Laws of the Indies
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The Laws of the Indies are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown in 1573 for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and econom
Council of the Indies royal emblem
Colegio de San Gregorio, Valladolid
Colegio de San Gregorio, where the Laws of the Indies were born
The plaza, or city square, of Manila, Philippines
Encomienda
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The encomienda was a 16th-century Spanish labour system that rewarded Spain's conquistadors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors would provide the labourers wi
Laws of the Indies
…The Spanish attempted to control the Natives to force their labor. At the same time, conflicts on policy and implementation occurred between the encomenderos and the Crown. Two of the main sets of laws issued in the 16th century regulated Spanish interaction with the Native peoples, an issue about which the…
Francisco Hernández Girón was a Spanish encomendero in the Viceroyalty of Peru who protested the New Laws in 1553. These laws, passed in 1542 but repealed in 1545, gave certain rights to Indigenous peoples and protected them against abuses. Drawing by Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala.
Hernán Cortés, conqueror of the Aztecs and premier encomendero of New Spain
The Codex Kingsborough: also known as the Codex Tepetlaoztoc, is a 16th-century Mesoamerican pictorial manuscript which was part of a lawsuit against the Spanish encomenderos for mistreatment