La Ecomienda

"They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they kept only one; they promised to take our land, and they did.” --Chief Red Cloud

http://vimeo.com/7305719

Lecture 18: The Encomienda

 

Ecomienda comes from the Spanish verb, “encomendar”, to entrust.  Its history began during the time of the Reconquista or the 781 year period of reconquest by Christian Iberian kingdoms over the Muslim kingdoms.  During this time frame Adelantados, a Spanish nobility title, were given the right to collect tribute from Muslims or others who lived in the area they had conquered and resettled.

When Christopher Columbus was recalled back to Spain by the crown to answer charges of fraud and corruption, he was stripped of all titles including governor of Hispaniola.  King Ferdinad and Queen Isabella appointed Fray Nicolas de Ovanda as the new royal governor and he establishes the first formalized encomienda system in Hispaniola. 

The Spanish crown granted a citizen of the colony a specific amount of local inhabitants to perform manual labor.  These grantees were usually individuals who had participated in a successful conquest. To make it more effectively the Spanish allowed the indigenous leaders to remain in power as long as they mobilized their communities to provide the required tribute of labor. The labor ranged from farming, working in gold and silver mines to personal servants..  The conquerors who received these grants of labor were to in turn be responsible for their chargers.  The encomenderos were to teach the natives the Spanish language, instruct them in the Catholic faith and protect them from their traditional enemies. The encomienda did not include a land grant because in theory the land belonged to the Spanish crown but in practice the encomenderos gained control of the local land and failed to fulfill their obligations.

In reality the encominda was no different than slavery.  A major reform called the New Laws in 1542 restricted the endomenderos for holding onto their charges for two generations.  However many by passed this stipulation because Spanish authorities simple could not enforce it.  When the crown attempted to implement the policy in Peru in 1535, the Spanish citizens revolted and killed the viceroy.  In Mexico the viceroy wisely decided not to carry out the New Laws citing the potential for rebellion. He said “I obey crown authority but do not comply with this order.

In all of this it is incredible that the native population was theoretical not viewed as slaves but as “free vassals of the crown.”  Even though Queen Isabella of Castile had forbidden Indian slavery many natives were forced to death by their hard labor and subjected to extreme punishment if resisted.

The encomienda was strongly based on the encomendado’s tribal identity.  Mixed race or mesitizo individuals, for example could not by law by subjected to the encomienda.  This moved many to deliberately seek to dilute their tribal identity and that of their descendants as a way to escape from the service, by seeking intermarriage with people from different ethnicities, especially Spaniards or Creoles.  In this way the encomienda somewhat weakened Amerindians’ tribal identification and ethnicity, which in turn diminished the pool of available encomedados.

The encomienda system slowly gave way to a new system called “repartimiento.”  This system did not grant land only the allotment of native workers.  This time the natives were allotted to the crown who were managed by a local crown appointed official.  He would assign them to work for settlers for set period of time usually of several weeks.  It was an attempt to stop the abuse of forced labor.  

The encomienda system did eventually come to a legal end in 1720, when the crown made a new attempt at eradicating the institution. The encomenderos were then required to pay remaining encomienda laborers for their work.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encomienda

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El Requerimiento

"Real Eyes…Realize…Real Lies” Machine Head / Tupac

WARNING:  The truth is cruel but it is necessary to confront lies told about the past.  What I am about to share was never taught in history books regarding the infamous so called discovery of the inhabitant Americas.  The love of money is the root of all evil and the lust to covet the wealth of others birthed a declaration of tyranny.   This audacious declaration was called “The Requerimiento.” As I read out loud this heinous document rivers of anger and fury flooded my soul.  The words are antagonistic, aggressive, hostile, revolting, obnoxious, disgusting and criminal.  I was appalled at the malevolence mindset of16^th Century.  This man made ill fated illogical reasoning was forged from the evil of the darkest bowels of immorality and iniquity.

"The “Requerimiento”* can be translated to requirement or demand.  It was required to be read by the invading Conquistador before the invading armies entered into a New World village, town or city.  It was read in Spanish with the expectation of a response.  Imagine the perplexed looks on the faces of the native inhabitants when this document was real out loud.   To their native ears it was gibberish.  Even if there was no language barrier, there would have been an impediment of understanding concerning the foreign ideology and unfamiliar concepts expressed in the document.  They had their own spiritual perspective of the world around them and self government and it did not include a distant Catholic King.

It was written in 1513 by Juan Lopez de Palacios Rubios, a lawyer.  Its diabolical purpose was to provide legal sanction to subjugate native peoples, plunder their lands and steal their wealth.  Its legal precedent was set during the centuries of struggle by the Catholic forces in Spain to recapture their homeland from generations of Muslim overlords commonly called “Reconquista” or the Reconquest.  Church leaders would write letters of encouragement to the victorious Catholic leaders to convert the local defeated Muslim populations, confiscate their land and wealth as payment for the war and to edify the church.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista

It was also a brilliant document because it provided psychological support in the midst of a moral crisis.  We are spiritual beings laced with emotions encased in a physical body controlled by the mind.  We are interconnected spirit beings and if something assaults one part of our essence and it is not appropriately corrected negative consequences will transfer to our physical or mental beings.  This document provided the Spanish Conquistador with a way to deal with their emotions as they engaged in systematic hostility, plunder, rape, and murder of the native peoples.  By reading this document out loud beforehand it justified their conquest and “cleansed” their guilty consciousness.  In Catholic man made termology it meant absolution from their upcoming sins.  Below is the English translation of “The Requerimiento.”

"On behalf of the King, Don Fernando, and of Doña Juana I, his daughter, Queen of Castille and León, subduers of the barbarous nations, we their servants notify and make known to you, as best we can, that the Lord our God, Living and Eternal, created the Heaven and the Earth, and one man and one woman, of whom you and we, all the men of the world at the time, were and are descendants, and all those who came after and before us. But, on account of the multitude which has sprung from this man and woman in the five thousand years since the world was created, it was necessary that some men should go one way and some another, and that they should be divided into many kingdoms and provinces, for in one alone they could not be sustained.

Of all these nations God our Lord gave charge to one man, called St. Peter, that he should be Lord and Superior of all the men in the world, that all should obey him, and that he should be the head of the whole Human Race, wherever men should live, and under whatever law, sect, or belief they should be; and he gave him the world for his kingdom and jurisdiction.

And he commanded him to place his seat in Rome, as the spot most fitting to rule the world from; but also he permitted him to have his seat in any other part of the world, and to judge and govern all Christians, Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and all other Sects. This man was called Pope, as if to say, Admirable Great Father and Governor of men. The men who lived in that time obeyed that St. Peter, and took him for Lord, King, and Superior of the universe; so also they have regarded the others who after him have been elected to the pontificate, and so has it been continued even till now, and will continue till the end of the world.

One of these Pontiffs, who succeeded that St. Peter as Lord of the world, in the dignity and seat which I have before mentioned, made donation of these isles and Tierra-firme to the aforesaid King and Queen and to their successors, our lords, with all that there are in these territories, as is contained in certain writings which passed upon the subject as aforesaid, which you can see if you wish.

So their Highnesses are kings and lords of these islands and land of Tierra-firme by virtue of this donation: and some islands, and indeed almost all those to whom this has been notified, have received and served their Highnesses, as lords and kings, in the way that subjects ought to do, with good will, without any resistance, immediately, without delay, when they were informed of the aforesaid facts. And also they received and obeyed the priests whom their Highnesses sent to preach to them and to teach them our Holy Faith; and all these, of their own free will, without any reward or condition, have become Christians, and are so, and their Highnesses have joyfully and benignantly received them, and also have commanded them to be treated as their subjects and vassals; and you too are held and obliged to do the same. Wherefore, as best we can, we ask and require you 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, as 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."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requerimiento

*As a Believer in Jesus Christ, I, 100% reject this document.  It does NOT reflect the Holy character of God, the true words of Jesus Christ or the transformation power of the Holy Spirit.  These gluttonous ideas were NOT inspired by God.  These immoral acts were created independent from God by misguided men who out of their own sinful lust desired money, fame and power.  (James 1:13-15).

Jesus’ commandment to the church was and is and will always be; “Love One Another.” Anything short of that is disobedience.  (Luke 6:46)

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Conquistador War Tactics

"The entire human race is one ... all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Bartolomé de las Casas

 This has been one of the most difficult posts to write.  There are no winners in war and the brutality of conquest is never elegant.  As I began my research my mind was prepared for the atrocities I thought I knew.  I was wrong.  Perhaps I am guilty of judging the past too harshly using today’s humane standards of justice and equality.  It happened 500 years ago but my findings disturbed me greatly. 

Weapons

The ranks of the invading Spanish conquerors were divided between cavalry and foot soldiers.  Only those of noble blood and rich enough to afford a horse as well as the necessary provisions comprised the horsemen of the cavalry.  Another factor was the ability to afford the cavalry’s weapons of warfare; lances and swords.  Although the lances were simple long wooden poles the iron or steel spear tips at the end were costly.  Even more costly would be to own your own sword and the mark of a noble or hidalgo would be the owner of a Toledo sword.  They were about 3 feet long and narrow and sharp on both sides. They could bend in a half circle and were strong enough to withstand a blow to metal armor.

The small armies of the Conquistadors were mostly made up of a motley crew from the low ranks of Spanish society.  Criminals avoiding the gallows, peasant farmers, artisans and those of lower noble blood filled the ranks in hope of obtaining the spoils of war in order to elevate their station in life.  The foot soldiers commonly used a “Harquebus” which was a large musket of sorts.  This is the weapon the natives feared since it created the sound of thunder, but it use was limited because it needed to be reloaded slowly and its wick also needed to be kept lit.

Some soldiers preferred a weapon known as a “Halberd”.  This was a highly versatile weapon that was around six feet long and combined the blade of an ax with a stabling point.  http://www.buzzle.com/articles/conquistador-weapons.html

Armor
Spanish armor, mostly made in Toledo, was among the finest in the world. Encased from head to foot in a steel shell, Spanish conquistadors were all but invulnerable when facing native opponents.

The helmet most commonly associated with the conquistadors was the morion, a heavy steel helm with a pronounced crest or comb on top and sweeping sides that came to points on either end. Some infantrymen preferred a salade, a full-faced helmet that looks a little like a steel ski mask. In its most basic form, it is a bullet-shaped helm with a large T in front for the eyes, nose and mouth. A cabasset helmet was much simpler: it is a large steel cap that covers the head from the ears up: stylish ones would have an elongated dome like the pointy end of an almond.

Most conquistadors wore a full set of armor which consisted of a heavy breastplate, arm and leg greaves, a metal skirt and protection for the neck and throat called a gorget. Even parts of the body such as elbows and shoulders, which require movement, were protected by a series of overlapping plates, meaning that there were very few vulnerable spots on a fully armored conquistador. A full suit of metal armor weighed about sixty pounds and the weight was well-distributed over the body, allowing it to be worn for long periods of time without causing much fatigue. It generally included even armored boots and gloves or gauntlets.

Later in the conquest, as conquistadors realized that full suits of armor were overkill in the New World, some of them switched to lighter chain mail, which was just as effective. Some even abandoned metal armor entirely, wearing "escuapil", a sort of padded leather or cloth armor adapted from the armor worn by Aztec warriors.

http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/theconquest/a/09armsconquest_2.htm

War Dogs

The dogs the Conquistadors brought with them were Mastiff breeds who were hardly the lap variety or destined for the plate. These attack dogs, often wearing their own armor, were the common European shock and awe tactic of the period. The first documented New World use of these canine swat teams occurred in 1495 when Bartholomew Columbus, Chris’s brother, used 20 mastiffs in a battle waged at Santa Maris el Antigua, Darien with his brother employing the same approach a year later.  These dogs were trained to pursue, disembowel and dismember humans and to this purpose, enjoyed a human diet in the Americas. The Spanish reveled in holding human hunts called “la Monteria infernal “ where much sport was made of chasing and killing the local men, women and children. 

 Bercerruillo the terror of Borinquen, until he was fallen by 50 arrows, received a salary one and a half times that of an archer from his owner Ponce de Leon.

Leoncillo, Bercerruillo’s son, was Balboa’s warrior, earned over 500 gold pesos in booty during his many campaigns.

Bruto, De Soto’s champion, received 20 slaves as spoils before his career ended.

Scores of firsthand accounts tell us how the dogs attacked local Caciques [chiefs] both dead and alive.  http://elvalleinformation.wordpress.com/spanish-war-dogs/

Torture

From the pen of a Spanish eyewitness comes the cruel some tales of barbaric torture and human cruelty.  The author, Father Bartolome de las Casas, whom I have mentioned already in earlier posts was a contemporary of Christopher Columbus. He came to Hispaniola (modern island of Hatia and Santo Domingo) in 1502.  He started out as a merchant under the law of encomienda…

 

As legally defined in 1503, an encomienda (from encomendar, “to entrust”) consisted of a grant by the crown to a conquistador, soldier, official or others of a specified number of Indians living in a particular area.  The receiver of the grant, the encomendero, could exact tribute from the Indians in gold, in kind, or in labor and was required to protect them and instruct them in the Catholic faith.  The encomienda did not include a grant of land, but in practice the encomenderos gained control of the Indian’s land and failed to fulfill their obligations to the Indian population.

.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186567/encomienda
 
…and became an Indian slave owner.  Almost a decade later he happened a chance to meet a group of Dominican priest who questioned the conquistador’s authority over their Indian slaves.  “Tell me, by what right do hold these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude?  Are they not men?”

According to his personal bio this statement was the catalyst he needed and gave up his Indian slaves around 1515 and entered the priesthood.  He felt morally bound to inform the Spanish court what was being carried out in the name of Christ.    http://www.survivalinternational.org/articles/3208-bartolome

Dismemberment

Cutting off Hands

Burning Alive and Smashing Infant's Head

Other Acts of Violence;

·         Fed Indian babies to dogs

·         Hunted adults for sport

·    ·   For a pastime killed 10 to 20 at a time to test the sharpness of their swords

·         Poured boiling soup

·        Beheaded

·         Raped