Laws of Burgos

Timeline

1. 1511–1512Burgos · CastileIn 1511 Antonio de Montesinos preached in Santo Domingo, publicly condemning colonists for working indigenous people to death. Ferdinand II convened theologians and jurists as the Burgos conference, issuing on December 27, 1512 about thirty-five articles: forbidding enslavement of indigenous people, mandating conversion, while setting mining labor, nucleated settlement, and provisions as legal obligations of the encomendero.
2. 1513–1520Hispaniola · HispaniolaThe 1513 Valladolid amendments detailed labor restrictions for women workers, pregnant women, and children, and extended the scope to more Caribbean islands. The articles forbade flogging and abusive terms, yet still allowed about a third of the labor force into gold mines. Local enforcement relied on encomenderos and early audiencias; the indigenous population kept declining and the laws failed to curb abuse.
3. 1542The Spanish court and Spanish America · American coloniesCharles I, urged by Las Casas and others, issued the 1542 New Laws, restricting hereditary encomienda and strengthening the crown's protective stance toward indigenous people; the Laws of Burgos were superseded as a special code. Its formula of 'free status + forced labor + forced conversion' was still inherited by subsequent Indian legislation.