Spanish Requirement of 1513
Also known as: Spanish Requirement of 1513
- 1Issued in 1513 as a formal declaration of sovereignty.
- 2Authored by the jurist Juan López de Palacios Rubios.
- 3Issued on behalf of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Joanna of Castile.
- 4Claimed a divinely ordained right to possess New World territories.
- 5Used to justify the subjugation and exploitation of native inhabitants.
The Spanish Requirement of 1513 (Requerimiento) was a declaration by the Spanish monarchy of Castile's divinely ordained right to take possession of the territories of the New World and to subjugate, exploit and, when necessary, to fight the native inhabitants.
Connections1
legal document challenged by his advocacy
Alonso de Veracruz criticized the legal and moral foundations of the Spanish conquest, including the use of documents like the Requerimiento to justify subjugation.
The Spanish Requirement of 1513, also known as the Requerimiento, was a formal legal document used by the Spanish monarchy to justify its presence and actions in the New World. Drafted by the jurist Juan López de Palacios Rubios of the Council of Castile, the text asserted a divinely ordained right for Spain to claim sovereignty over newly encountered territories.
Drawing of a battle in the Spanish conquest of El Salvador, 1524Wikimedia Commons: File:Guerra_de_Cuzcatlán.png This declaration served as a mechanism for legitimizing the subjugation and exploitation of native inhabitants. By requiring indigenous peoples to acknowledge the authority of the Catholic Church and the Spanish Crown, the document provided a legalistic framework for the conquistadores to initiate conflict and enforce colonial rule whenever these demands were not met, often leading to widespread atrocities.