Laws of Burgos facts for kids

The Laws of Burgos (Spanish: Leyes de Burgos) were a very important set of rules made in Burgos, Spain, on December 27, 1512. They were the first official laws about how Spanish people should act in the Americas, especially towards the native people there. These laws said that native people could not be enslaved. They also said that native people should be taught about the Catholic faith.

These laws were created after Spain started taking over and settling lands in the West Indies, like the island of Hispaniola. The usual laws from Spain didn't quite fit the new situations in the Americas.

At first, the laws were only for Hispaniola. But later, they were also used in Puerto Rico and Jamaica. The laws allowed a system called encomiendas. This system meant that groups of native people would work for a Spanish boss on a farm or estate. They were supposed to get paid and have places to live. The laws also set limits on how many people could be in an encomienda (between 40 and 150). They also had rules about work, pay, food, and housing. Pregnant women (more than four months along) were not allowed to do hard work.

The laws also said that the Spanish bosses (called encomenderos) could not punish the native people themselves. Only special officials could do that. The laws also ordered that native people be taught about Catholicism. They banned having more than one wife and said that native people's homes should be built near Spanish homes. The laws also respected some native leaders, giving them special jobs and servants.

These laws were later updated and improved in 1513 with the Laws of Valladolid.

Sometimes, these laws were not followed very well. This led to more protests and calls for change. Later, new and stricter rules were made in 1542, called the Leyes Nuevas ("New Laws"). These new laws were about the rights of native people in the New World. Overall, the Laws of Burgos are seen as an early step towards human rights and international law.

Why the Laws Were Made

A church leader named Cardinal Domingo de Mendoza heard bad reports about how native people were being treated in the Americas. He sent a group of Dominican missionaries to Hispaniola to try and stop the abuse.

These missionaries couldn't stop it legally, but they complained a lot. This started a big debate. One friar, Fray Antonio de Montesinos, preached to the Spanish settlers. He told them they were sinning by forcing native people to work. He said they only had the right to teach them Christianity.

The settlers didn't like this. They chose a Franciscan friar, Alonso de Espinal, to go to Spain. He was supposed to tell King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Joanna of Castile that Montesinos was wrong. But the settlers' plan didn't work. Spain was very upset when they heard about the mistreatment of the native people.

To solve this problem, the rulers asked a group of smart people to find a solution. These people were church scholars and university experts.

The Dominican Friars, supported by Diego de Deza, had also backed Christopher Columbus's explorations. After 1508, these friars started to defend the native people. They argued that native Americans should not be forced to become like servants or slaves for the new settlers.

The friars and other Spanish experts pushed King Ferdinand II and Queen Joanna I to create laws. These laws would protect the rights of the native people in the New World. This led to the 1512 Laws of Burgos. On December 27, 1512, in Burgos, thirty-five laws were put into action. They aimed to make sure native people were free and to set rules for their conversion to Christianity.

What the Laws Said

The Laws of Burgos stated that native people were free. They should be taught the Christian faith. They could be asked to work, but their work should not stop them from learning about Christianity. The work should also be something they could handle. They should have their own homes and land. They should also have time to work for themselves. They were supposed to communicate with the Spanish. They should also get wages, not in money, but in clothes and things for their homes.

Here is a summary of some of the 35 laws:

• Native people were to be moved to encomiendas. For every fifty native people, four houses would be built. This land could not be taken from them. The native people would plant all the food. During the right seasons, the Spanish bosses (encomenderos) would have the native people plant corn and raise chickens.
• Native people should move to the encomiendas willingly. They should not be forced to move.
• The Spanish person who received native people in an encomienda had to build a church. The church needed a picture of Mary and a bell to call people to prayer. The boss had to go with them to church every night. He had to make sure they made the sign of the cross and sang hymns. If a native person did not come to church, they were not allowed to rest the next day.
• To make sure native people learned Christianity, they would be tested every two weeks. The encomendero would teach them what they didn't know. This included the Ten Commandments, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Articles of Faith. Any boss who didn't do this would be fined six gold pesos.
• A church would be built in the middle of all the estates. On Sundays, Mass would be held, and a feast would be eaten. If the encomendero did not bring his native people, he would be fined ten gold pesos.
• If the church was too far, another one would be built.
• Priests who collected money from the estates had to have priests always in the churches of the estates.
• Churches would be built at the mines. This way, native people working in the mines could hear Mass on Sundays.
• Anyone with fifty native people had to choose one boy who seemed smart. This boy would be taught to read, write, and learn about Catholicism. This boy would then teach the other native people. This was because native people might listen more to one of their own than to a Spaniard. If a boss had one hundred native people, two boys would be chosen. The faith had to be taught well to save the souls of the native people.
• If a native person got sick near a priest, the priest had to go to them. He would say prayers and other Catholic teachings. The sick person could confess without paying. If the native person died, they would be buried with a cross near the church. If they were not buried, the encomendero would be fined four gold pesos.
• Native people must not be used to carry things to other native people at the mines.
• All Spanish people with native people in an encomienda had to baptize babies within a week of their birth.
• After native people were brought to the estates, they would search for gold for five months a year. After five months, they could rest for forty days. During these forty days, they were not to be employed, unless they were a slave and agreed to plant crops. During the forty days, they would learn more about their faith.
• Native people must be allowed to perform their traditional dances.
• All citizens with native people had to feed them bread, yams, and peppers. On Sundays, they would get cooked meat. For every time this rule was broken, a fine of two gold pesos would be paid.
• According to Catholicism, native people were not allowed to have more than one wife. They were also not allowed to leave their wives.
• Sons of native chiefs who were under thirteen years old were to be given to the Friars. They would be taught to read, write, and learn about Catholicism. When they turned nineteen, they would return to the encomienda and teach others.
• Pregnant women were not to be sent to the mines or made to plant crops. They would stay on the estate and do household tasks like cooking and weeding. After the child was born, the mother could nurse it until it was three years old. After that, she could return to the mines and other duties.
• Native people should not sleep on the ground. Each encomendero should give his native people hammocks.
• Native people were to be given one gold peso each year to pay for clothing.
• Native people could not change their bosses. One encomendero could not hire or house a native person belonging to another encomendero.
• Native chiefs were allowed two native people to help them for every forty of their subjects. Also, visitors to the estates had to treat the native people well and teach them about Catholicism.
• Official inspectors had to keep records of activities and how native people were treated in the encomiendas. They had to track the population and how much gold was being mined.
• Native people were not to be physically or verbally abused for any reason.
• Native people were not to be used for private trade or other business interests.
• Encomenderos whose native people worked in distant mines had to work with other estates to provide food for them.
• Native people from other lands also had to be taught about the Catholic faith. They were to be treated kindly, unless they were slaves.
• If an encomendero died, his replacement would take control of the native people.
• Two inspectors should be chosen for each Estate.
• The inspectors would be chosen by the Admiral, judges, and officers. These inspectors would be paid by being given native people in encomienda.
• Villages should be inspected twice a year, once at the beginning of the year and once in the summer.
• If a native person ran away, inspectors could not catch them. They had to be given to a person who would find the native person's encomendero.
• All inspectors should have a copy of the Laws of Burgos, signed by the Governor.
• Inspectors must be given places to live.
• One person could not have more than one hundred and fifty native people and no less than forty native people in encomienda at one time.

More rules were added to the Laws of Burgos on July 28, 1513:

• Native women married to native men were not to be forced to work with their husbands at the mines or anywhere else. This was only allowed if they wanted to or if their husbands wished them to come.
• Native children did not have to do adult work until they were fourteen. Then they would do child tasks, like weeding or working on their parents' farms.
• Unmarried native women under their parents' care had to work with them on their land. Those not under their parents' care had to be kept separate so they didn't wander around without purpose.
• After two years of service, native people were free to go. By this time, they would be "civilized" and good Christians, able to manage themselves.

What Happened Next

Bartolomé de Las Casas believed that Spain and Portugal were given the New World only to convert the native people. He thought native people should not be used for other reasons, especially not for making money. He believed the only solution was to remove Spanish settlers from the native people, except for missionaries.

On July 28, 1513, four more laws were added. These are known as the Leyes Complementarias de Valladolid 1513. Three of these laws were about native women and children, and one was about native men. These laws were used until November 17, 1526, when new rules called the Ordenanzas de Granada 1526 became active. These new laws showed the disagreements among Spanish church scholars and the involvement of the Popes.

These new laws had been thought about since the creation of the Council of the Indies in March 1523. This council was set up by King Charles I of Spain, who was the son of Queen Joanna I of Castile. The first leader of this council was a Dominican friar named Juan Garcia de Loaysa.

The later "Ordenanzas de Granada" in 1526 were mainly discussed between King Charles I of Spain and Rodrigo de Figueroa. This happened because of the strong arguments made by the famous Dominican Father Bartolomé de las Casas. He came from a merchant family in Seville that had dealt with Black African slaves brought to the Caribbean islands.

See also

In Spanish: Leyes de Burgos para niños

• Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Spanish colonization of the Americas
• Sublimis Deus