On the day that the apostolic twelve were to departure from Spain to the Americas, the Franciscan Friars received orders from Francisco de Los Angeles. The orders instructed him to evangelize to all, however as he evangelize he was directed to maintaining the respect and continue upholding the values of the Spaniards. These instructions were only applicable to the brethren in New Spain. Thus on the Franciscan Friars team arrival to the New World, the Spaniards revived religion which they believed could revived souls and benefit many in the last days. This was the wave that they believed created the martyrdom, where missioners worked for God, and in every activity they participated; they let God did His will. In spiritual war, the Spaniards viewed devil as a palpable power that destroys the world, thus the Franciscans were ordered to be the soldiers fighting against this devil and its powers (Kenneth, William and Sandra, 2004).
This religion made the Spaniards believe that the native people were such an ignorant group who are unbelievers and just waiting for the day of redemption and are held up in the satanic thrall. This directive conflicted with the Spaniards intention to influence the entire world through material possession and the myths which they held. Therefore, tension resulted since they couldn’t hold to the original rule of austerity where they maintained their authority by remunerating people as deemed necessary, a way in which they maintained their influence to the New World. The Spaniard quest to insert greater influence to the world led to the tension and breakout of the many branches since some hold the mission of evangelizing, whereas others maintained the desire to influence their power and authority to the New World by holding unto their material power. Due to these differences there was a big fall out in the numerous branches. Attempts to remedy the division between the observant and the conventuals didn’t succeed. Intervention of Pope didn’t help either since the division had grown so much. The separation of the observant Franciscan and the conventual intensified in the late 16th century (Kenneth et al., 2004). Many conventuals decided to join the more numerous and influential observant at that time, a decision which most of them agreed with. The observant union which was tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of their duties and concerns did not last; instead it divided into four groups. The groups included the Capuchins, the Recollects, and the Discalced or sometimes referred to as the Barefoot and the Reformed. After spreading the gospel, the Spaniards realized that they can reach many more and ensure their influence in accordance with their myths through establishment of a kingdom with one rule and everyone under the subject of the Kingship, a replica of Gods Kingdom.
The Spaniards believed that as the God holds his thrown in the Heaven, so they should also insert a throne in the earth and rule from the earth throne, and with this they believed they could do wonders and the work of their hands would be revealed to the many. Spain and the New World (30), “for the saints said that the king is set upon earth in the place of God to fulfill justice and to give to each one his due, and therefore they called him the heart and soul of the people”. They believed that since the soul of man makes his heart, so should the kingdom be established to reside on earth and through the king justice is obtained. They believed that just like heart support many functions in the body, and holding unto individual’s life, so should the kingdom be. Since in the kingdom there is only one king who is above all the subjects and must support the life of all people in his dominion. And the people must also accept to unite as one and follow the king in everything that he wants to be done. These are statements which were echoed by philosophers as well since they said that the king is the head of the kingdom. As the head of the kingdom, philosophers established that from the king who is the head, all perceptions and directions follow. This idea of bringing throne to the world was thus intend to bring justice to the world, since justice is one and from this one justice all the rights flow. As much as the philosophers were right on the fact that with kingship justice is inevitable.
Many reformers disagreed with the Spaniards intention of bringing the crown unto the world, instead they didn’t intend to achieve any justice but they wanted to justify their actions, of evangelizing and of holding unto their myths. The Spaniards held the myth that they were superior and that their conquest was due to a strong cultural superiority, an idea which they managed to manifest. They formed the kingship and used the subjects to continue their quest for material gain. They managed this by reinforcing their belief in the myth of native desolation. This myth made them believe that all the natives of the American land must resigned to their fate, a myth that they beautifully achieved. After formation of the kingdom, they sent the natives to search and conquer the islands and they made them believe that their pay is taking the danger on behalf of the subject and in pursuit for justice.
The dissenter and reformers of the emperor noted that it is wrong and it is contrary to the teachings of the crown above to force Christianity values into individuals. They specifically noted that it is very wrong to first subject pagans to the rule of Christians and then preaching unto them. The argument here is that after subjecting the pagans to Christian’s rules then preaching to them, they will not be given the chance to believe but instead they will be convinced by the preacher arguments. On the other hand, the dissenters and reformers had agreed that it is not easy to convert or to make a pagan to willingly believe and acknowledge the values and rules held by Christian’s. On this basis they realized the need for war to bring people unto the understanding of the Christianity. However, as they thought war was the most opportune way of convincing and making the people to believe, the argument on the consequences of war couldn’t be avoided. In the debate, they all agreed that war brings enmity, it leads to bloodshed and indeed so many people lost their lives. Thus war brings with it so many misfortunes to thousands of innocent people and it should not be encouraged either.
As noted by Bartolome (162), “a rational creature has a natural capacity for being moved, directed and drawn to any good gently because of his freedom of choice”, it is appropriate to give every person the freedom to choose. With this common understanding the pagans should be allowed to willingly accept and acknowledge Christian values and rules. In other words, because man is rational, he should be given the chance to hear the truth of faith but shouldn’t be forced to accept it. And this is one place where the Spaniards were very wrong, since they held the myth of (mis) communication. They believed that they understood the natives intentions so well and incase they didn’t they still believed that due to the miscommunication so many good events were to result.
The arguments by Sepuldeva were highly welcomed by the American. He noted that as much as the Christianity brought by Spaniard was a necessity to deliver people from the demonism world, the way the Spaniards carried themselves was not acceptable. Sepulveda (60) has indicated that, “you will not expect me to make a long argument about the intelligence of the Spaniards. Who does not know the other virtues of our people, the strength, the humanity, the justice and the righteousness?” however, as much as Sepulveda acknowledges these strengths, he still accepts the thrown being brought into the New World because through this, the Spaniards religion has enabled the Spanish to lead with frugality and sobriety. Indeed he acknowledges that there is no any other country like Spain in the entire Europe, who after the battle showed concern of saving the defeated. They brought in trade and wealth with them, and without detest or racism they managed to fully interact with the subjects under their throne with lots of love and friendship. This, Sepulveda sees as a good positive that can’t be condemned.
The arguments were based on a number of issues. The first issue was to convert the pagans into Christhood, the Spaniards believed that the pagans needed to acknowledge and accept the knowledge of God. This was the qualification for one to join the king of Castile, based on the myth of completion. The Spaniards believed that the Indians were under their control and that they had the powers to direct them as they wished, including converting them to Christianity. The second issue was the fact that the Spaniards wanted people to gain knowledge and understanding of the Christhood, they would do anything to ensure that their mission is completed. Also, the issue of the encomienda system where Indians were handed over to the Spaniards was baseless since it lacked the sovereignty and it hindered the independence of a person. Indeed, the reasoning and basis of the Spaniards myths were selfish and colonial since they were never based on peoples independent.
Work Cited
Bartolomé de Las Casas, “The only Method of Converting the Indians,” A ‘Very Brief Account of
Spanish Cruelty,” “Abolish the Encomienda!” and “A Defense of Human Sacrifice [All
The Races of the World are Men]” In Bartolomé de Las Casas, A Selection of his
Writings, translated and edited by George Sanderlin, Alfred A. Knopf Press, 1971.
Juan Gines Sepúlveda, Just War in the Indies (1547). In Early Modern Spain.
Kenneth, R. M., William, B. T., and Sandra, L. G. eds. Colonial Latin America, a Document History, pp. 34-123. SR Books Publishers: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, 2004. Retrieved from web: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=jssW4BK6h7cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false on 19th/10/12.
