The inquisition in the Spanish dependencies: Sicily—Naples—Sardinia—Milan—the Canaries—Mexico—Peru—New GranadaLea, Henry Charles
History
The inquisition in the Spanish dependencies: Sicily—Naples—Sardinia—Milan—the Canaries—Mexico—Peru—New Granada
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition
A further, although illegal, relief was found by sharing in the
_repartimientos_ under which the Indians were allotted to Spaniards who
lived upon their enforced labor. It is to this cruel system that Las
Casas, Mendieta and Torquemada attribute the rapid wasting away of the
natives and the hatred which they bore to the Spaniards. Among other
attempts to diminish the evils arising from the system, repeated laws of
1530, 1532, 1542, 1551 and 1563 prohibited the allotment of Indians to
any officials or to prelates, clerics, religious houses, hospitals,
fraternities, etc. In spite of this, as soon as the Inquisition was
established, it claimed and was allowed its quota in the allotments. It
watched vigilantly, moreover, to see that it was not defrauded in any
way, for one of its earliest recorded acts, in 1572, was the prosecution
of Diego de Molina, the _repartidor de los Indios_ of San Juan, because,
in allotting the Indians of that place, the twelve assigned to the
Inquisition proved to be boys and incapables, while the useful ones, who
could be hired out advantageously, such as carpenters and masons, he
gave for bribes to others. He was mercifully let off with five days’
imprisonment and a forcible warning and doubtless served as a wholesome
example to other partitioners.[427] Like most of the salutary
legislation of Spain, it seems to have been impossible to enforce the
prohibition, and that the Inquisition continued to enjoy the unpaid
service of Indian serfs is manifested by its being specifically
included in subsequent repetitions of the law in 1609, 1627 and
1635.[428]
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