The School Of Salamanca In The Affairs Of The Indies: Barbarism And Political Order (routledge Research In Early Modern History)

The School of Salamanca in the Affairs of the Indies explores the significance of Salamancans, such as Vitoria and Soto, and related thinkers, such as Las Casas and Sepúlveda, in the formation of the early modern political order. It also analyses early modern understandings of political order, with a focus both on the decline of the medieval universal world through the independence and secularization of political community and the establishment of continuous and imbalanced relations between various European and non-European political communities. Through its investigation, this book highlights how Salamancans and related thinkers clearly distinguished their understandings of political order from medieval thought, and did so in a different way to contemporary and later thinkers, such as Machiavelli, Luther, Bodin, and Grotius, particularly with regards to the Indies, "barbarian" worlds. It also reveals the strong contribution of the School of Salamanca in early modern political thought, both internally and externally. Salamancans imposed moral restrictions against "interior barbarism," that is, power beyond law, and included "exterior barbarism," that is, "barbarian" societies, in the common political order. Situating the School of Salamanca in the mainstream history of European political thought, The School of Salamanca in the Affairs of the Indies is ideal for academics and postgraduate students of intellectual history and of Spanish colonial expansion. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Preface 9 A note on the text 12 1. Early modern understandings of political order and the School of Salamanca 14 Salamancans’ responses to problems of their age 14 Three generations of Salamancans and related thinkers 16 Revivals of the School of Salamanca 19 Commonwealth as an actor of the European order 26 From the Reconquest to the Spanish monarchy 29 Commonwealth as an actor in relations with non-European worlds 34 The emergence of the affairs of the Indies 37 Three basic issues of the affairs of the Indies 44 2. Reason and prudence: The nature of the Indians 67 2.1. Discourse on the “barbarous” Indians 67 The Indians and the concept of “barbarians” 67 Differences between the Indians, other non-Christians, and impoverished Christians 72 2.2. Hierarchical teleology and the theory of natural slavery 76 Servus: Slave or serf? 77 Succession of Aristotelianism-Thomism: From Major to Gregorio and Mesa 78 Law of command and obedience: Sepúlveda 82 Criteria for natural slave 84 2.3. Absence of education and the theory of the inferior 86 Early criticisms of the theory of natural slavery: Montesinos, Palacios Rubios, and Paz 87 Human beings as the image of God: Vitoria 92 Development of the School of Salamanca: From the early (Soto, Cano, and others) to the later (Molina, Suárez, and others) 96 Early modern dichotomy between civilization and barbarism 102 2.4. Acceptance of diversity and the theory of humankind 103 Classification of barbarians: Zorita and Peña vs. Acosta and Botero 103 Las Casas’s redefinition of the concept of barbarians: Difference and inferiority 106 Refutation of the theory of natural slavery 113 Refutation of the theory of the inferior 117 3. Power, commonwealth, and the law of nations: The legitimacy of the Spanish dominion over the Indies 145 3.1. Vitoria’s criticism of conventional justifications 148 Civil power, commonwealth power, and government power: The naturalness of power 148 Dominion, use, and usufruct 156 Criticism of conventional justifications of the conquest and Salamancans’ understandings of power 157 Commonwealth: Subsistence and morality 158 The relationship between commonwealth and church 161 Natural law and the law of nations in totus orbis: The range of the application of laws 164 Criticism of conventional justifications of the conquest and Salamancans’ understandings of the subject of power 169 3.2. New titles presented by the School of Salamanca 172 Rights and obligations under the law of nations 172 Natural inferiority 176 Evaluation of the new titles 177 3.3. Las Casas’s denial of the Spanish legitimacy 179 Criticism of conventional justifications 181 Criticism of Salamancan titles 183 Potential dominion 186 4. Conditions of just war: The conquest of the Indies 207 4.1. Ius ad bellum and ius in bello 207 Appropriateness of the use of force by Christians 207 Origin and development of just war theory 210 Conditions for just war: Authority, causes, and the way 212 Criticism of just war theory 214 4.2. The legitimacy of the beginning of war 215 Authority of prince: Interpreting the requerimiento 215 Four causes: Sepúlveda 219 Seven causes based on the law of nations: The School of Salamanca 222 Denial of just causes: Las Casas 227 4.3. The justice of war’s conduct 228 Illegal military action as “minor evil”: Sepúlveda 229 Condemnation of inhumanity of the conquerors: The School of Salamanca 232 Claim for compensation and restitution: Las Casas 236 5. Significance and problems of the Salamancan understandings of political order 253 Moral restrictions against “interior barbarism” 253 Common political order with “exterior barbarism” 255 Salamancan theories after the affairs of the Indies 258 Appendix 1: Salamancans and related thinkers 264 Appendix 2: Life and publication history of key figures 271 Index 284 "The School of Salamanca in the Affairs of the Indies explores the significance of the School of Salamanca, such as Vitoria and Soto, and related thinkers, such as Las Casas and Sepúlveda, in the formation of the early modern political order. Situating the School of Salamanca in the mainstream history of European political thought, The School of Salamanca in the Affairs of the Indies is ideal for academics and postgraduate students of intellectual history and of Spanish colonial expansion"-- Provided by publisher