LEGALIZING THE CONQUEST
In 1493 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain reported the “discovery” of the “New World” to the pope and fellow Spaniard, Alexander VI, who, in the papal bull, Inter Caetera, granted the Spanish king and queen the right and obligation to spread Spanish culture, and Catholic Christianity, upon the inhabitants of these previously unknown parts of the world. In “New Spain” Catholic Christianity was disseminated and administered by means of Royal Patronage, a system in which the pope put the responsibility for spreading Catholic Christianity in the hands of the monarchy, who subsequently conceded to non-clergy the authority to found individual churches and dioceses. These “patrons” were given the right to name bishops, abbots, and priests in these dioceses, and to control the direction of missionary efforts there.
The official justification made by the Spanish monarchy for the spreading of the Catholic faith, and subsequently Spanish rule and culture, came in the Requerimiento of 1513, which was a declaration of sovereignty, and of war, utilized by the Spanish authorities to enforce and validate their dominion over the Americas. The Requerimiento asserted that God, through Jesus Christ and his earthly vicars, held authority over the entire earth, demanding the immediate allegiance of the native peoples to the Catholic Church and to the king and queen of Spain, thus justifying the complete and utter subjugation of the native peoples and the annihilation of their culture if they refused to abide by its demands:
So their Highnesses (King Don Fernando and Queen Doña Juana) are kings
and lords of these islands and land (New Spain) of Tierra-firme by virtue of
this donation (from Pope Julius II)…Wherefore, as best we can, we ask and
require you (aboriginal inhabitants of New Spain) that you consider what we
have said to you, and that you take the time that shall be necessary to
understand and deliberate upon it, and that you acknowledge the Church as
the Ruler and Superior of the whole world, and the high priest called Pope,
and in his name the King and Queen Doña Juana our lords, in his place, superiors
and lords and kings of these islands and this Tierra-firme by virtue of the said
donation, and that you consent and give place that these religious fathers should
declare and preach to you the aforesaid.
If you do so, you will do well, and that which you are obliged to do to their
Highnesses, and we in their name shall receive you in all love and charity,
and shall leave you, your wives, and your children, and your lands, free
without servitude, that you may do with them and with yourselves freely that
which you like and think best, and they shall not compel you to turn
Christians, unless you yourselves, when informed of the truth, should wish to
be converted to our Holy Catholic Faith, as almost all the inhabitants of the
rest of the islands have done. And, besides this, their Highnesses award you
many privileges and exemptions and will grant you many benefits.
But, if you do not do this, and maliciously make delay in it, I certify to you
that, with the help of God, we shall powerfully enter into your country, and
shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall
subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of their Highnesses;
we shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of
them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may
command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do you all the
mischief and damage that we can, as to vassals who do not obey, and refuse
to receive their lord, and resist and contradict him; and we protest that the
deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault, and not that of
their Highnesses, or ours, nor of these cavaliers who come with us. And
that we have said this to you and made this Requisition, we request the
notary here present to give us his testimony in writing, and we ask the rest
who are present that they should be witnesses of this Requisition."1
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