The discovery and exploitation of the New World was not entirely
without problems for Spain. For ont thing, the crown feared that
Hérnan Cortés (1518 — 1522) would attempt to
create a kingdom in Mexico, with himself as the King, entirely
independent of Spain. For another, the conquistadores (including Cortés)
had been awarded encomienda in the New World (entailed estates to be
inherited, in perpetuum): not exactly a healthy situation for Spain, just united
under Ferdinand and Isabella. Thus the Spanish crown sought ways to ensure that
no new, independent kingdom would be established, and that the encomienda would
be administered with due attention to the laws of vassalage.
What are some of the things the Spanish crown did to nullify these dangers?
Hérnan Cortés established residences (governing offices) in Mexico
City. The Spanish crown pointed out that Cortés had never been
granted the right to establish any such residences in Mexico City,
and had Cortés removed.
.
Hérnan Cortés had been awarded three encomienda by the Spanish
crown. Hérnan Cortés carefully chose where these encomienda
were located (along old trading routes used by the indigenous
population, one located at the site of present-day Cuernavaca).
However, one of these encomienda was located very close to the
Pacific Ocean. The Spanish crown carefully pointed out that the
Spanish crown had never granted Cortés a port on the Pacific
Ocean, and ordered that Hérnan Cortés's encomienda be located
away from the Pacific coast.
.
There was always a danger that there could be a revolt by the
indigenous population. While Hérnan Cortés could be entrusted
to oppose any indigenous population that arose in revolt, it
might difficult or even impossible for Hérnan Cortés to
successfully suppress such a revolt. Thus, the Spanish crown
demanded the right to control major towns and highways within
Hérnan Cortés' encomienda. (Thus, Cortés's
control of his own encomienda started to look like Swiss cheese, with many
lacunae.)
.
When Hérnan Cortés began to appoint Penninsular Europeans
to "offices" within his encomienda, the Spanish crown wondered
if Cortés was establishing a "court" or government under his
personal control. The Spanish crown immediately informed Cortés that
his powers and rights were granted under the laws of vassalage: thus, any
Penninsular Europeans who reported to Hérnan Cortés, owed
their first allegiance to the Spanish crown. (In other words, any
such government would be one controlled by the Spanish crown, not by
Hérnan Cortés.)
.
Hérnan Cortés distributed encomienda and patronage to
conquistadores as a reward for their efforts in gaining a new world
and pacifying or controlling the indigenous populations. However, the
Spanish crown had never granted Hérnan Cortés the
right to award encomienda, and ordered him to cease doing this.
(The conquistadores melted away from control by Hérnan Cortés.)
.
An analysis of the signatures of many conquistadores showed that in
most cases, these conquistadores were illiterate, barely able to
sign their own names even after careful coaching. Thus, the Spanish crown
flooded Nueva España with licenciado (lawyers from Spain
who the conquistadores could not murder with impunity). Most of the
conquistadores no longer found Nueva España congenial, and
left their encomienda in Nueva España to conquer the Inca in
Peru, instead.
.
The Spanish crown required Hérnan Cortés to take a census of the
populations in his encomienda; thus, taxes due the Spanish crown,
and populations had to be divulged.
.
Propaganda: An obscure brother, Frey Bartolomé de Las Casas, wrote
about how the conquistadores wantonly murdered Indios and destroyed
property. (Upon conquering of the indigenous people, the ownership of
such property reverted from the indigenous people to the Spanish crown).
These murders and wanton destruction were hardly conducive to converting
the Indios to Catholicism. However, encomienda had been awarded to the
conquistadores with the provision that the indigenous souls within their
purview would be saved, and Indios converted to Catholicism. Violation of
this was sufficient to disqualify encomienda rights. Although
Hérnan Cortés attempted to murder Frey Bartolomé
Las Casas, the Spanish crown carefully sequestered de Las Casas, while he
documented what he had seen in the New World. As the multi-volume set of
books de Las Casas wrote would not have been effective as propaganda,
the Spanish crown had de Las Casas write a short "Summary". This
"Summary" was so effective that it became known as the "Leyenda Negra"
("Black Legend"). 1
.
Fueros (laws that applied to members of specific occupations) were
established. This included the following fueros:
Fuero Ecclesiastica (separate laws for the Catholic
church, governed by canon law)
Fuero Militar (separate laws for the military)
Fuero Meste (separate laws for cattle-drivers)
Fuero Indiano (separate laws for the indigenous Indios —
to be discussed in greater detail)
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Every town was required by the Spanish crown to be laid out in
a Cartesian-grid pattern, with a commons to graze horses, and
public buildings. All Spaniards with encomienda were required
to establish houses on the town square as "vecinos", whether they
lived in their vecino full-time or not. The associated
expenses of such houses generally impoverished the conquistadores.
In parallel with the requirements for Spanish vecinos, towns also
featured a separate zoccolo surrounded by Indian barrios.
Thus, these towns had two 'centers': one for the wealthy Spaniards,
and the other for the impoverished Indianos. This could be seen as
late as 1987, in modern San Cristobal de las Casas, though it's doubtful
that this existed in every single town in Nueva España.
.
The Spanish crown felt it could use the Fuero Indiano to prevent the
destruction of the indigenous population. If the Fuero Indiano was
to be effective, the Indianos had to be specifically classified
as "human beings", not just animals with the "appearance" of human
beings. Hence, the debates between Frey Bartolomé de Las Casas
and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda in Valladolid, 1550-1551.
To avoid a situation where these indigenous human beings might demand
that their lands be returned to them by Spain, the Indios were granted
the status of human beings, but under tutelege of the
Spaniards. However, to gain souls for the Catholic church from
these newly-acknowledged human beings, the Indios were offered
opportunity to accept Christianity, and viewed as assets to the Church
since they came to Christ with "pure blood" (not Luteranos, no stain of
Jewish or Islamic blood), presumably eliminating the fear of 'backsliding').
Thus, the New Christian Indios, human but under Spanish tutelege, would not
be destroyed as the New Christian conversos and moriscos had been.
.
Thus, the Spanish crown established two republics: one for the Spaniards
(República de españoles), the other for the New Christian
Indios (República de indios).
The main purpose for having an Indian
republic was as a potential wedge to be used against Spaniards
should they become difficult to control, whilc still enabling the Spanish
republic to exploit the Indios for the benefit of the Spanish crown.
If the New Christian Indios returned to sacrifices, idolatry,
concubinage, and dogmatism — preaching a heretical religion —
then a Nueva España limpieza de sangre and a court of Inquisition
would be required. If the indigenous peoples rebelled, they would be dealt
with. (For one such example, see Indian Rebellions.
However, one problem remained: The Indios were exploited by the Spaniards to
benefit the Spanish crown; thus, contact between Spaniards and Indios
could not be avoided. The result was a complex hierarchy of offspring,
the castas. These castas were not accepted by either Spaniards nor
by the Indios. Thus, an ever-growing class of vagrants, responsible
to no one, now threatened the entire structure. 2
Indians, pure, might have title to lands that were inalienable; but
if a person claimed that as an Indian they were entitled to these
lands, how was the government to know if the claimant was pure Indian
or a casta? Hence, a limpieza de sangre became necessary to determine
someone's racial status. "The project to create two republics essentially
produced dual citizenship and dual purity regimes." 3
1
See María Elena Martínez, "Genealogical Fictions:
Limpieza de Sangre, Religion, and Gender in Colonial
Mexico", Stanford Univ. Press, 2008, p. 206:
"Protestant powers in particular accused Castile of basically
committing genocide, of not curbing the greed of its conquerors,
of not protecting its overseas subjects, of utilizing
evangelization as a pretext to further its own financial
interests, and of illegitimately claiming dominium in the Indies
on the basis of papal donations and the Requerimiento. ... That
is to say, given the ideological centrality of religion to
Spanish colonialism — its importance in justifying
expansion, conquest, and colonization — the native people
had to be recognized as pure. Both the crown and the
church had to support the idea that they had the quality of
limpieza de sangre and were in a different category than Jews
and Muslims. After all, if the indigenous people were lumped
with conversos and moriscos — communities generally
regarded as reluctant and backsliding converts — what was
Spain doing in the Americas? Why should the church attempt to
convert populations that could not be converted?”
.
2
Magnus Mörner, "Race Mixture in the History of Latin America",
Queens College, Little, Brown and Company, 1967, pp. 45-52.
.
3
María Elena Martínez, "Genealogical Fictions:
Limpieza de Sangre, Religion, and Gender in Colonial
Mexico", Stanford Univ. Press, 2008, pp. 104-105.
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