Bartolome de las cases recruiter of the black masses

#BARTOLOME DE LAS CASES RECRUITER OF THE BLACK MASSES SERIES#

belongs to the intellectual history of SpainвЂќ (footnote 4) or that вЂњthe ideological side of the Indianist movement does not, properly speaking, belong to Latin American history but rather to the history of Spanish juridical-theological ideas of the sixteenth centuryвЂќ (128), suggests a demarcation between Spain and America unrealistic in the context of the early sixteenth century. To argue that вЂњthe ideological struggle in behalf of the Indians. And Valeri Afanasiev concedes Las CasasвЂ™s вЂњdetermination to revive and apply the ideals of an abstract Christian humanism that he believed derived from the Scriptural textsвЂќ (554).ДЄlthough admirable in principle, then, Professor FriedeвЂ™s position is in practice fraught with danger sins of omission which not even his remarkable scholarship can surmount. Indefatigably, he sought the doctrinal justification for his activity in favor of the IndiansвЂќ (414). Professor Bataillon, however, does not fail to stress the significance of Las CasasвЂ™s вЂњconversionвЂќ and subsequent retreat in 1522 which changed him вЂњfrom a good colonist-reformer into a theologian-jurist.

#BARTOLOME DE LAS CASES RECRUITER OF THE BLACK MASSES SERIES#

Similarly, Marcel BataillonвЂ™s superb monograph subjecting Las CasasвЂ™s plans for reform to methodical analysis argues вЂњthe unity of pragmatic thought that inspired the series of memorials draftedвЂќ by Las Casas between 15.

The subject of this study, therefore, is Las Casas as вЂњthe head of a political movement and the organizer of an activist partyвЂќ (132). Rejecting what he sees as the excessive and unilateral emphasis placed by some scholars on the вЂњjuridical-theological discussions provoked by the entrance of the Indians into the Hispanic worldвЂќ (129), Professor Friede insists that the destiny of the Indians was вЂњmolded not by laws and discussions but by the struggle of social forces both in America and in SpainвЂќ (131), and maintains that the вЂњAmerican reality was the guiding starвЂќ of Lascasian thought, вЂњthe ultimate argument in all his polemicsвЂќ (162). Juan FriedeвЂ™s masterful вЂњLas Casas and Indigenism in the Sixteenth CenturyвЂќ closes the first cycle of essays.

вЂњHis life is a magnificent lesson and example of the conduct (the honesty, study, and valor) that should guide the actions of the Christian intellectual confronting a hostile political environment,вЂќ writes Professor GimГ©nez FernГЎndez, вЂњand around his doctrine, properly applied to present-day conditions, can rally all who are disillusioned with anarchistic individualism, with totalitarianism, which degrades the human personality, and with the servile legalism that grovels before CaesarвЂќ (117-118). Unqualifiedly favorable to the Dominican-his opponents are often dismissed as moral weaklings or outright scoundrels-the essay clearly discloses how deeply the author was affected by events of the last generation in Spain, and his search (in the life and ideology of Las Casas) for the guiding principles of modern liberal Catholicism. The first section opens with a biographical sketch by Las CasasвЂ™s biographer, the late Manuel GimГ©nez FernГЎndez. Totalling ten studies-especially no-table being those by Friede and Bataillon-in praise of the Defender of the Indians, the book is a remarkable mosaic of scholarly appraisals вЂњhonoring the memory of Las Casas after the fourth centenary of his death.вЂќ Prefaced by Benjamin KeenвЂ™s excellent introduction which both acquaints the reader with the various approaches to Las Casas from the sixteenth century to the present and skillfully sets the tone for the remaining essays, BartolomГ© de las Casas in History is divided into four major sections tracing the life, ideology, presence in America, and heritage of the great Dominican.

Bartolome de las cases recruiter of the black masses