Bartholomew de Las Casas; his life, apostolate, and writings | Page 9

LAS CASAS AND CHARLES V. THE GRAND CHANCELLOR. NEGRO SLAVERY. EVENTS AT COURT.
CHAPTER VIII.
- MONSIEUR DE LAXAO. COLONISATION PROJECTS. RECRUITING EMIGRANTS.
CHAPTER IX.
- KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN SPUR. THE COURT PREACHERS. FURTHER CONTROVERSIES
CHAPTER X.
- THE BISHOP OF DARIEN. DEBATE WITH LAS CASAS. DISAGREEMENT WITH DIEGO COLUMBUS
CHAPTER XI.
- ROYAL GRANT TO LAS CASAS. THE PEARL COAST. LAS CASAS IN HISPANIOLA. FORMATION OF A COMPANY.
CHAPTER XII.
- THE IDEAL COLONY. FATE OF THE COLONISTS. FAILURE OF THE ENTERPRISE
CHAPTER XIII.
- PROFESSION OF LAS CASAS. THE CACIQUE ENRIQUE. JOURNEYS OF LAS CASAS. A PEACEFUL VICTORY
CHAPTER XIV.
- THE LAND OF WAR. BULL OF PAUL III. LAS CASAS IN SPAIN. THE NEW LAWS
CHAPTER XV.
- THE BISHOPRICS OFFERED TO LAS CASAS. HIS CONSECRATION. HIS DEPARTURE
CHAPTER XVI.
- LETTER TO PHILIP II. VOYAGE TO AMERICA. FEELING IN THE COLONIES. ARRIVAL IN CHIAPA
CHAPTER XVII.
- RECEPTION OF LAS CASAS IN HIS DIOCESE. EVENTS IN CIUDAD REAL. THE INDIANS OF CHIAPA
CHAPTER XVIII.
- LAS CASAS REVISITS THE LAND OF WAR. AUDIENCIA OF THE CONFINES. EVENTS AT CIUDAD REAL. LAS CASAS RETURNS
CHAPTER XIX.
- OPPOSITION TO LAS CASAS. HE LEAVES CIUDAD REAL. THE MEXICAN SYNOD
CHAPTER XX.
- LAS CASAS ARRIVES AT VALLADOLID. THE THIRTY PROPOSITIONS. DEBATE WITH GINES DE SEPULVEDA
CHAPTER XXI.
- SAN GREGORIO DE VALLADOLID. LAST LABOURS. THE DEATH OF LAS CASAS APPENDIX I. - THE BREVISSIMA RELACION APPENDIX II. - THE BULL SUBLIMIS DEUS APPENDIX III. - ROYAL ORDINANCES PROVIDING FOR THE DEPARTURE OF LAS CASAS FROM SPAIN AND FOR HIS RECEPTION IN THE INDIES

ILLUSTRATIONS
Fray Bartholomew de Las Casas Juan Gines de Sep��lveda Christopher Columbus Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros Charles V. Paul III. Philip II. Scenes of Las Casas's Labours Holograph of Las Casas Giving Directions for the Publication of his Work.
CHAPTER I.
- FAMILY OF LAS CASAS. EDUCATION OF BARTHOLOMEW. HIS FIRST VOYAGE TO AMERICA
The Spanish wars against the Moors, no less than the Crusades against the Moslems in the Holy Land, enlisted under the Christian standard the chivalry of Europe, and during the victorious campaign of the King, St. Ferdinand, knights from France, Germany, Italy, and Flanders swelled the ranks of the Spanish forces in Andalusia. Amongst these foreign noblemen were two French gentlemen called Casaus, who claimed descent from Guillen, Viscount of Limoges, one of whom was killed during the siege of Seville. The city was taken in 1252, and the surviving Casaus shared in the apportionment of its spoils, and founded there a family, whose descendants were destined to become numerous and illustrious. The name Casaus assumed with time the more Spanish form of Casas, though it continued to be spelled in both ways for several centuries, and Bartholomew de Las Casas himself used both spellings indifferently, especially during the earlier years of his life.
This family ranked among the nobility of Seville and mention is found of the confirmation by Alfonso XI. of Guillen de Las Casas in the office of regidor of the city in 1318. This same Guillen became Alcalde Mayor of Seville, and when he died his body was buried in one of the chapels of the cathedral. His son, Alfonso, is stated in the chronicles of Don Juan II. (1409) to have been appointed by the Infante, Don Fernando, to the lieutenancy of Castillo de Priego, "because he was a valiant man who could hold it well." The names of Guillen and Bartolom�� are of frequent recurrence in the annals of the family, whose members constantly occupied the honourable offices of judge, alcalde mayor, and captain, using the title of Don and intermarrying with the most illustrious families of Andalusia.
According to indications equivalent to proofs in the absence of any positive record, from such respectable forebears descended Fray Bartolom�� de Las Casas, who was born in Seville, in 1474. He himself speaks of Seville as his native city, and the popular tradition, which fixes the ancient suburb of Triana as his birthplace, was recognised in 1859 by the municipality of Seville assigning the name of Calle del Procurador to one of the streets of Triana, in honour of the Bishop, whose proudest title was Protector (or Procurador) General of the Indians.
In his voluminous writings, which teem with information about the men and events of his times, the references to his own family history are infrequent and imperfect, so that from his own records of his life, very little is to be gleaned concerning it. His father's name is variously given by different writers as Alonso, Antonio, and Francisco, while he himself states(1) that he was named Pedro, thus contradicting all his biographers from Remesal, who was the first, down to Don Antonio Fabi��, whose admirable Vida y Escritos, published in 1879, was the last important contribution on this interesting subject. Zu?iga, in his Discurso de Ortices, assumed that Alonso de las Casas and Beatriz Maraver y Cegarra of Triana were the parents of Fray Bartholomew, but in the Anales de