which was actually reduced in the last decades of the century. However, the great cancer of the Monarchy arose in its midst with the rebellion of the Netherlands, which began in 1566, and which was to lead to a long, costly and exhausting war, which lasted, as a whole, until the middle of the century XVII, and in which the rebels - the United Provinces of Holland - frequently had the support of France and England (see War of the Netherlands).
In the midst of the economic expansion phase, the Castilian raw materials were not used to supply, sufficiently, its own artisanal production. The wool from the Mesta herds and the Basque iron were the two main articles of the Castilian export trade. In exchange, numerous foreign manufactured products invaded the internal market, favored by customs facilities, the need to supply the American market, the growth of prices in Castile, or the technical delay that soon began to manifest itself. Castilla gradually became a supplier of raw materials and a buyer of manufactured products, clearly detrimental to its industrial activity and its potential for economic growth. The policy was not alien to said process,because the excessive weight of the hegemonic government of the Habsburgs determined a strong fiscal pressure and a notable demographic wear to maintain the armies. On the other hand, at a time when the increase in production was necessarily linked to the increase in cultivated areas, population growth had a limit, which in the case of Castile seemed to have been reached towards the 1570s and 1580s.
At least from the great epidemic crisis of the late sixteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth century, the Castilian interior suffered a strong demographic and economic crisis that ended its former prosperity. Their cities lost the role they had had in the economy and were depopulated. Society became polarized and the exponents of the incipient bourgeoisie, the intermediate sectors that were the protagonists of the manufacturing, mercantile and financial activity of the previous century, disappeared. The obsession with ennobling and living on agrarian incomes served as the basis for a society with strong differences between the rich and powerful and the great impoverished popular mass.
The crisis did not affect the periphery to the same extent, including that belonging to the Crown of Castile. Most of the regions outside the peninsula maintained their population, or even increased it, despite the fact that some of them suffered strongly from the incidence of plague. In the second half of the 17th century, when the population and the economy of the interior began to recover, the center of gravity of the Spanish economy had definitely moved to the periphery. During the 18th century the situation will not change, and despite the good general situation, Catalonia, the Valencian Levante, Cádiz - center of trade with America - or the coastal areas of the Basque Country will be the most prosperous regions, compared to an interior that was recovering population, but whose economy had an essentially agrarian aspect. Madrid,in the center, he was the great exception, as a consequence of his political role.
As in other societies of the time, religious intolerance was a fundamental element. In 1492 the Jewish minority was expelled from Spain; soon after, Muslims were also forced to convert or emigrate. In both cases, however, the official extinction of Judaism and the Islamic religion did not end the problem of minorities, since many of the Jews and the vast majority of Muslims converted to the Christian faith. The Jewish problem was followed by the question of the converts, whose ultimate key was in the rejection of the minority races. The Church and most of society suspected the sincerity of the conversions; The Inquisition, which began operating in 1480, was essentially a court against converts of Jewish origin, while, in Spanish society,The differentiation between 'old' and 'new' Christians was extended, and the demonstration of 'blood cleansing' - the absence of Jewish or Muslim ancestors - became an inexcusable requirement for access to the various administrative institutions.
Unlike the converts of Jewish origin, scattered among the old Christian society and obsessed with hiding their backgrounds, the ancient Muslims, called Moors, when living grouped in certain areas of the peninsula, displayed their religion and customs and were clearly reluctant to Christian religion and culture. While converts of Jewish origin lived preferably in cities and tried to integrate into society, often in positions of some relevance, the Moors were peasants with little cultural background, which is why for much of the sixteenth century they were considered less dangerous. However, the revolt of the Alpujarras, in 1568, determined the disarticulation of the Granada nucleus, spread by the Crown of Castile, and increased intolerance towards them.At the beginning of the 17th century, the Moors - some 300,000 people - were expelled from Spain. In the kingdoms of Valencia and Aragon, the most affected, those expelled accounted for, respectively, around 30% and 25% of the population.
The reign of Felipe IV experienced one of the most intense war situations in the history of the Hispanic Monarchy, which ended up ruining the economy and the treasury of Castile, and which also weighed heavily on other territories, in particular the kingdom of Naples. The economic and social repercussions of such an effort, along with other factors, such as discontent and constitutional tensions caused by the attempts of the Count-Duke of Olivares to distribute the burdens of the imperial policy of the monarchy, to alleviate the weight that the Crown of Castile, caused a serious internal crisis, the most important manifestations of which were the revolts in Catalonia and Portugal, both initiated in 1640. Such events were the prelude to the defeat of the monarchy against the Dutch,sanctioned by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and against France by the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659). A few years later, in 1668, Portugal saw its independence recognized.
Despite the defeats of the mid-seventeenth century, during the last decades of this century, the monarchy knew how to preserve almost all of its domains, thanks, in large part, to the diplomatic skill that led it to ally itself with its previous enemies, England and Holland, facing the threatening expansionism of the France of Louis XIV. Precisely, the obsession to keep the inheritance received from his ancestors intact was one of the decisive elements that led Charles II, lacking succession, to appoint the Duke of Anjou, grandson of the French king, as heir, who, with the name of Philip V, would introduce the Bourbon dynasty in Spain (1700).
The existence of another suitor, the archduke of Austria, Charles of Habsburg, also linked to the Spanish monarchs by repeated family ties, together with the fear that inspired the power of Louis XIV, strongly increased by the inheritance of his grandson, caused the so-called war of Succession, which was not only a generalized European conflict, but in Spain had the characteristics of a civil war, pitting those loyal to Felipe V against the supporters of the Austrian archduke, especially numerous in the Crown of Aragon.
The international outcome of the war, in 1713, marked the end of the Hispanic Monarchy, since its European dominions passed into the hands of the rivals of the Bourbon side, benefiting especially Austria. In Spain, the conclusion of the war in 1715 reaffirmed Felipe V on the throne, who, in punishment for his support for his rival, suppressed the institutions and particular laws of the kingdoms and territories of the Crown of Aragon. Political power in eighteenth-century Spain was thus organized centrally, following the French model. Only Navarra and the Basque provinces, loyal to Felipe V during the war, maintained their institutions and laws.
The eighteenth century was generally a period of demographic and economic recovery, favored by reformist measures, especially intense during the reigns of Fernando VI, and above all, of Carlos III. At the end of the century, the total Spanish population could be between 10,700,000 and 11,300,000 inhabitants. Leaning on its overseas empire, Spain in this century was an important power in European politics, although its foreign policy lacked the grandeur of times past and was almost always too closely linked to France. The influence of the Enlightenment -and the passage of time- considerably reduced the importance of the Inquisition, which at the end of the century had directed its activity to the persecution of the new enlightened ideas, mainly from France,and the censorship of books (the persecution against Jews and Muslims -or converts- had been reduced, mainly because their number was already very low). Despite the signs of crisis detected during the reign of Charles IV, the Napoleonic invasion of 1808 truncated the positive evolution of eighteenth-century Spain (see Napoleonic Wars).
1-3 Sources and Institutions
1.3.1 Sources
- Marqués de Lozoya, «Second Volume of History of Spain», Salvat, 1952 edition, page 60: «The Kingdom of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia and the Kingdom of Mallorca, constitute a confederation of States» Opinion on the title of Prince of Gerona, Juan Ferrando Badía, Consell Valencià de Cultura, February 1990. CONFEDERATION? Article by Guillermo Pérez (Professor of Modern History at the University of Zaragoza) in El Periódico de Aragón, Captain Margarit at the Columbus monument in Barcelona, The Inquisition in America, the School of Salamanca and Augustinian teaching of cosmography in New Spain. Armando Barrañón Cedillo, from the University of Mexico Cádiz, the decisive centuries (ISBN 84-7737-031-1), Manuel Bustos
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_de_Arag%C3%B3n"
1.3.2 Institutions
The non-integration of the kingdoms of the Crown supposed that the king was not in his kingdom for most of the time. But the king was the highest legal, governmental and judicial authority, so he had to appoint whoever represented him. At first these were called lieutenants, and later viceroys, and with this name they would pass to the Spanish Administration. The performance of the viceroys was controlled by means of the visit and the purge of the taula (or trial of residence).
The Aragonese municipal model was exported to the Mediterranean kingdoms. They have a lot of autonomy against the king and the feudal lords, thanks to their privileges. The king's representative in the municipality was the veguer, who had judicial, governmental and military functions.
The marriage followed the endowment regime, in which both husbands were owners of all the community property, and the woman could administer them. In addition, the mayorazgo in the inheritance is generalized. It is the time of the reception of Roman Law.
Professional unions, particularly those of merchants, are also organized, and consulates are created in all market cities, such as the Consulate of the Sea, in Barcelona or in Valencia. These consulates are privileged associations, with their jurisdiction and their judges.
2- THEME: Indian Law
2.1 Concept of Indian Law
Indian law is that law that governed the Indies during the period of domination of the Spanish Crown.
2.2 Characteristics of Indian Law
Indian law has the following characteristics:
- It is an evangelizing right: The Pope had given these lands to the Catholic Monarchs on the condition that they should evangelize these territories. It is an unsystematic right: Indian legislation lacks unity, they are scattered norms without a system (alien to theorizing). It was tried to put a little in order with the famous "Compilation of Laws of the Indies" of the year 1680. It is a casuistic right: This is because the norms that emanated from the Iberian peninsula did not automatically affect the New World, since These rules were reviewed by the American authorities, and if in their opinion those were unfair, the King was asked to review them.It is a right in which public law tends to prevail over private law:Mainly referred to administrative regulations such as the organization of the Viceroyalties, Governors, Royal Audiences, etc. It is a right that tended to the protection of the aboriginal: This by virtue of the abuses committed by the conquerors. It is a right based on the Principle of Personality of Law: That is, to each individual the Indian law is applied according to their personal circumstances, in order to give each one what corresponds to him is distinguished between races, noble status, profession or trade, etc. a right that gave great importance to morality: Morality was especially relevant to solve all kinds of problems. This law provided that natural law prevails over positive law.It is a right that tended to the protection of the aboriginal: This by virtue of the abuses committed by the conquerors. It is a right based on the Principle of Personality of Law: That is, to each individual the Indian law is applied according to their personal circumstances, in order to give each one what corresponds to him is distinguished between races, noble status, profession or trade, etc. It is a right that gave great importance to morality: Morality was especially relevant to solve all kinds of problems. This law provided that natural law prevails over positive law.It is a right that tended to the protection of the aboriginal: This by virtue of the abuses committed by the conquerors. It is a right based on the Principle of Personality of Law: That is, to each individual the Indian law is applied according to their personal circumstances, in order to give each one what corresponds to him is distinguished between races, noble status, profession or trade, etc. It is a right that gave great importance to morality: Morality was especially relevant to solve all kinds of problems. This law provided that natural law prevails over positive law.Indian law is applied to each individual according to their personal circumstances, in order to give each person his due distinction between races, noble status, profession or trade, etc. It is a right that gave great importance to Morality: Morality was especially relevant to solve all kinds of problems. This law provided that natural law prevails over positive law.Indian law is applied to each individual according to their personal circumstances, in order to give each person his due distinction between races, noble status, profession or trade, etc. It is a right that gave great importance to Morality: Morality was especially relevant to solve all kinds of problems. This law provided that natural law prevails over positive law.
3- THEME: First Sources of Indian Law
In a broad sense the expression Indian Law refers to the Law applied in the Indies and in those islands of Oceania colonized by Spain; However, strictly speaking, it refers to the set of laws, norms and dispositions dictated by the kings and, on their behalf, by the other authorities and government bodies submitted that formed the special legal system that governed the New World. In the first decades, Indian Law was a mere extension of the Law of Castile, thanks to the fact that it was precisely the Crown of Castile that promoted and supported the burdens of discovery; however, it was soon realized that the problems of the discovered territory were very different from the European or Spanish ones and, consequently,it was difficult for the Castilian legislation to solve the conflicts that arose in the Indian reality. All this caused the Castilian authorities to elaborate, casuistically, new norms specially conceived to solve the concrete problems of which the legislators were aware, thus emerging a new law: the Indiano.
Given that Indian law arose, developed and disappeared in a past time domain, it is not possible to examine it identically as we would currently analyze current law, which is why we will have no choice but to go to its sources of knowledge that As far as the History of Law is concerned, we can divide them into two large groups:
- Legal.- Those that performed a function, with more or less intensity, of a legal nature in the Law at hand, that is, in Indian Law. Laws understood in a very broad, comprehensive sense of laws themselves, Pragmatics, Commandments of governance, etc. would be included in this section. and whatever the form they adopt (Provisions, Cedulas, Decrees, Orders, Instructions, Cars, etc.) Non-legal.- Those others that, not being in direct connection with the Law, allow us to know it in any of its aspects. Thus, they can be of the most varied nature, such as historical and narrative (chronicles, relationships,…), geographic (geographical descriptions of America or its provinces, travel books,…), literary (novels, poetry, dramas,…) or even pictorial (drawings, paintings,picture,…).
Professor and expert García - Gallo, dealt with rigorous seriousness of each type of source, revealing the in-depth examination carried out by the professor in this regard, which, undoubtedly, has served as a foundation, basis and guide for further investigative tasks undertaken by different scholars of The matter. Especially noteworthy are his numerous monographic works to which we will refer in the second appendix of this analysis.
Sources of Indian Law
- Legal Sources Compilation of Laws of the Reynos de las Indias (1681)
www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/LeyIndiaP.htm
Full text (Juan de Solórzano and Pereyra Institute Project)
First Book, title 22 «Of the Universities, and General and particular Studies»
- Other normative sources Queen Elizabeth the Catholic's codec (1504)
Codicil of Queen Isabel La Católica.
- Requirement of Dr. Juan López de Palacios Rubios (1513)
www.solorzano.cl/requemiento.htm
- Authors Letters from Admiral Christopher Columbus
cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/049596188953519852524303/
- Hernán Cortés, Relationship Letters
cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/488576176795513831820142/
- Pedro de Valdivia, Letters of the discovery and conquest of the Reyno de Chile (1545-1552)
cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/416947790655629423731870/
- Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Very brief account of the destruction of the Indies
cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/594949822652289726355858/
- Fray Toribio de Motolinía, History of the Indians of New Spain
cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/150360572850409841263014/
- José de Acosta (1539-1600), Natural and moral history of the Indies
www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/917718365900624150243571/
- José de Acosta (1539-1600), Preaching the Gospel in the Indies
www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/979408586197513072242433/p0000001.htm#1
3.1 Capitulations of Santa Fe de Granada
The Capitulations of Santa Fe de la Vega de Granada were documents signed by Isabel la Católica, on April 17, 1492, authorizing and financing the expedition of Christopher Columbus to the Indies by sea to the west.
In this document he is named admiral and Governor-General in all the territories that he discovered or gained during his life, naming his successors as heirs for life.
He was also given a tithe on all the merchandise he found, earned, and had in conquered places. They are signed by Fernando's secretary and a trusted man, Luis de Santángel.
Santa Fe was the city founded on the camp that Isabel la Católica established as the headquarters for the conquest of Granada, and the capitulations were signed in the last times of the siege of the city.
Currently the original of the Capitulations is kept in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona.
3.2 The Alexandrine Bulls
It is the collective name given to the set of papal documents that grant Castilla the right to conquer America and the obligation to evangelize it (the two Inter cœtera, Eximiœ devotionis and Dudum siquidemque), issued by the Holy See in 1493 at the request of the Catholic Monarchs, whose influence before Pope Alexander VI (of the Valencian Borja or Borgia family) was powerful enough to achieve them.
Alexander VI and Jacopo Pesaro before San Pedro, Titian, 1509. The naval scene in the background, the banner and the helmet set the historical moment well
a- Contents of the Bulls
In the bulls it is specified that dominion is granted over discovered and undiscovered lands on the islands and mainland of the Ocean Sea, as they are lands of infidels in which the Pope, as vicar of Christ on Earth, has the power to do so. The concession is made with their lordships, cities, castles, places and towns and with all their rights and jurisdictions so that the Catholic Monarchs have such dominion "as lords with full, free and absolute power, authority and jurisdiction", with no other condition than not to harm another Christian prince who might have a recognized right in them; and any other person is excluded from any dignity, status, degree, order or condition, even imperial or royal, in commerce or in anything else, without the express license of the Catholic Monarchs. Bulls, therefore,they decreed excommunication for all those who dared to travel to the Indies in the West without authorization from the kings of Castile. The only counterpart of the donation is the corresponding obligation of the kings to evangelize the granted lands.
b- Why Castilla and Portugal
The fact that in 1493 the existence of a New World between Europe and Asia was not known does not invalidate the donation. In practice, a division of the world was sanctioned between the two powers that opted for it: Castile and Portugal. It is no coincidence, everything contributes to it: the conjuncture of the end of the Reconquest, the modernity of its political system (the authoritarian monarchies of both), the dynamics of their economies (Castilian wool for the 15th century has been compared to oil for the XX), geography (they occupy the southwestern corner of Europe), the advanced bases of the Canary Islands and Azores, the human capital of their sailors (who inherit and update their information on the Atlantic each generation) with the addition of the Italian colonies, and its advanced naval technology.
The bulls, despite being a Castilian triumph, had a clear arbitration component (recognized by Pedro Mártir de Anglería) in the centuries-old negotiations for the Atlantic routes of the West African coast, revalued since the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and devalued since discovery of Columbus. If until then they had been divided with a north-south division following the border a parallel (Treaty of Alcaçovas, 1479), now the same was done from east to west following the border a meridian: the one that passes one hundred leagues from the Azores Islands and Cape Verde.
Later, under pressure from Juan II of Portugal who considered papal arbitration abusive, the two powers signed the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) where the distance was fixed at 370 leagues, which caused the fall of the Brazilian coast (which was not discovered up to 1500) in the Portuguese zone.
c- Causes
The reasons why Alexander VI granted the bulls are easy to understand. It is the result of the special relationship between Reyes and Papa. The same title of Catholic Monarchs that Isabel and Fernando held was also his concession (see Catholic Monarchy). Apart from the piety of the kings or the national origin of the pope, there were two powerful reasons:
'The war': imminent with the ambitious King Charles VIII of France, who would take advantage of the death of Ferdinand I of Naples (January 1494) to invade Italy, and in which the troops of the Great Captain experienced in the War of Granada would be very useful (1495)
The money: to celebrate the taking of Granada (Spain) and paid with the first gold arrived from America, the chapel of the Spanish Academy in Rome, called San Pietro in Montorio (1502, architect Bramante, precedent of the dome of San Pedro de Miguel Ángel).
d- Consequences
The intellectual debates that provoked the Alexandrian bulls include the discussion of the just titles of dominion over America, or controversy of the natives, which had its summits in the Junta de Burgos (1512) and the Junta de Valladolid of 1550-1551, where Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de las Casas faced each other.
As for the consequences in international relations, the respect produced by papal excommunications proved to be directly proportional to the capacity of the Spanish ships that enforced them. The 16th century saw how, as soon as they felt capable, the French, the English and the Dutch took advantage of any opportunity to explore and, if necessary, colonize the American coast. The ironic question, where is the clause of Adam's will that divides the world between Castilians and Portuguese ?, attributed to Francisco I of France is a good example of this.
4- THEME: The Defense of the Indians
Despite the fact that there had always been isolated voices, crying out for greater respect for the conquered, new voices, increasingly stronger and more frequent, began to rise to condemn the mistreatment that the Spanish gave to the indigenous people and the unrestricted usufruct that he made his work and the land they had previously owned.
To govern the territories incorporated into the kingdom of Spain, the Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Fernando, created, in 1511, an institution called the Caribbean Colony, which was the first legal organization instituted by the Crown in America. It had its headquarters in Santo Domingo and for many years it was the only Court of Appeals that existed in the conquered territories.
That same year, the priest Antonio de Montesinos condemned, from the pulpit of the church in the Plaza Mayor in Lima, the abusive attitude of the conquerors towards the Indians. Initially it was believed that this harangue was on its own initiative, but later it became known that the document protesting against the prevailing regime of subjugation of the indigenous people had been drafted by the community of Dominican priests established in the territory of the Spanish Island, which is what Cuba was initially called.
The commotion caused by Montesinos' first sermon was increasing because the priest continued his preaching on behalf of the indigenous people.
"Decide by what right and with what justice do you hold these Indians in such cruel and horrible servitude?" He once asked, from the pulpit, to his astonished listeners.
The complaint for this attitude, which the authorities of the Colony considered to be stirring up the rebellion in the Indies, reached the Provincial of the Dominicans of the Colony, who transmitted it to his superior in Spain. And from there it quickly reached King Fernando's ears.
Shocked by the issue of the injustice of the treatment of the native population, the same that had deserved a paragraph in the will of Queen Elizabeth, his wife, who asked for "justice and well-being in favor of the Indians," the king summoned theologians and jurists to a meeting that is known as the Junta de Burgos, by the name of the city where it took place.
There, while the priests, especially the Dominicans, defended the indigenous people, some theologians affirmed that the Indians lived in an "almost invincible" idleness, for which, they considered, it would be very difficult for them to be accepted in the Christian religion.
For this reason, those who denigrated the American population said, it was necessary to establish for them a “tutoring” that should last “three lives”, that is, it could only be extinguished when it had been inherited three times.
As a result of this meeting, in 1512 a Declaration of Principles was drafted, which is known as the Laws of Burgos and consisted of seven points. In the opinion of some historians, these laws were the first outline of modern Labor Law, at the international level, because they recognized the rights of workers, as such, regardless of their nationality.
Referring to these provisions, the historian Angel Lozada, has said that, as a whole, the Laws of Burgos were "the first code in the history of humanity that governs the relations between the colonizing people and the colonized people" and also attributes them the special characteristic and the merit of having been promulgated by the oppressor for the benefit of the oppressed.
This legislation undoubtedly constituted a milestone in the so-called Indian Law, despite the fact that it only dealt with very specific issues in relation to the indigenous problem.
It was established in the so-called Burgos Laws that the indigenous people had to carry on their backs "a maximum bearable load", that they had the right to compulsory rest breaks and that pregnant women were exempt from working. This document also contemplated that the native settlers deserved "a good deal" and, to ensure that these provisions were complied with, it was established that there should be inspectors who had to visit the territories of the colony, ensuring that the laws were respected.
These provisions, however, were not to the liking of those who defended the indigenous cause. Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, a priest who had arrived in America in one of the 17 ships that were part of the squadron of the second voyage of Christopher Columbus, was one of the main detractors of the Laws of Burgos, whom he opposed with passionate allegations.
As the controversy continued, the following year, in 1513, a new Junta was convened, this time in the city of Valladolid, to review the Laws of Burgos. And then the Valladolid Laws came out, which made some modifications, more in form than in substance, to the previous ones.
a- Bartolomé de Las Casas: (Seville 1474 - Madrid 1566)
Called by historians "the apostle of the Indians," Bartolomé de las Casas was the son of Don Pedro de las Casas, a Spaniard who was already in America and owned land when his son arrived in 1502.
Fray Bartolomé de las Casas is said to have been the first priest to say his first mass in the New World, because shortly before traveling he had ordained himself as a priest.
In the early days of his stay in America, he played the double and contradictory role of priest and settler, as he had an "encomienda" inherited from his father.
In his capacity as a member of the religious order of the Dominican friars, De las Casas was among the Spaniards who, by order of Diego Colón, had gone to populate Cuba and on that occasion, received from the hands of Diego Velásquez, the leader of the expedition, a good "distribution of Indians" or a large number of Indians who worked for him.
However, he insisted that there was no contradiction between the two positions, because although the natives worked for him, they received a salary and good treatment.
Criticizing this attitude, his detractors said that it was a feeling of guilt, which, years later, in 1515, already returned to the "encomiendas", which led him to defend so ardently the native settlers of America.
His allegations, to spread which he used many times "the press" that is, pamphlets printed in the newly invented printing press, gave rise to the cause and the "Lascasista" doctrine, in which all those who defended the rights of indigenous people were enrolled, which, despite the preaching and the laws issued in their favor, continued to be the subject of exploitation and ill-treatment.
De las Casas had not pursued university studies, like many of the other priests and jurists who were in America at the same time as him. He was self-taught, but his continuous readings, his travels and his close knowledge of the reality of the indigenous people gave him sufficient knowledge to firmly defend his truth.
For his libertarian ideas and for his tenacity in defending them, De las Casas has been compared to Jean Jacques Rousseau, Swiss writer and philosopher who, centuries later proclaimed that the first right of man was to be free. In his "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality," Rousseau advocated, as De las Casas did, in colonial America, that it was society that corrupted men.
De las Casas defended the indigenous people on two fronts: in the aspect of evangelization, which he considered necessary for the spiritual improvement of the natives and in assistance on the material level, which he considered should be carried out with the intervention of public powers.
In one of his pronouncements in favor of the Indians, he said: "Any intervention of a developed people in the affairs of a less developed one, whether for material aid, to make them change their religion or ideologies that are considered erroneous, must be conditioned to the absolute respect of the ancestral beliefs of said people ”.
Even without having specialized knowledge, guided only by the principle that governed his life, which was a resolute opposition to all kinds of violence, De las Casas was one of the forerunners of Indian Law in the aspect of respect for the human rights of the most helpless.
4.1 Laws of Burgos
The Burgos laws were the first laws that the Hispanic Monarchy applied in America to organize their conquest.
This is a series of ordinances issued in the city of Burgos on January 27, 1512, for the government with greater justice than the natives, Indians or natives. The cause of its promulgation was the legal problem that had been raised by the conquest and colonization of the Indies or the New World, where Castilian common law could not be applied.
a- The Burgos Board
The ordinances included the conclusions adopted by a board of theologians and jurists, known as the Board of Burgos, which had met in response to the famous sermon by Montesinos (1511) and his denunciation of the social conditions of the indigenous people (not so much to debate the romantic matter of whether the Indians had souls). It concluded with a series of principles:
b- The Indians are free.
The Catholic Monarchs are lords of the Indians for their evangelizing commitment
Indians could be forced to work as long as the work was tolerable and the wage fair, although it could be paid in kind and not in money
War is justified if the Indians refused to be Christianized; and for this the institution of the requirement was created. A conquest was only justified if the Indians refused to be evangelized.
King Ferdinand the Catholic commissioned the two most prominent representatives of the junta to fix their position in two treaties:
Juan López de Palacios Rubios, consultant to the court for Indian matters, is the strongest defender of the theocratic argument that justifies the papal concession (Bulas Alejandrinas)
Matías de Paz, professor of theology in Salamanca, no less theocratic, but who at least insists on the need to inform the Indians of the rights of the King of Castile with a request before submitting them peacefully or waging war on them.
c. Laws and their application
The scope of implementation of the laws was to begin with the island of Hispaniola, to later extend to the islands of Puerto Rico and Jamaica. The ordinances authorize and legalize the practice of the distributions in charge of Indians by the colonizers at the rate of a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 150 individuals, but they endeavored to establish a thorough regulation of the regime of work, wages, food, housing, hygiene and care of the Indians in a highly protective and humanitarian sense.
The encomenderos were strictly forbidden from applying any punishment to the Indians, which is reserved for the visitors established in each town and in charge of meticulous compliance with the laws. Pregnant women over four months old were exempt from work.
The catechesis of the Indians was ordered, bigamy was condemned and they were forced to build their huts or cabins next to the houses of the Spanish. The authority of the caciques was respected, in a certain way, who was exempted from ordinary work and given several Indians as servants.
Failure to comply with the laws in a multitude of cases led to numerous complaints and protests.
d- Consequences
The next generation of debates that deepened on the same question (which will be known by the name of the controversy of the natives or just titles) was after the New Laws of 1542 with the Junta de Valladolid.
4.2 New Laws
Laws of the Indies is the legislation promulgated by the Spanish monarchs to regulate social, political and economic life among the inhabitants of the Spanish Colonies in America.
Not long after the discovery of America, the Spanish Crown ordered that the so-called Burgos Laws be observed, enacted on December 27, 1512, which arise from the concern of the Crown for the constant mistreatment of indigenous people, according to reports of the Dominican parents.
The Dominican bishop Bartolomé de las Casas, raised a debate around the mistreatment of indigenous people with the encomienda system, for which reason Emperor Carlos V convened a board of jurists in order to resolve the controversy. From this meeting came the so-called New Laws, in 1542, which placed the Indians under the protection of the Crown.
After many legal controversies between Spain, New Spain and Peru, during the reign of Carlos II of Spain (1665-1700), a work known as the Compilation of Laws of the Indies was published in 1680.
5- THEME:
5-1 The Application of Spanish Law
Castilian law, especially through the Siete Partidas, gave privileged treatment to custom. Alfonso the Wise would define it as "right or jurisdiction that is not written; which the houses have used long time helping themselves in things and in the reasons why they used it »45. It was natural that this should be so, either because the king's centralist and unitary vocation never achieved an absolute character in the Peninsula, or because it was necessary for political convenience to recognize local jurisdictions, and with it their laws and customs.
In historical law, none of the laws prior to the Parties explicitly recognized the value of custom as an immediate source of common law. At first glance neither the Fuero Juzgo, nor the municipal Fueros, nor the Fuero Real, nor the fuero viejo, accepted in general or in particular, with greater or lesser breadth and more or less enthusiasm, the popular rules established by common use during long time, in the sense of serving as a legal norm of state legislation46; it being necessary for the Games to be published, so that in them Alfonso the Wise, in the 13th century, declared custom as a source of civil law47. There he expressed that «the custom is introduced by the use of the people during the time of twenty and twenty years, with knowledge and without contradiction of the lord of the land;provided that during this time he had been tried thirty times48, or that the reasons alleged in the trial against her had not been admitted; in addition to not being the custom against reason, nor against the law of God, nor against lordship, nor against natural law, nor against the common good »49. On the other hand, it is recognized that “where the law has nothing, custom is admitted as such; This can also serve to interpret doubtful laws, and to repeal the previous ones as long as it is generally admitted, and the King consents to it for the time stated above: if the custom were special, he would repeal the law only in that place where it was observed; leaving the custom of being one, when another later custom or written law opposes it »50. Jerónimo Castillo de Bovadilla, Castilian author of Politics for corregidores and lords of vassals,a manual for the corregidor administrators of justice that had a special audience in America51, also assumes a position favorable to custom at the end of the five hundred.
The custom was thus defined in its three variants: a) according to law; b) out of law, and c) against law. Progressively, however, the custom against legem ended up being banished from the discourse of the jurisconsults, from the language of the courts and, naturally, from the sovereign's legislative foundations. For example, it was considered that the effectiveness of the 6th law. Title II, Part I recognized the custom was repealed by Law 1, Title XXVIII of the Ordinance of Alcalá due to the fact that it was not listed in the priority of laws that it consigned and due to the obligatory character that it granted to the laws of Castile52. In reality, there is no clear prohibition, but rather one insinuation, namely, not resorting to municipal jurisdiction if they were "against God, against reason and against the laws." However,Unlike the express veto formulated by said Ordinance to cite a Madrid law, according to which authority is extended to the opinions of Bártolo, Baldo, Juan Andrés and the Abbot Panormitano, a resounding refusal of disuse cannot be derived from there. On the other hand, it is possible to notice the growing legislative presence of the State, which is running parallel to its political and territorial consolidation53. The case of the Newest Compilation of 1805 is different. In effect, Law II, title II, Book III, establishes that «no one thinks of doing wrong, because he says that he does not know the laws or the Law; ca if it were against the law, that guilt cannot be excused for not knowing it »54. Certainly it is the Newest Compilation that goes far, by proscribing disuetude as a derogatory mechanism of the written rule. Pursuant to Law XI,promulgated by Felife V in 1714, "all the laws of the Kingdom that are not expressly repealed by later ones, must be observed literally, without the excuse of saying that they are not in use" 55.
The laws of Toro (1505), which precede the Newest Compilation by three centuries, bring in the first law an energetic position in favor of written law with a legislative base. They reject the use of the fueros when they regulate acts that attempt "against God, and against reason, and against the laws that our book contains" 56. Antonio Gómez, who undertakes the comments on these laws, insists - as Gregorio López did in the gloss on the Siete Partidas - in the prince's will. When he comments on the first law, he maintains that "the law can only be constituted, or doubtful, to be interpreted by the sovereign" 57. The scope of this assertion far exceeds the simple comment and clearly describes the legal profile of the lawyer. The custom, however, will not yet be expelled from the legal lexicon.Gómez no longer assigns him a main role but a supplementary one, since he assures that “in the absence of law, Roman Law will be considered. Not finding a canonical or civil law of the Romans of the Romans, one must abide by the custom legitimately induced by the time of 10 years, and plurality of acts that have been practiced to this end. In the absence of all the above, natural reason must govern, as the foundation of all Law, and from which it cannot deviate »58. Regarding disuse, Gómez assumes a negative position. The custom against legem cannot be observed: the Order, the Pragmatics and the Seven Games rule "even if it is said not to be in use" 59.the custom must be legitimately induced by the time of 10 years, and plurality of acts that have been practiced for this purpose. In the absence of all the above, natural reason must govern, as the foundation of all Law, and from which it cannot deviate »58. Regarding disuse, Gómez assumes a negative position. The custom against legem cannot be observed: the Order, the Pragmatics and the Seven Games rule "even if it is said not to be in use" 59.the custom must be legitimately induced by the time of 10 years, and plurality of acts that have been practiced for this purpose. In the absence of all the above, natural reason must govern, as the foundation of all Law, and from which it cannot deviate »58. Regarding disuse, Gómez assumes a negative position. The custom against legem cannot be observed: the Order, the Pragmatics and the Seven Games rule "even if it is said not to be in use" 59.the Pragmatics and the Seven Games rule "even if it is said not to be in use" 59.the Pragmatics and the Seven Games rule "even if it is said not to be in use" 59.
These texts suggest an increasingly negative view of the custom against legem. So just in the absence of a law applicable to practical cases, customary law may be invoked, the importance of which declines over time. Bearers of this trend, which could be considered legalistic, are modern codes. In Spain itself, article 5 of the Civil Code of 1889 declared that "laws are only repealed by other subsequent laws, and disuse, nor custom or practice to the contrary shall not prevail against their observance", while article 6 °, paragraph 2, hypothesized that “when there is no exactly applicable law to the controversial point, the custom of the place will be applied, and failing that, the general principles of law”,whereby while the custom against legem was denied, the praeter legem custom was collected. Since it was assumed that disuse would not prevail against the observance of the laws, the drafters of the civil law did nothing but confirm the previous Law contained in Law 2, title II, book III of the Novísima, which deprived of all effectiveness of the allegation of non-use of laws to justify its repeal.
5-2 Indigenous Customs (customary law)
5.2.1 Custom
It is a reiterated, uniform social practice of a social group.
Generally, a distinction is made between good customs, which have social approval, and bad customs, which are relatively common, but do not have social approval, and sometimes laws have been enacted to try to modify behavior.
a- Custom as a source of law
Laws are usually codified in such a way that they are in accordance with the customs of the governing society, and in the absence of law, custom can be a source of law. However, in some places, such as Navarra, or in countries where Anglo-Saxon Law is applied, custom is the source of primary law and as such is applied before (or at the same time) than the law.
b- Legal custom has to meet two requirements:
- The subjective factor or Opinio Iuris, which is the belief or conviction that such generalized practice is imperative and as such produces legal rights and obligations. The objective factor that is the practice of custom itself and that must be reiterated and univocal.
In international law, custom is a generalized and repetitive practice of states and other subjects of international law accepted as law and bound by what is called the expectation of law. It is as valid as the international Treaties, there being no priority of sources between them. Custom is a right. or primary and as such is applied before (or at the same time) than the law.
5.2.2 customary law
Also called uses and customs, it is a source of law. They are legal norms that are derived from events that have occurred repeatedly over time in a specific territory. They have binding force and are used when there is no law (or written legal norm) applicable to a fact.
a- Requirements
The origins of Customary Law are buried in the same origins of what we understand by society. However, current doctrine has managed to identify two essential elements for a conduct to qualify as custom and have legal effects:
Repetitive and generalized use. - Only a behavior carried out by all the members of a community can be considered custom. It should be borne in mind that when we speak of community, we do so in the strictest sense possible, accepting the possibility of the existence of small communities. Likewise, this behavior must be one that repeats itself over time, that is, that is an integral part of the common actions of a community. Hardly a behavior that does not have antiquity can be considered custom, a community can agree to repeat a behavior from today onwards but that does not make it a custom, it makes it a law.
Compulsory Awareness.- All members of a community must consider that the conduct common to all of them has an authority, in such a way that such conduct cannot be ignored without everyone considering that a principle that regulated the life of the community was violated.. In this sense, it is clear that there are behaviors whose use is generalized and very repetitive, but which do not constitute custom as long as they do not have the concept of obligation matched. That differentiates the law of morality and religion.
It is only with the confluence of these two elements that we can consider that we are facing a custom as a source of law, that is, a source of rights and duties.
6- THEME: The compilation phenomenon until the 17th century
Compilation of Laws of the Kingdoms of the Indies was a compilation of the legislation promulgated by the Spanish monarchs to regulate their colonies in America and the Philippines. It was carried out by Antonio de León Pinelo and Juan de Solórzano Pereira and sanctioned by Carlos II of Spain (1665-1700) through a pragmatic, signed in Madrid, on May 18, 1680.
It is divided into four volumes and a total of nine books, which contain 6,385 laws, grouped into 218 titles. Each law indicates the year, king and place of issue of said rule.
6-1 The Basque Courses of Puga
The first printing press in the New World arrived in Mexico, since 1539. The Vasco de Puga Cedulario was printed in 1563, with a beautiful reproduction in 1982.
Vasco de Puga performs the first Indiano Cedulario, which is a compilation of laws on New Spain.
Provisions of cédulas instructions of his majesty: ordinances of the deceased and audience, for the good expedition of business and administration of justice: and governance of this New Spain: and for the good treatment and conservation of the Indians, from the year 1525 to the present 63, Mexico, Pedro Ocharte, 1563. Work known as the Cedulario de Puga by the name of its compiler Vasco de Puga.
6-2 The Ovando Code Project
Nicolás de Ovando (around 1451-1511) was a Spanish colonial governor and administrator of the New World.
Descendant of a noble family, he was appointed Governor of the West Indies in 1501 replacing Francisco de Bobadilla. During his tenure, he promoted the foundation of numerous towns, the colonization of Tierra Firme and produced a map of the island of Hispaniola.
He returned to Spain in 1509 succeeding Diego Colón.
The first Castilian official to apply rules to found cities in America was Fray Nicolás de Ovando, Governor of Santo Domingo (Española Island): «… He founded cities and towns according to the model of the Castilian municipality, governed by municipal councils, distributed land to the settlers On the condition that they reside in them and have them produced, he awarded them urban plots… »All this happened before 1504.
In 1529, Charles V made provisions regarding the same important matter. And later, in the New Laws (1542), he issued his «Instruction and rules for populating. Code for all colonies ». Felipe II in 1573 issued his "Ordinances of populations", whose official title is "The order to be had in discovering and populating". It is considered as the first urban planning code of the modern age.
6-3 The Celudario de Encinas
Author: Encinas, Diego de Title: Cedulario. indiano / compiled by Diego de Encinas
Compilation of more than two thousand provisions dictated by Spain for America that constitute a great contribution to the handling of the Diego de Encinas Indian Cedulario. The Cedulario is ordered by subject.
7- THEME: The Indiana Administration
The Indian administrative organization begins with the incorporation of the Indies into the Castilian Crown. These are, worth the redundancy, as a "discovery", there is a title of papal donation in which Pope Alexander VI donates to the kings of Castile and Leon.
The problem that arises is if this donation was made to Fernando V de Castilla y II de Aragón or if it was made to Fernando and Isabel in their capacity as Kings of Castilla y Aragón. That is to say, which Kingdom the Indies join, or the Crown of Aragon or the Crown of Castile.
Isabel understood that it was a donation that should be perpetuated in the Crown of Castile, but Fernando understood it as a donation from the Pope to a married couple in a conjugal partnership (a lordship to both spouses) and that consequently, the marriage was dissolved (what happened with the death of Isabel in 1504) he was entitled to half of the part of said assets.
Testament of Isabel I of Castile in which she established that the Indies belonged to the Castilian Crown Isabel I of Castile "La Católica" in her testament came to pass the interpretation of Fernando de Aragón, in this last-will testimony that the lands discovered or to be discovered donated by the Pope, belonged to the Crown of Castile, but gave to Fernando II of Aragon and V of Castile half of what the Indies produce, without prejudice to receiving a pension from the Castilian scepter this for their services as an aid in the conquest of Granada.
When Doña Isabel died, Juana I of Castilla (La Loca) married to Felipe I of Castilla (El Hermoso), but for a short time since she was declared incapable of reigning for "madness". caused by the death of Felipe el Hermoso, then the son of this marriage, and grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, the infant Carlos passes to occupy the throne, but as at the time of the death of King Felipe, Carlos is only 7 years old, appears as regent of Castilla, Fernando de Aragón for the period between 1507 and 1519.
In this period the Indies are governed by Fernando de Aragón, but in all official documents (such as the Request) Dona Juana and Don Fernando appear as kings, ergo, receiving as lord half of the Indies.
Assuming the infant Carlos to the Castilian throne (Fernando de Aragón married in second nuptials without descendants) becomes Carlos I of Spain, the Indies were definitively incorporated into the Crown of Castile in 1519, this is because according to traditional Castilian law, when a King acquires a lordship they had the power to dispose of this arbitrarily, if not, that lordship was definitively incorporated into the crown (this procedure had not been carried out by the Catholic Monarchs).
Carlos I indicates on three occasions he makes a solemn statement in this regard:
- In 1519, referring to the Island of Hispaniola, referring to this and at the request of the inhabitants of the island, he solemnly declares with the promise of emperor that said island will never be alienated. In 1520 he makes a general declaration of all the Indies, that they will not be separated from them and that they will belong forever to the Castilian crown. In 1523 he made a particular declaration to New Spain that the Indians are incorporated into the Castilian crown.
JURISDICTIONAL RADIOS
Kingdom Viceroyalty Royal Audience
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House Viceroyalty Royal Audience of Santo Domingo
of New Royal Audience of Mexico
Austria Spain Royal Audience of Guatemala
Royal Audience of Guadalajara
Royal Audience of Manila
Viceroyalty Royal Audience of Panama
of Peru Royal Audience of Lima
Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogotá
Royal Audience of Charcas (until 1776)
Royal Audience of Quito
Royal Audience of Chile
Royal Audience of Buenos Aires (until 1776)
Viceroyalty House Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogotá
New Royal Audience of Quito
Bourbon Granada Royal Audience of Panama
(1717-1723; Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogotá
1739-1810) Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogotá
Royal Audience of Quito
Royal Audience of Panama
Viceroyalty of the Río Real audience of Buenos Aires
de la Plata (1776) Royal Audience of Charcas
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8- THEME: The European Legal Culture and its European Projection
They are the legal components of Western culture that have been affirmed, imposed, transformed and, finally, differentiated from the Middle Ages to the present day. Oriented by the European and transnational dimension of legal ideas and institutions, and very sensitive to the Mediterranean ferment of European culture, this research recreates the old social vision of a creative, common, pluralistic Law, almost a State. At the same time, this work reconstructs the exciting legal adventure of individualism, voluntarism and rationalism as it makes its way in modern times: this adventure has solidly ended up provoking - so many times and in so many places, and with dissimilar and often tragic results - The conflict between politics and law, between the? will? sovereign and the? reasons? of the jurists. AND,in an unusual movement in manuals of this kind, the author ends up dragging jurists into the waters of postmodernity.
In fact, the author Panero offers a clear and concise vision of the complex phenomenon of the reception of Roman Law in current legal systems, based on the well-known impulse that, after long centuries of oblivion, the teachers of the Bologna School gave to his study, fostered in To a great extent, as the author recalls, by the well-known discovery of the littera fiorentina, up to modern codifications. In this sense, Panero makes a brief but documented journey through the various currents of thought prevailing at different historical moments: Renaissance humanism, which, as is known, will find its greatest diffusion in France (mos Gallicus, in contrast to the own Italicus method of mos from commentators);the rationalist natural law of the 17th and 18th centuries founded by Huig de Groot (1583 - 1645) and the Historical School of Law, ultimately heir to eighteenth-century Enlightenment, which will prepare the way for codification in Germany, following a process already concluded in Other European countries, beginning with France, Italy and Spain, highlighting in each case the crucial role given to Roman law as the basis for the construction of European legal science. It is, we repeat, a work of enormous interest, especially at a time when there has been talk of a "crisis" in Roman law, even questioning the importance of its study in the training of the jurist.following a process already concluded in other European countries, beginning with France, Italy and Spain, highlighting in each case the crucial role given to Roman law as the basis for the construction of European legal science. It is, we repeat, a work of enormous interest, especially at a time when there has been talk of a "crisis" in Roman law, even questioning the importance of its study in the training of the jurist.following a process already concluded in other European countries, beginning with France, Italy and Spain, highlighting in each case the crucial role given to Roman law as the basis for the construction of European legal science. It is, we repeat, a work of enormous interest, especially at a time when there has been talk of a "crisis" in Roman law, even questioning the importance of its study in the training of the jurist.even going so far as to question the importance of his study in the training of the jurist.even going so far as to question the importance of his study in the training of the jurist.
CONCLUSIONS
1- The history of the crowns of Aragon and Castile is closely linked throughout the Middle Ages, not only because they had the Reconquest as a common undertaking, but also because the ruling houses in both crowns were the same, especially since the arrival of the Trastamara. Trastamara's house reaches the throne with Enrique II, bastard son of Alfonso XI, in 1369, after the death of Pedro I the Justice (or the Cruel); which supposed the liquidation of the old Castilian and Leon nobility in favor of a new nobility more submissive to the king. The Trastamara were authoritarian kings who intervened in European affairs.
The House of Trastamara will enthrone the dynasty of the Crown of Aragon from 1412 with the election of the Infante Don Fernando as King of Aragon, in the Caspe Commitment. The Trastamara of both kingdoms tried, from the beginning, to unify the two kingdoms under the same family, reason why they initiated a marriage policy tending to it.
It must be borne in mind that at the time, uniting two kingdoms only meant guaranteeing that it had a single king and a single heir, and not that, as one might think at present, the same institutions and the same legislation were created to both kingdoms, or the institutions and the law of one kingdom spread over another. In fact, at the time, not all the inhabitants of the same kingdom were subject to the same law, the nobility and the clergy had their laws and their judges, and were not governed, like the others, by common law. Even certain unions, such as the Mesta, had their own legislation; that is why they are called privileged guilds.
2- Indian Law was a generally public law that sought to solve situations derived from contact between the Old and the New World.
This body of laws, also called its own Indian law, was by no means a complete, unique and closed system of norms applicable to the Indies.
Conversely. It is enough to take a look at the laws of the Indies compiled in 1680 to verify that these norms are primarily concerned with the organization of the government, the church, the overseas trade and the extractive economy.
3- They were a source of Indian law:
- Municipal law: It is the law created in and for the Indies, this was made up of the ordinances of the viceroys, the agreed-upon orders of the councils and royal audiences, the custom in matters of private law and public law, the jurisprudence of the courts (especially that of the Council of the Indies) and the political doctrine of the Indian publicists (ex: Juan de Solórzano Pereira) Indigenous law: The Spanish crown accepted it when it was not contrary to the Catholic religion or contrary to the rights of the king (that is, almost never). Castilian law: It was applied in relation to matters of private law.
4- The Spanish established, for the exploitation of the mines and the "obrajes", an overwhelming system of forced and free labor, which decimated the aboriginal population. This was thus not reduced only to a state of servitude - as it would have been if the Spanish had limited themselves to the exploitation of the lands while preserving the agrarian character of the country - but, to a large extent, to a state of slavery. There was no lack of humanitarian and civilizing voices that assumed the defense of the Indians before the King of Spain. The father of Las Casas excelled effectively in this defense. The Laws of the Indies were inspired by the purposes of protecting the Indians, recognizing their typical organization in «communities». But practically, the Indians continued at the mercy of a ruthless feudalism that destroyed the Inca society and economy,without replacing them with an order capable of progressively organizing production. The tendency of the Spanish to settle on the coast drove the aborigines away from this region to such an extent that they lacked arms for work. The Viceroyalty wanted to solve this problem by importing black slaves, people who were adequate
Bartolomé de Las Casas: (Seville 1474 - Madrid 1566)
First priest named in America (1510) and known for his defense of the Indians, Bartolomé de las Casas was first an encomendero in Cuba. His arduous campaign, always directed at the kings of Spain, earned him the name of "protector of the Indians" in 1516. Las Casas proposed peaceful colonization through missionaries. He was able to apply his theories in Cumaná (Venezuela) with little success. He continued his protective work in various parts of America and was an influence in the promulgation of the New Laws of 1542. In 1544 he was appointed Bishop of Chiapas (Mexico), after declining the bishopric of Cuzco. He wrote "Breuíssima relation of the destruction of the Indies" (1552).
5- The Arab culture had, therefore, a great influence on the so-called Castilian Law that was prevailing in the Spanish kingdom, from the thirteenth century to the fifteenth century when the conquest of America took place and in which they also successively influenced Roman Law, Justinian Law, Germanic Law and Canon Law.
There was chaos and legal disorder in the kingdom of Castile when the expulsion of the Arabs from Spain occurred and the end of the Arab domain and it was, precisely, the liberation of the lands that for eight centuries were subject, which determined that the Catholic Monarchs decided support Columbus in his adventure to conquer new territories.
Due to the overlapping of laws and the changes that they frequently underwent, in Spanish Law the priority system governed up to the 8th degree, that is, the new law prevailed over the old one, successively up to eight times and, thus, all of them they were valid. In other words, if a legal solution was not found in the new law to solve a problem, they would go backwards, up to eight times, until they found the one that suited the circumstances.
It was due to these customs that, when legislating in the New World, it was often the laws that were known by the name of "the games", given between 1252 and 1263, that were most applied.
Indian Law was being formed as laws were being passed that could solve the problems that the new reality presented and whose solution was not found in Spanish Law.
6- The collection attempts were several, like this:
- Bachelor Maldonado, known as "Repertory of royal cédulas, provisions and ordinances, published in 1556; that of Vasco de Fuga, or" Cedulario de Pruga ", from 1563, compilation made by strict chronological order and not of subjects; that of Diego of Ercina, in 1596, continued compilation by Diego Zorrilla, Rodrigo Aguilar and León Pinedo, promulgation, ordered by Carlos II the Bewitched; compilation that is divided into nine books, 218 titles and 6,377 laws.
ANNEXED
Indian Law: Chronology
1492
Christopher Columbus discovers America
1493
The Pope approves the bull Inter Caetera, in which he grants the new lands discovered in America to the Spanish monarchs
1494
Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas, which sets the limit between the possessions of both countries
1503
The Contracting House is created
1505
The Laws of Toro are promulgated in Castilla, which among other things establish the order of priority in which the different Castilian codes must be used
1511
Fray Antonio de Montesinos denounces the abuses of the Spanish conquerors over the indigenous people of Hispaniola, initiating the debate on the legitimacy of the conquest
1511
The Royal Audience of Santo Domingo is created as a royal control body. It is the first in America
1513
The Requirement is drafted, a theological legal piece in which the indigenous people should be informed of the authority of the King of Spain over them
1524
The Council of the Indies is created, in order to advise the monarch in the government of the American colonies
1535
The Viceroyalty of New Spain is created in Mexico
1542
A Board of theologians and jurists meets in Valladolid, before which Bartolomé de las Casas denounces abuses against indigenous people. That same year, the New Laws are promulgated, which eliminate the encomienda
1543
The viceroyalty of Peru is created
1550
A new meeting is held in Valladolid, in which Bartolomé de las Casas debates with Ginés de Sepúlveda, who defends the theory of natural servitude of indigenous people
1563
Vasco de Puga carries out the first Cedulario Indiano, a compilation of laws on New Spain
1567
The Compilation of the laws of Reynos is published, in which all the Castilian legislation promulgated to date is brought together
1570-1575
The viceroy Francisco de Toledo gives definitive form to the social and legal institutions of the vireinato of Peru
1606
The work of compiling the laws related to America begins
1609
The Royal Audience of Santiago de Chile is established
1680
The compilation of laws of the kingdoms of the Indies is published, a great work of Indian law
1714
The monarch Felipe V creates the Secretary of the Navy and the Indies, which places American affairs under the direct supervision of the monarch
1737
The Bilbao Ordinances that regulate commerce in Spain and the Indies are issued
1758
The first chair of Law in Chile opens at the University of San Felipe
1776
The Regents Instruction is issued, which introduces reforms to the procedural system, streamlining judicial procedures
1776
Monarch Carlos III orders the drafting of a Code of the Indies, which is never completed
1778
The Carolina Academy of Real Law and Forensic Practice is founded in Santiago, in which Spanish and Indian law are taught
1786
The Ordinance of Intendants applies in Chile, dividing the country into the municipalities of Santiago and Concepción
1790
Contracting House is abolished
1805
The latest compilation of the laws of Spain is promulgated
1811
The Royal Audience of Santiago de Chile is suppressed
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Cabanellas de Torres, Guillermo (1994). Dictionary of usual law. 23rd edition. Buenos Aires, Cabanellas de Torres, Guillermo (2004). University legal dictionary. 2nd Edition. Buenos Aires, Heliasta.Chanamé Orbe, Raúl (1995). Modern legal dictionary. Lima, San Marcos.Cueva Sevillano, Alfonso, editor (2000). Great legal dictionary. Lima, AFA Editores Importadores. De las Heras García, Carmen (2006). Indian Law and History of Law from the point of view of García - Gallo and Diego. At htttp: // www..monografias.com / obras14 / garciagallo / garciagallo.shtmlDougnac Rodríguez, Antonio (1998), Manual of History of Indian Law, Mexico, Institute of Legal Research; National Autonomous University of Mexico. Omeba Legal Encyclopedia (1993). Buenos Aires, Driskill.Fernández de Castro, Pablo (2006). The Council of the Indies. At http: // www. monografias.com / obras4 / conseind /conseind.shtml Flores Polo, Pedro (2002). Fundamental legal dictionary. 2nd edition. Lima, Grijley, Godoy López, Nancy (2006).History of Notary Law. At http: // www. monografias.com / obras16 / derecho-notarial / derecho-notarial.shtml # notariadoNovoa Cain, Mauricio (2006). Indian law and indigenous claims and claims. In Reason and Word; First electronic magazine in Latin America specialized in communication. Consulted on November 22, 2006. Morillo Acuña, Fausto (undated).. Civic Education. Lima, Escuela Nueva.com Consulted on 11/16/2006.com Consulted on 11/16/2006.com Consulted on 11/16/2006.
