Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484-1566) was a Spanish Dominican friar and former conquistador who revealed the atrocities of the conquests of New Spain and Peru and who strove to protect the basic rights of indigenous peoples in the Spanish Empire. For this reason, Las Casas is often called the 'Defender of the Indians'.
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Definition
Timeline
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1484 - 1566Life of the Dominican friar and defender of the rights of indigenous peoples in Spanish America Bartolomé de Las Casas.
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11 Nov 1484Bartolomé de Las Casas is born in Seville, Spain.
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1502Bartolomé de Las Casas settles on Hispaniola.
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1511Bartolomé de Las Casas participates in the conquest of Cuba.
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1515Bartolomé de Las Casas supervises an ill-fated colony in Cumaná on Hispaniola.
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1521Bartolomé de Las Casas leads an ill-fated colony in Venezuela.
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1522Bartolomé de Las Casas writes a graphic description of the Spanish colonial encomienda system in his "A Very Brief Recital of the Destruction of the Indies".
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1537 - 1542Bartolomé de Las Casas leads an experimental community with Kekchi Indians in Guatemala.
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Aug 1550The Valladolid debate between Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de Las Casas on how indigenous peoples in the Spanish Americas should be treated.
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18 Jul 1566Bartolomé de Las Casas dies in Madrid.
