Las Casas Publishes A Short Account

1552

The Dominican friar Bartolome de las Casas published A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, cataloguing Spanish atrocities in lurid, eyewitness detail. Translated across Europe, it fed the so-called Black Legend of Spanish cruelty and gave enemies of the Catholic king a ready arsenal of horror stories. Translated into Dutch, English, and French, it gave Protestant rivals powerful propaganda shaping perceptions of Spanish colonialism for centuries.