1474 - 1566
Born in Seville in the family of an impoverished Spanish. Merchant. He graduated from the University of Salamanca. In 1502 a missionary for about. Hispaniola (now - Haiti). In 1511-14 chaplain detachments A. Velasquez in Cuba, 1519-21 missionary in Venezuela, in 1530-ies. Guatemala. In 1544-50, Bishop of Chiapas (Mexico). In 1551 he returned to Spain. Defended enslaved Indians, denounced colonialism, slavery, cruelty and immorality of the Conquest. In his treatise "The only way to communion of all peoples to the true religion" (1537) Las
Casas opposed the abuse of religious feelings of the population of the New World. Pamphlet "The shortest story of the destruction of West Indies" (1552), a sort of prologue to the tragic chronicle of the colonial era, principles Á•³ with Las
Casas European fame. In his views evolved from the criticism of individual crimes of the conquistadors in the condemnation of the seizure of foreign lands and the recognition of the legality of the resistance of Indians. Works Las
Casas - an important source of history and ethnography of Latin A.meriki In a lot of information, . related to the aggressive policy of Spain in the New World, . provides extensive data on the material culture, . life and customs of the indigenous population of the West Indies, . Mexico and other countries of Central and South America,
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