Promulgation of the Papal Bull Sublimis Deus

Timeline

1. 1537Rome · RomePope Paul III issued the bull Sublimis Deus in Rome, declaring the indigenous peoples of the Americas and elsewhere fully rational beings with souls who must not be enslaved or deprived of their property, and who should be given the opportunity to be missionized and baptized. The bull responded to fierce debates over the status of indigenous peoples and the legality of enslavement in the course of Spanish colonial expansion.
2. 1537–1540Spanish American colonies · Spanish American coloniesAfter the bull reached the Americas, colonial authorities, missionaries, and defenders of the encomienda system interpreted and resisted it on grounds such as "just war" and the "state before conversion," and enslavement did not in fact stop immediately. The Holy See subsequently attempted to strengthen enforcement through documents such as Pastorale officium (1538), creating tension between papal declarations and colonial practice.