An Account, Much Abbreviated, of the Destruction of the Indies, with Related TextsFifty years after the arrival of Columbus, at the height of Spain’s conquest of the West Indies, Spanish bishop and colonist Bartolomé de Las Casas dedicated his Brevísima Relación de la Destruición de las Indias to Philip II of Spain. An impassioned plea on behalf of the native peoples of the West Indies, the Brevísima Relación catalogues in horrific detail atrocities it attributes to the king’s colonists in the New World. The result is a withering indictment of the conquerors that has cast a 500-year shadow over the subsequent history of that world and the European colonization of it. |
Contents
Acknowledgments | vii |
A Note on the Text and the Translation | li |
Some Earlier English Translations of Bartolomé de las Casas | lvii |
On the Island Hispaniola | 8 |
On the Two Islands of San Juan and Jamaica | 17 |
On the Province of Nicaragua | 25 |
On the Province and Kingdom of Guatimala | 38 |
On the Kingdom of Yucatán | 47 |
On the Province of Santa Marta | 54 |
Other editions - View all
An Account, Much Abbreviated, of the Destruction of the Indies, with Related ... Bartolomé de las Casas No preview available - 2003 |
Common terms and phrases
16th century abominable alive Americas Audiencia Bartolomé Brevísima Relación brought burned cacique called captain Caribbean Casas castellanos Castile Catholic cause Christians Christopher Columbus Columbus committed conquest conquistador Crown cruel cruelties Cuba death deeds depopulated destroyed devastations died discovered dogs Dominican encomienda evil faith fleeing friars Ginés de Sepúlveda give gold governor Granada Guatemala heinous Hernán Cortés Hispaniola holy houses hundred leagues idols Indians Indies indigenous infinite number inhabitants Isabella island of Hispaniola Juan Ginés justice killed king kingdom Kingdom of Granada labour laid waste land Laws of Burgos lord Majesty Mexico monarch native Nicaragua Nicolás de Ovando order and command Pedro Pedro Arias Dávila perditions persons Peru population province repartimiento royal Santo Domingo sent serve ships slain slaughters slaves slay slew souls Spain Spaniards Spanish sword tell Terra Firma things thousand torments tortured translation tyrants villages wise women Yucatán