Disputa o controversia con Ginés de Sepúlveda

What it is

This is the title page of a 1552 printed book by Bartolomé de las Casas, published in Seville, recording his dispute with the scholar Ginés de Sepúlveda. It is printed in black and red type with a woodcut border and coat of arms.

Why it matters

Las Casas and Sepúlveda debated whether the conquest and treatment of Indigenous peoples could be justified, a dispute that became one of the most famous arguments of the Spanish colonial era. That Las Casas published this himself shows how determined he was to make his arguments public and lasting.

Look closer

• Why might Las Casas have wanted to print and circulate this debate rather than let it remain a private argument?
• What might the decorative woodcut border and coat of arms suggest about who this book was aimed at?
• What questions about the debate's content does a title page alone leave unanswered?