The Indian doubt is the crisis of conscience that assailed the Spanish kings Carlos I and Felipe II in the mid-sixteenth century about the legitimacy or not of the conquest of America and the maintenance of their sovereignty in those territories. In the same way, it also subjected to analysis
Tag: Justice
The Council of the Indies, the government of Spanish America
The Royal and Supreme Council of Indies was the most important regulatory organization for political, administrative and legal activities in the Indies. Among its functions were executive, legislative and judicial, as well as advising the King on decisions affecting the Spanish overseas territories. From the beginning of the conquest and colonization
The Burgos Laws of 1512
As I already mentioned in the entry on the Request in the Spanish crown, serious concerns had arisen about the ill-treatment of some encomenderos against the Indians. These facts would delegitimize the conquest and colonization of the new lands, since this legitimation was based on the papal bulls of
Governor Bobadilla and Columbus to Castile
After the investigation in which the bad habits of the admiral Christopher Columbus and his brothers in government were made very clear, Bobadilla set about his task without further delay. He tried to normalize relations between the Spaniards and the Spanish government by granting everything in his power so that
The Residencia Trials, the power against the power
A legal institution that played a major role in the political management and real control over the officials who performed their functions in the New World was the Residencia Trial. This was a judicial procedure by which officials of a certain rank (Virreyes, Presidents of Real Audiencia, mayors and bailiffs)
The investigation against Columbus brothers
Despite the fact that the facts attributed to the Columbus were sufficient in themselves for his trial, Bobadilla continued with the investigations to clarify other matters of great concern to the Catholic Kings. To this end, some twenty witnesses from different parts of the Hispaniola island were chosen, both friends