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Primary sourceDocument20 November 1542

New Laws of 1542

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor · 20 November 1542

Royal decrees issued a year after Pizarro's death, limiting the encomienda system his conquest had created.

Issued the year after Pizarro's death, these laws curbed the encomienda system his conquest had created, sparking his brother's revolt.

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Title page of the 1542 Leyes Nuevas, a black-and-white woodcut with the Habsburg imperial double-headed eagle and coat of arms of Charles V, flanked by putti, under the inscription 'CAROLVS V IMPERATOR' and 'REX HISPANIE'. Printed text below reads 'Leyes y ordenanças nueuamête hechas por su Magestad...' and 'Con priuilegio imperial'.
New Laws of the Indies, issued by Charles V, 20 November 1542.

About this source

What it is

The New Laws (Leyes Nuevas) were issued in 1542 by Emperor Charles V to regulate Spanish colonization of the Americas. They restricted the encomienda system, banned enslaving Native Americans, and ordered that land and native peoples pass to the Crown rather than conquistador descendants, following pressure from reformers such as Bartolomé de las Casas.

Why it matters

Issued the year after Francisco Pizarro's death, the New Laws aimed to curb the very system of conquest and encomienda that Pizarro's campaigns in Peru had created. The laws provoked fierce resistance from colonists, including a revolt led by Pizarro's own brother Gonzalo, showing the tension between the Crown's reforms and the conquistadors' power on the ground.

Look closer

  • Why might the Spanish Crown want to limit the power of conquistadors like the Pizarro family?
  • What does Gonzalo Pizarro's revolt against these laws reveal about the conflict between colonial settlers and the Crown?
  • What questions does a law like this leave about whether it was actually enforced?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Francisco Pizarro and Bartolomé de las Casas on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Map titled Capitulaciones de 1529 showing South America divided into colored zones: Tierra Firme at top, Capitulación de Francisco Pizarro in yellow across the middle, Capitulación de Simón de Alcazaba in purple below, and the Tratado de Tordesillas line on the east. Cities labeled include Caracas, Quito, Lima, Cuzco, Asunción, Buenos Aires and Santiago.Document

Primary source

Capitulation of Toledo

Crown of Castile · 26 July 1529

Black-and-white etching of an interior with a tall barred window. A kneeling figure with raised arm faces a standing man in a military coat who points a pistol. Soldiers with muskets stand at right, and a figure in a plumed headdress stands at left.Painting

Secondary source

L'Ynca du Pérou aux pieds de Pizarre

A.C.F. Villerey after N. Vallain

Black and white engraving of a 16th-century confrontation. A feathered, robed figure stands centre, flanked by women and attendants. A friar in a dark hooded robe holds an open book and speaks to him. Armoured Spanish soldiers stand at right, one holding a helmet-topped staff, and a kneeling man in dark clothing is in the foreground. Keys lie on the ground.Painting

Secondary source

Valverde urging Atahualpa to convert

Henry Perronet Briggs (painting); engraved by W. Greatbach · 1830

Scan of a dark brown, mottled book cover with a white library label at the top reading 'UC-NRLF' above a barcode and the call number '$B 284 962'. No title text is visible on the cover.Book

Primary source

Verdadera relación de la conquista del Perú

Francisco de Jerez · 1534 (this edition 1891)

Black-and-white ink line drawing with a bold Spanish caption across the top reading Conquista and Atahualpa, Ciudad de Caxamarca. A robed friar with a cross faces a kneeling Inca man, while a crowd of Spanish soldiers with spears and Andean figures fills the scene.Painting

Secondary source

Atawallpa Pizarro tinkuy

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala · 1532 (depicted); drawing later

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