[XIV‑8] Real Cédula de 17 de Novre 1526, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, v. 326-31. In the preamble to this decree the emperor states that it is notorious that excessive toil in mines and at other labor and the want of food and proper clothing had caused the death of such numbers that some parts of the country had become depopulated, while whole districts were abandoned by the natives, who had fled to the mountains and forests to escape ill-treatment. This cédula, designed to apply to the king's dominions in the west from Panamá to Florida, ordered diligent inquiry to be made relative to the killing, robbery, and illegal branding of Indians, and that the perpetrators should be delivered over to the council of the Indies. Other provisos were that slaves should be restored to their native country, and if this were not possible they were to be placed in reasonable liberty, nor were they to be too heavily worked or made to labor in the mines or elsewhere against their will. In future expeditions of discovery and colonization the leader was to take with him two ecclesiastics at least, who were to use greatest diligence in obtaining kindly treatment for the Indians. Natives who were peaceably inclined were not to be made slaves; at the same time the promotion of morality and good customs was not left out of sight, and in cases where it might be deemed beneficial by the priest they might be assigned to Christian Europeans as free servitors; and lastly no discoverer was to take with him out of their native land on any of his expeditions more than one or two Indians to act as interpreters. Ximenez, lib. iii. cap. lii., states that natives were branded as slaves through having been merely assigned to an encomendero, and that young boys and tender girls were taken from the towns by hundreds to wash for gold in the gulches, where they perished from hunger and hardship. Pelaez, Mem. Guat., i. 67. A notable case of branding Indians who had peaceably submitted, was that of the natives of Cuzcatlan by Alvarado in 1524, described by witnesses in Cortés, Residencia, 96, 155.
[XIV‑9] This order repeated the mandates of the previous cédula, and in addition abolished the system of encomiendas, as well as the branding of Indians as slaves. His majesty refused to grant them as vassals to any one. No Spaniard was to be allowed to use them as pack-animals. The caciques were not to be deprived entirely of governing power, but allowed certain jurisdiction, under the advice and instruction of the governors of provinces. Natives were to be encouraged in gold-mining; but, on payment of the royal dues, the gold they extracted was to belong to themselves; nor were they to be deprived of the lands they had acquired by inheritance, if they wished to cultivate them.
[XIV‑10] In 1533 it was enacted that an Indian's load should not exceed two arrobas in weight. In 1536 it was ordered that natives who had been accustomed to move from place to place were not to be prevented from doing so. Other laws passed the same year were to the effect that no Spaniard of any rank could be carried about by Indians in hammock or palanquin. Negroes ill-treating Indians were to receive 100 lashes, or if blood were shed, a punishment adequate to the severity of the wound. Native villages and settlements were not to be inhabited by Spaniards, negroes, or mulattoes. A Spaniard when travelling could only remain one night, and Spanish traders three days, in an Indian village. In 1538 laws were made ordering that caciques were not to sell or barter their subjects. This year also a modification of previous enactments limited the use of natives as pack-animals to those under 18 years of age. The Indians were, by all possible means other than coercion, to be induced to live in communities. In 1541 viceroys, audiencias, and governors were ordered to ascertain whether encomenderos sold their slaves, and if any such were discovered they were to be exemplarily punished and the bondsmen thus sold restored to liberty. Recop. de Indias, ii. 192, 194, 201-2, 212, 277-8, 288-9. These laws were general and applied to all Spanish America. Vazquez states that, in the year 1714, there existed in the city archives of Guatemala royal cédulas, issued in 1531, 1533, and 1534, authorizing the branding of slaves taken in war or obtained by rescate. Chronica de Gvat., 37-8.
[XIV‑11] In December 1530 the cabildo of Santiago was compelled to pass a law ordering the burial of the dead. 'Los Indios que mueren en sus casas, no los entierran, è los dexan comer de perros, y aues, è podrir dentro de la dicha ciudad, de que suelen venir è recrecer muchas dolencias á los vezinos y habitãtes.' Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 30. Christianized Indians, whether servant or slave, were to be buried in consecrated ground at the depth of the waist-belt of a man of good stature. Others were to be buried an estado deep, out of reach of dogs, under penalty of 20 pesos de oro. Id.
[XIV‑12] In 1529 laws were passed prohibiting such acts under a penalty of 25 pesos de oro, the proprietor of the servant to forfeit his ownership. If the person offending were an hidalgo the fine was 100 pesos de oro; if not he was to receive 100 lashes. Arévalo, Actas Ayunt. Guat., 90-1, 114-15. The market called by the Indians tianguez was held daily at sunset. To provide against the outrages then committed a master of the market was appointed in 1532. In the following year another decree was found necessary, which was republished February 9, 1534. Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 32.
[XIV‑13] Paul III. it will be remembered is noted as the pontiff who excommunicated Henry VIII. of England, and in the contest of Charles V. with the Protestant League despatched a large force to the emperor's aid.
[XIV‑14] It will be remembered that the inquisition, at that time in full blast, was founded by the Dominican order. In Prescott's Peru, ii. 253, it is stated that the arguments used by Las Casas before the junta were first published by a secretary of that institution.
[XIV‑15] The full text of them is given in Leyes y Ordenanzas, Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 204-27. There are extracts from them in Herrera, Remesal, Torquemada, and other chroniclers. For further mention of the new code and its workings see Hist. Mex., ii. 516, et seq. this series. Prescott says: 'The provisions of this celebrated code are to be found, with more or less—generally less—accuracy, in the various contemporary writers. Herrera gives them in extenso.' Peru, ii. 255. The historian is himself somewhat inaccurate on this and other points.
[XIV‑16] Before the new laws were passed Indians captured in war or guilty of certain crimes could be legally enslaved.
[XIV‑17] For a description of the repartimiento and encomienda system, see [Hist. Cent. Am., i. 262-4], and Hist. Mex., ii. 145-52, this series.