De Indis et De iure belli relectiones (Carnegie Classics, Bate tr., 1917)
- Language:
- English
- Translation:
- J. P. Bate
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~160,000 words · 759 passages
Cite this work
- APAFrancisco de Vitoria. (n.d.). De Indis et De iure belli relectiones (Carnegie Classics, Bate tr., 1917) (J. P. Bate, Trans.). Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/francisco-de-vitoria/de-indis-et-de-iure-belli-relectiones-carnegie-classics-bate-tr-1917
- MLAFrancisco de Vitoria. De Indis et De iure belli relectiones (Carnegie Classics, Bate tr., 1917). Translated by J. P. Bate. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/francisco-de-vitoria/de-indis-et-de-iure-belli-relectiones-carnegie-classics-bate-tr-1917.
- ChicagoFrancisco de Vitoria. De Indis et De iure belli relectiones (Carnegie Classics, Bate tr., 1917). Translated by J. P. Bate. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/francisco-de-vitoria/de-indis-et-de-iure-belli-relectiones-carnegie-classics-bate-tr-1917.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
Vitoria's two relectiones: on the American Indians and on the law of war, in Latin with an English translation.
Context and history
One must know what a relectio is and how it reached us: it was a solemn lecture delivered at the university of Salamanca, and Vitoria never published anything. These texts are reconstructions made from students' notes. The thesis is a strong one: he holds that the Indians were true owners of their lands, that neither the papal donation nor discovery gave any title to take them, and that being an unbeliever or a sinner does not forfeit dominion. The modern argument about the rights of peoples starts here.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
12, and Tertia Pars, qu. 68, art. 10. The whole of this controversy and dis¬ cussion was started on account of the aborigines of the New World, commonly called Indians, who came forty years ago into the power of the Spaniards, not having been previously known to our world. This present disputation about them will fall into three parts. In the first part we shall inquire by what right these Indian natives came under Spanish sway. In the second part, what rights the Spanish sovereigns obtained over them in temporal and civil matters. In the third part, what rights 306 these sovereigns or the Church obtained over them in matters spiritual and touching religion, in the course of which an answer will be given to the question before us. As regards the first part, it might seem at the very outset that the whole of this discussion is useless and futile, not only for us who have no concern either to inquire whether the men in question have conducted their administration with propriety in every detail or to raise any doubts about that business or to correct any fault that may have been committed, but also for those whose concern it is to attend to and administer these matters.