مناظرة بلد الوليد
مناظرة بلد الوليد (1550–1551) was the first moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and treatment of a colonized people by colonizers. Held in the Colegio de San Gregorio, in the Spanish city of Valladolid, it was a moral and theological debate about the colonization of the Americas, its justification for the conversion to Catholicism and more specifically about the relations between the European settlers and the natives of the New World. It consisted of a number of opposing views about the way natives were to be integrated into colonial life, their conversion to Christianity and their rights and obligations.
A controversial theologian, Dominican friar and Bishop of Chiapas Bartolomé de las Casas, argued that the Amerindians were free men in the natural order despite their practice of human sacrifices and other such customs, deserving the same consideration as the colonizers. Opposing this view were a number of scholars and priests including humanist scholar Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, who argued that the human sacrifice of innocents, cannibalism, and other such "crimes against nature" were unacceptable and should be suppressed by any means possible including war.
Although both sides claimed to have won the disputation, there is no clear record supporting either interpretation. The affair is considered one of the earliest examples of moral debates about colonialism, human rights of colonized peoples and international relations in history. In Spain, it served to establish Las Casas as the primary, though controversial defender of the Indians. He and others contributed to the passing of the New Laws of 1542, which limited the encomienda system further. Though they did not fully reverse the situation, the laws achieved considerable improvement in the treatment of Indians and consolidated their rights granted by earlier laws. More importantly, the debate reflected a concern for morality and justice in 16th century Spain that only surfaced in other colonial powers centuries later.
خلفية
المناظرة
الأعقاب
In the end, both parties declared that they had won the debate, but neither received the desired outcome. Las Casas saw no end to Spanish wars of conquest in the New World, and Sepúlveda did not see the New Laws' restricting of the power of the encomienda system overturned. The debate cemented Las Casas's position as the lead defender of the Indians in the Spanish Empire, and further weakened the encomienda system. However, it did not substantially alter Spanish treatment of the Indians.
Reflection in art
In 1938 the story of the German writer Reinhold Schneider "Las Kasas and Charles V" ("Las Casas vor Karl V. Szenen aus der Konquistadorenzeit") was published.
In 1992 the Valladolid debate became an inspiration source for Jean-Claude Carrière who published the novel La Controverse de Valladolid (Dispute in Valladolid). The novel was filmed for television under the same name. The director — Jean-Danielle Veren, Jean-Pierre Marielle played Las Casas, Jean-Louis Trintignant acted as Sepúlveda.
See also
- Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery
- Sublimis Deus
Notes
- ^ Crow, John A. The Epic of Latin America, 4th ed. University of California Press, Berkeley: 1992.
- ^ Ginés de Sepúlveda, Juan (trans. Marcelino Menendez y Pelayo and Manuel Garcia-Pelayo) (1941). Tratado sobre las Justas Causas de la Guerra contra los Indios. Mexico D.F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica. p. 155.
- ^ Raup Wagner, Henry & Rand Parish, Helen (1967). The Life and Writings of Bartolomé de Las Casas. New Mexico: The University of New Mexico Press. pp. 181–182.
- ^ Bonar Ludwig Hernandez. "The Las Casas-Sepúlveda Controversy: 1550-1551" (PDF). Ex Post Facto. San Francisco State University. 10: 95–104. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
References
- Crow, John A. The Epic of Latin America, 4th ed. University of California Press, Berkeley: 1992.
- Hernandez, Bonar Ludwig (2001). "The Las Casas-Sepúlveda Controversy: 1550-1551" (PDF). Ex Post Facto. San Francisco State University. X: 95–105. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
- Losada, Ángel (1971). "Controversy between Sepúlveda and Las Casas". In Juan Friede; Benjamin Keen (eds.). Bartolomé de las Casas in History: Toward an Understanding of the Man and his Work. Collection spéciale: CER. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press. pp. 279–309. ISBN . OCLC 421424974.
وصلات خارجية
- The Black Legend and American History
