Las Casas’s Use of Legal Interpretive Rules at Valladolid

46 Pages Posted: 23 Aug 2023

See all articles by Matthew Cavedon

Matthew Cavedon

Emory University - Center for the Study of Law and Religion

Date Written: August 11, 2023

Abstract

Who was Bartolomé de Las Casas as a legal reformer? A forefather of human rights, champion of indigenous peoples, and radical critic of Spanish imperialism. But comparatively little scholarship has “systematically addressed how Las Casas functioned as a [lawyer] throughout his life.” I want to do so in micro form by considering how he read one key legal text at one key moment. I will show how Las Casas reworked Pope Alexander VI's 1493 bull Inter caetera in support of his critique of conquest. I look to his arguments concerning Inter caetera at the 1550–1551 imperial deliberations (junta) held at Valladolid, exploring four interpretive rules Las Casas used: (1) “the will of a ruler is always to be judged in conformity with the law”; (2) the Church’s jurisdiction over non-Christians is strictly limited; (3) legal texts must be interpreted to avoid “inhumanity or absurdity”; and (4) factual recitations matter.

Keywords: Bartolome de Las Casas, legal history, canon law, imperialism, Spanish Empire, colonialism, pope, legal method, jurisprudence, Inter caetera, doctrine of discovery, Indigenous

Suggested Citation

Cavedon, Matthew, Las Casas’s Use of Legal Interpretive Rules at Valladolid (August 11, 2023). CSLR Research Paper No. Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4537966 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4537966

Matthew Cavedon (Contact Author)

Emory University - Center for the Study of Law and Religion ( email )

201 Dowman Drive
Atlanta, GA 30322
United States

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