Résumé
Résumé de Très brève relation de la destruction des Indes
Go deeper: the whole of Très brève relation de la destruction des Indes
About 2 h to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
This book suits readers who love history told by someone who was there, who care about law and conscience, and who want the voice behind a great debate of the Spanish empire.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
What would you say to a king if you had watched his subjects empty whole islands? In 1542 a Spanish friar sits down to answer that question. Bartolomé de las Casas, a Dominican who lived in the Caribbean for many years, finishes A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies at Valencia on the eighth of December that year.
The book tours the Spanish conquest, island by island. Las Casas writes for Emperor Charles the Fifth, and he wants the ruler to see what is done in his name. He claims that gold, and not faith, drives the whole enterprise.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A friar who saw it himself writes to the kingFree
- 2The peoples of the Indies are gentle and teachable
- 3Whole islands are emptied within a few decades
- 4War and forced labor are the two roads to ruin
- 5Hispaniola shows the pattern in its kings and queens
- 6Hatuey on Cuba names the Spanish god as gold
- 7The mainland repeats the pattern on a vast scale
- 8Witnesses, laws and the argument that follows
Point clé 1 sur 8
A friar who saw it himself writes to the king
Bartolomé de las Casas is not a distant scholar. He crosses to the Indies, lives among the colonists and sees the early conquest with his own eyes. Later he joins the Dominican order and becomes one of the empire's loudest critics of how the native peoples are treated. By 1542 he has watched the Spanish world in America for about forty years.
Again and again he writes that he saw a thing, that he was present, or that he knows the man by name. He treats these claims as his proof. He adds that he could not tell even one part in a thousand of what happened.
He fears for the souls of the Indians. He also fears for Castile, which he thinks God may punish for the sins of its sons. So the appeal pleads for the victims, and it warns the rulers.
Charles the Fifth is not painted as a villain. Las Casas believes the truth has been hidden from the emperor by cunning and malice, and that once he knows it, he will root out the evil. You are hearing one side of a fierce argument, from a witness who does not pretend to be neutral. The takeaway: the book is the sworn word of an eyewitness who wants action from a king.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Très brève relation de la destruction des Indes
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About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 31,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 2 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Très brève relation de la destruction des Indes
What is A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies about?
It is a report by a Spanish friar on how the Spanish conquest treated the native peoples of the Caribbean and the Americas. It moves region by region and describes war, forced labor and slavery driven by the search for gold.
Who was Bartolomé de las Casas?
He was a Dominican friar who lived in the Indies, saw the early conquest, and became the best-known defender of the native peoples at the Spanish court. He wrote this account in 1542 for Emperor Charles the Fifth.
Why did Las Casas write the book?
He wanted Charles the Fifth to learn what was done in his name and to act. He also feared for the souls of the Indians and for Castile itself, which he thought God might punish.
Is the book easy to read?
It is made of short regional chapters, each with its own scenes and names, and the author speaks plainly and directly to the king. You can follow it one place at a time, from Hispaniola to Peru.
Cite this edition
Casas, Bartolomé de las. A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-brief-account-of-the-destruction-of-the-indies.
Casas, B. de las. (2026). A brief account of the destruction of the Indies. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-brief-account-of-the-destruction-of-the-indies (Original work published 1552)
Casas, Bartolomé de las. A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-brief-account-of-the-destruction-of-the-indies.
@book{casas2026brief,
author = {Casas, Bartolomé de las},
title = {A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-brief-account-of-the-destruction-of-the-indies},
note = {First published 1552}
}
