THE EQUAL DIGNITY of OTHERS Bartolomé De Las Casas And

Th e Equal Dignity of Others 75

Chapter Th ree

THE THIRD STAGE – THE EQUAL DIGNITY OF OTHERS

Bartolomé de Las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria

Th e third stage of our journey involves little movement geo- graphically, and a jump of a mere hundred years or so in time – to 16th century Spain. Our second and third stages have one sad connection: 1492 saw, not only the “discovery” of America, but also the expulsion of Jews, and the fi rst forced conversions or expulsions of Muslims from Spain. Th e “discovery” of America blew Europeans’ horizons wide open, and radically changed their world-view. Th is part of our journey will bring us face-to-face with the harsh realities of conquest, imperialism, colonialism, exploitation and intolerance. Th e “discovery”, not only of America, but also of those “others”, the “Indians”, raised fundamental and controver- sial questions concerning colonialism and the human nature of the colonized “others”.

CONTEXT: THEORY AND PRACTICE OF CHRISTIAN IMPERIALISM

One apparent deep connection between the crusades, the recon- quista and the conquista415 is the fact that the Christian religion served as justifi cation or pretext for all three. Th e offi cial doctrine behind the conquista was that the Pope, as Christ’s representative on earth, possessed plenitudo potestatis and a legitimate claim to world dominion, including the ownership of terrae incognitae. He could “delegate” his powers to Christian rulers (in this case,

415 Cf. Arkoun, loc. cit., at 124 s.; and Antonio Truyol y Serra, Th e Discovery of the New World and International Law, in: Th e University of Toledo Law Review, Vol. 1971, Numbers 1 & 2, at 305 ss. 76 Peter Leuprecht the “Catholic kings” of Spain and Portugal) – and this is precisely what successive popes did. In his Bull, Dum diversas of 18 June 1452, Pope Nicolas V authorized King Alfonso V of Portugal to subjugate “the Saracens and pagans and other unbelievers and enemies of Christ” and “reduce their persons into perpetual slav- ery”416. His later Bull, Romanus Pontifex of 25 March 1455, is a follow-up to Dum diversas. It refers to the “savage excesses of the Saracens” and to the “sect of the most impious Mahomet”, encour- ages seizure of the lands of “Saracens, pagans… and other enemies of Christ”, permits the enslavement of such peoples, and confi rms the Portuguese monarch’s dominion over all lands discovered or conquered417. In both documents, the obsession with Islam and the Arabs is conspicuous. At the same time, the Pope could not ignore the rival claims of the “Catholic Kings” of Castile – particularly since Columbus had been acting on their orders when he sailed to “the Indies”. Bowing to the necessities of “Realpolitik” Pope Alexander VI took account of this fact in the Bull Inter caetera of 4 May 1493, which he addressed to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Castile. Its basic philosophy – Christian imperialism – is the same as that of its predecessors. It hails overthrowing “barbarous nations” and bringing them to the faith as works pleasing to God, and refers in glowing terms to the “recovery of the kingdom of Granada from the yoke of the Saracens” by Ferdinand and Isabella. It expresses the conviction that people in the newly discovered territories “seem suffi ciently disposed to embrace the Catholic faith and be trained in good morals” – but does not overlook the fact that “gold, spices and very many other precious things of divers kinds and qualities” are found in these territories. Its essential point is this: We… out of the fullness of our apostolic power, by the authority of Almighty God… and of the vicarship of Jesus Christ, which we hold on earth, do by tenor of these presents, should any of said

416 Cf. Francis Gardiner Davenport, European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and its Dependencies to 1648, Carnegie Institution 1917, at. 17. 417 Accessed at www.papalencyclicals.net