A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

What it is

Written by the Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas and published in 1552, this account denounces the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples by Spanish colonizers, drawing on his decades of experience in the Spanish colonies.

Why it matters

Las Casas's account includes descriptions of massacres such as those at Cholula and the Templo Mayor, which took place during the period when Moctezuma was held captive by Cortés. By framing the conquest as atrocity, the text offers a sharply critical counter-view to triumphant Spanish histories, and shows how some Spaniards themselves condemned what was done in Moctezuma's land.

Look closer

• Why might Las Casas, a Spaniard himself, have chosen to write such a critical account?
• What does his intended audience, Prince Philip II, tell you about why he wrote it?
• How might this source change the picture of the conquest given by Gómara's history?