Protector of the Indians
Encyclopedia
Protector of Indians was an administrative office of the Spanish colonies, that was responsible for attending to the well being of the native populations
, including speaking on their behalf in courts and reporting back to the King of Spain
.
friars were sent to the Spanish possessions in the Caribbean to evaluate the consequences that colonization was having upon the demographic decline of the native population and the effects of forced conversion. The report made by Fray Bartolome de las Casas to Cardinal Cisneros is probably the first documented attempt of those efforts, when the bishops took upon themselves the task of exercising protective actions on the native population.
Cisneros granted the title of Protector de Indios to Bartolomé de las Casas
, and he was given instructions to serve as an adviser regarding issues concerning the native population, as well as to speak on their behalf during legal procedures, reporting back to Spain. Other notable protectors included Juan de Zumarraga
(appointed 1527) and Hernando de Luque
(appointed 1529).
.
The lack of legislation and official recognition produced many difficulties when trying to define the roles of the protector of the Indians, that were mostly exercised by the bishops during the early period. It wasn't until the publication of the New Laws
in 1542 that there was an official prohibition of the enslavement of the natives with added provisions for the gradual abolition of the encomienda system.
The first provisions directly addressing the Protector de Indios as such are first known to appear in the Cedulario Indiano compiled by Encina Diego in 1596, and later in the Compilation of the Laws of the Indies
, Volume II, Book VI, Title V. Other related provisions within the Laws refer to the treatment of the Indian subjects, their evangelization and the good care of their lives, with specific instructions to not oppress them in any way and to regard them as vassals of the Crown. It also required from the prosecutor of the local Audiencia to watch over the treatment given to the natives by colonial representatives with the obligation to punish any violation of the law and notify the Council of the Indies.
On April 9, 1591 the Crown issued a Royal Decree and a letter to Luis de Velasco
, viceroy of New Spain, that laid down the legal basis for the creation of a specific agency dedicated to the defense of the natives in the colonies. The office was to be headed by an attorney general and a consultant to the legal procedures involving natives.
the Protectoría de indios was dismantled, and although it was temporarily restored following the Trienio Liberal, it disappeared completely from the American colonies after their independence, leaving the indigenous population subject to a completely different legal status.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, including speaking on their behalf in courts and reporting back to the King of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Origins
The first steps towards the implementation of protection policies for indigenous peoples is believed to have commenced in 1516, when several HieronymitesHieronymites
Hieronymites, or the Order of St. Jerome , is a common name for several congregations of hermits living according to the Rule of St. Augustine, with supplementary regulations taken from the writings of the 5th-century monk and scholar, St Jerome. The principal group with this name was founded in...
friars were sent to the Spanish possessions in the Caribbean to evaluate the consequences that colonization was having upon the demographic decline of the native population and the effects of forced conversion. The report made by Fray Bartolome de las Casas to Cardinal Cisneros is probably the first documented attempt of those efforts, when the bishops took upon themselves the task of exercising protective actions on the native population.
Cisneros granted the title of Protector de Indios to Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de Las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas O.P. was a 16th-century Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar. He became the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians"...
, and he was given instructions to serve as an adviser regarding issues concerning the native population, as well as to speak on their behalf during legal procedures, reporting back to Spain. Other notable protectors included Juan de Zumarraga
Juan de Zumárraga
Juan de Zumárraga was a Spanish Basque Franciscan prelate and first bishop of Mexico.-Origins and arrival in New Spain:...
(appointed 1527) and Hernando de Luque
Hernando de Luque
Hernando de Luque was a Spanish priest who travelled to the New World in the 16th century. He arrived in 1514 with the expedition of Pedrarias Dávila to Panama, where he met Francisco Pizarro. Luque financed a joint expedition by Pizarro and Diego de Almagro to Peru in 1526...
(appointed 1529).
Legislation
Zumárraga proposed in 1529 to appoint a trusted group of secular officials from different religious orders to be elected as such protectors and intervene in Indian civil and criminal cases. However, the Crown would not yield to the regular clergy full sovereignty over the indigenous population and in 1530 decreed that all issues regarding the natives were to be handled by government officers elected by the local AudienciaAudiencia
The Royal Audiencia was a court that functioned as an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution has been sometimes translated as Royal Audience. The additional designation cancillería was applied to the appellate courts in early modern Spain...
.
The lack of legislation and official recognition produced many difficulties when trying to define the roles of the protector of the Indians, that were mostly exercised by the bishops during the early period. It wasn't until the publication of the New Laws
New Laws
The New Laws, in Spanish Leyes Nuevas, issued November 20, 1542 by King Charles V of Spain regarding the Spanish colonization of the Americas, are also known as the "New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians", and were created to prevent the exploitation of the...
in 1542 that there was an official prohibition of the enslavement of the natives with added provisions for the gradual abolition of the encomienda system.
The first provisions directly addressing the Protector de Indios as such are first known to appear in the Cedulario Indiano compiled by Encina Diego in 1596, and later in the Compilation of the Laws of the Indies
Laws of the Indies
The Laws of the Indies are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown for its American and Philippine possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political and economic life in these areas...
, Volume II, Book VI, Title V. Other related provisions within the Laws refer to the treatment of the Indian subjects, their evangelization and the good care of their lives, with specific instructions to not oppress them in any way and to regard them as vassals of the Crown. It also required from the prosecutor of the local Audiencia to watch over the treatment given to the natives by colonial representatives with the obligation to punish any violation of the law and notify the Council of the Indies.
On April 9, 1591 the Crown issued a Royal Decree and a letter to Luis de Velasco
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas , Spanish nobleman, son of the second viceroy of New Spain, and himself the eighth viceroy. He governed from January 27, 1590 to November 4, 1595, and again from July 2, 1607 to June 10, 1611...
, viceroy of New Spain, that laid down the legal basis for the creation of a specific agency dedicated to the defense of the natives in the colonies. The office was to be headed by an attorney general and a consultant to the legal procedures involving natives.
Aftermath
Following the repeal of the Spanish Constitution of 1812Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
the Protectoría de indios was dismantled, and although it was temporarily restored following the Trienio Liberal, it disappeared completely from the American colonies after their independence, leaving the indigenous population subject to a completely different legal status.