Unheard Voice of Law in Bartolomé de Las Casas’s Brevísima Relación de la Destruición de las Indias

<p><em>The Unheard Voice of Law in Bartolomé de las Casas’s Brevísima relación de la destruición de las Indias</em> reinterprets Las Casas’s controversial treatise as a legal document whose legal character is linked to civil and ecclesial genres of the Early Modern and late Renaissance juridical tradition. </p><p>Bartolomé de las Casas proclaimed: I have labored to inquire about study and discern the law; I have plumbed the depths and have reached the headwaters. <i>The Unheard Voice </i>also plumbs the depths of Las Casas’s voice of law in his widely read and highly controversial <i>Brevísima relación</i>—a legal document published and debated since the 16th century. This original reinterpretation of his<i> Very Brief Account</i> uncovers the juridical approach voiced in his defense of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. <i>The Unheard Voice </i>innovatively asserts that the <i>Brevísima relación</i>’s legal character is intimately linked to civil and ecclesial genres of the late Renaissance juridical tradition. This paradigm-shifting book contextualizes the formation of Las Casas’s juridical voice in canon law and theology—initially as a secular cleric subsequently as a Dominican friar and finally as a diocesan bishop—and demonstrates how his experienced juridical voice fought for justice in trans-Atlantic debates about Indigenous peoples’ level of humanity religious freedom enslavement and conquest. Reaching the headwaters of Las Casas’s hitherto unheard juridical voice of law in the <i>Brevísima relación</i> provides readers with a previously unheard interpretation—an appealing voice for readers and students of this powerful Early Modern text that still resonates today.</p><p>The Unheard Voice of Law is a valuable companion text for many in the disciplines of literature history theology law and philosophy who read Bartolomé de las Casas’s <i>Very Brief Account</i> and study his life labor and legacy. </p>