Biography of Antonio de Montesinos, Dominican Friar

Antonio de Montesinos (?–1545) was a Dominican friar attached to the Spanish conquest of the Americas and one of the earliest of the Dominican arrivals in the New World. He is best remembered for a sermon delivered on December 4, 1511, in which he made a blistering attack on the colonists who had enslaved the people of the Caribbean. For his efforts, he was run out of Hispaniola, but he and his fellow Dominicans were eventually able to convince the king of the moral correctness of their point of view, thus paving the way for later laws that protected native rights in Spanish lands. Fast Facts: Known For: Inciting the Spanish in Haiti to give up enslaving the native peopleBorn: unknownParents: unknownDied: c. 1545 in the West IndiesEducation: University of SalamancaPublished Works: Informatio juridica in Indorum defensionemNotable Quote: Are these not men? Have they not rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as you love yourself? Early Life Very little is known about Antonio de Montesinos before his famous sermon. He likely studied at the University of Salamanca before electing to join the Dominican order. In August 1510, he was one of the first six Dominican friars to arrive in the New World, landing on the island of Hispaniola, which today is politically divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. More clergy would come the following year, which brought the total number of Dominican friars in Santo Domingo to about 20. These particular Dominicans were from a reformist sect and were appalled at what they saw. By the time the Dominicans arrived on the Island of Hispaniola, the native population had been decimated and was in serious decline. All of the native leaders had been killed, and the remaining indigenous people were given away as slaves to colonists. A nobleman arriving with his wife could expect to be given 80 native slaves: a soldier could expect 60. Governor Diego Columbus (the son of Christopher Columbus) authorized slaving raids on neighboring islands, and African slaves had been brought in to work the mines. The slaves, living in misery and struggling with new diseases, languages, and culture, died by the score. The colonists, oddly, seemed almost oblivious to this ghastly scene. The Sermon On December 4, 1511, Montesinos announced that the topic of his sermon would be based on Matthew 3:3: â€Å"I am a voice crying in the wilderness.† To a packed house, Montesinos ranted about the horrors he had seen. â€Å"Tell me, by what right or by what interpretation of justice do you keep these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? By what authority have you waged such detestable wars against people who were once living so quietly and peacefully in their own land?† Montesinos continued, implying that the souls of any and all who owned slaves on Hispaniola were damned. The colonists were stunned and outraged. Governor Columbus, responding to the petitions of the colonists, asked the Dominicans to punish Montesinos and retract all that he had said. The Dominicans refused and took things even further, informing Columbus that Montesinos spoke for all of them. The next week, Montesinos spoke again, and many settlers turned out, expecting him to apologize. Instead, he re-stated what he had before, and further informed the colonists that he and his fellow Dominicans would no longer hear confessions from slave-holding colonists. The Hispaniola Dominicans were (gently) rebuked by the head of their order in Spain, but they continued to hold fast to their principles. Finally, King Fernando had to settle the matter. Montesinos traveled to Spain with Franciscan friar Alonso de Espinal, who represented the pro-slavery point of view. Fernando allowed Montesinos to speak freely and was aghast at what he heard. He summoned a group of theologians and legal experts to consider the matter, and they met several times in 1512. The end results of these meetings were the 1512 Laws of Burgos, which guaranteed certain basic rights to New World natives living in Spanish lands. Montesinos defense of the Caribbean people was published in 1516 as Informatio juridica in Indorum defensionem. The Chiribichi Incident In 1513, the Dominicans persuaded King Fernando to allow them to go to the mainland to peacefully convert the natives there. Montesinos was supposed to lead the mission, but he became ill and the task fell to Francisco de Cà ³rdoba and lay brother Juan Garcà ©s. The Dominicans set up in the Chiribichi Valley in present-day Venezuela, where they were well-received by local chieftain â€Å"Alonso† who had been baptized years before. According to the royal grant, slavers and settlers were to give the Dominicans a wide berth. A few months later, however, Gà ³mez de Ribera, a mid-level but well-connected colonial bureaucrat, went looking for slaves and plunder. He visited the settlement and invited â€Å"Alonso,† his wife, and several more members of the tribe on board his ship. When the natives were on board, Ribera’s men raised anchor and set sail for Hispaniola, leaving the two bewildered missionaries behind with the enraged natives. Alonso and the others were split up and enslaved once Ribera returned to Santo Domingo. The two missionaries sent word that they were now hostages and would be killed if Alonso and the others were not returned. Montesinos led a frantic effort to track down and return Alonso and the others, but failed: after four months, the two missionaries were killed. Ribera, meanwhile, was protected by a relative, who happened to be an important judge. An inquest into the incident was opened and colonial officials reached the extremely bizarre conclusion that since the missionaries had been executed, the leaders of the tribe—i.e. Alonso and the others—were obviously hostiles and could, therefore, continue to be enslaved. In addition, it was said that the Dominicans were themselves at fault for being in such unsavory company in the first place. Exploits on the Mainland There is evidence to suggest that Montesinos accompanied the expedition of Lucas Và ¡zquez de Ayllà ³n, which set out with some 600 colonists from Santo Domingo in 1526. They founded a settlement in present-day South Carolina named San Miguel de Guadalupe. The settlement lasted only three months, as many became ill and died and local natives repeatedly attacked them. When Và ¡zquez died, the remaining colonists returned to Santo Domingo. In 1528, Montesinos went to Venezuela with a mission along with other Dominicans. Little is known about the rest of his life. According to a note in the record of St. Stephen at Salamanca, he died in the West Indies as a martyr sometime around 1545. Legacy Although Montesinos led a long life in which he continually struggled for better conditions for New World natives, he will forever be known mostly for that one blistering sermon delivered in 1511. It was his courage in saying what many had been silently thinking that changed the course of indigenous rights in the Spanish territories. While he did not question the right of the Spanish government to expand its empire into the New World or its means of doing so, he did accuse the colonists of abuse of power. In the short term, it failed to alleviate anything and garnered him enemies. Ultimately, however, his sermon ignited a fierce debate over native rights, identity, and nature that was still raging 100 years later. In the audience that day in 1511 was  Bartolomà © de Las Casas, himself a slaveholder at the time. The words of Montesinos were a revelation to him, and by 1514 he had divested himself of all of his slaves, believing that he would not go to Heaven if he kept them. Las Casas eventually went on to become the great Defender of the Indians and did more than any man to ensure their fair treatment. Sources Brading, D. A. The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots and the Liberal State, 1492–1867. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.Castro, Daniel. Another Face of Empire: Bartolomà © de Las Casas, Indigenous Rights, and Ecclesiastical Imperialism. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2007.Hanke, Lewis. The Spanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of America. Franklin Classics, 2018 [1949].Thomas, Hugh. Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan. New York: Random House, 2003.Schroeder, Henry Joseph. Antonio Montesino. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

Healthcare Insurance The Genesis Of Aetna - 1501 Words

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Mindfulness Training For Carers Of People With Dementia

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Modern Society Of Exploring The Anatomy †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Modern Society Of Exploring The Anatomy? Answer: Introducation Catholic Social Thoughts (CST) is not only the catholic social thoughts by the higher authorities of Christian institution but also includes significant social thinking. The principles have existed for more than two thousand years but the first documented proof is dated back to 1891 (Catholicsocialteaching.org.uk, 2017). The nine principles of are interpreted and discussed below in contemporary social setting. Dignity of human Dignity of human serves as the primary platform on which other principles of Catholic Social Thoughts are relying. Catholic social teaching tells us that God is the original creator and humans likeness encouraged him to imprint himself in the human form (Thiselton, 2015). That reflects how every human is valuable and deserves great respect. The obsession with earthly objects often misguides us to follow the path of disrespect of human dignity. The dignity of sacred human must not get exploited or manipulated. Every human being is equal to god and this principle teaches us to form our voice against the global equality in various aspects of life. Present day human rights issues reflect this catholic principle clearly. However the catholic social teaching follows certain decisions about issues like euthanasia or abortion as these deals with starting and ending of life. Community and Common good The coming of digital era and globalization has promoted the concept of individualism greatly. Though by definition individualism is embracing ones individual freedom but in reality it is focusing more on selfish practice. This principle of catholic social thoughts is working to preserve and promote the common good of all human beings not just for individuals (Engelland, 2014). This principle states that the common good binds both the individual and community for a common purpose. Human being is social and sacred and in order to survive successfully he needs others. The social unity cannot be ignored by an individual. Every individual must contribute to the society based on his knowledge and capability. The common good lies in the common area that exists in between two extremes such as extreme individualism and collectivism like communism (Bretherton, 2016). The wellbeing of the entire human race should be the aim of human responsibility. The interdependence is getting more complicat ed because of the complex nature of the society. This transnational quality eliminates the individuality and establishes equality in societys every segment. Goods for Universal purpose In the catholic doctrine every good of Gods creation possesses individual right but serves a common purpose (Stabile, 2006). God has not only created the society for individual to inhabit but also the power for them to take care of his creations. The wellbeing of everything and everyone must be taken care of by everyone. The ultimate purpose of all of Goods goods is the human development. The ideal world where the exchange of benefit is mutual and everyone experiences the progress is desired as the destination. The individual and the community can achieve the destination if they work together and for each other by fulfilling the purposes of Gods creations. Promotion for Peace Catholic Social Thoughts demonstrates peace as a social condition where under the guidance of God every human soul is living in harmony with dignity and all his creations are orderly placed. The just war theory is followed by the Catholic belief which explains the necessity of war in order to reestablish the global peace (Rubio, 2016). There war theory in connection with promotion for peace contradicts the extreme pacifism or realism. Some promote war just to engage in violence and gain power over others and on the other hand realism promotes war as a tool for surviving. The doctrine often gets criticism because of its support of war but it stresses the cause to be the restoration of world peace. Subsidiarity The principle of subsidiarity is one of the significant catholic social thoughts. This principle states that every activity that can be done by a decentralized smaller organization should not be accomplished by any large or complex organization (McCann, 2014). This catholic teaching contradicts the government or large corporate organizations desire to centralize. The individual actions, interstate activities and national acts should be taken care of the federal government, but the internal state of the community must not be affected in the process. The subsidiarity helps to balance the government policies with individual action focusing on the improvement of the society as a whole. Options for the poor The catholic social thoughts encourage us to make situations where poor and suppressed must be given opportunities to flourish. The poor are the most needy and vulnerable members of the society. The nations conscience must focus on the need off the poor. The government must ensure that the public policies are in favor of the poor. Creating the option for poor does not mean dividing the humans in different groups, rather all groups within the community must work collaboratively for the development of the poor which eventually develop the society as a whole. God does not want any poor soul to experience the same suffering as he did. Nobody offered him food when he was hungry or cloth when he was naked (Catholic.net 2017). To him this is the basic human need and must be offered by them who have the resources. God gives most significance to the healing of poors pain and suffering and proclaims that the ignorant and opportunists will experience great punishment because of their selfish ac ts. Participation The cultural, political and economic aspect of the society can develop significantly by equal participation from every individual. Every human being is entitled to participate equally in all the social activities. Every human being has the responsibility to act as active participants instead of passive observers. We are all Gods children, so it is our responsibility to take care of each other as brothers or sisters. Our active participation ensures the positive socio-economic, political or cultural change in the society (Kearns, 2014). Stewardship The environment we inhabit is a created and provided to us by God. All the living and non living beings on earth are Gods creation. We are all interdependent and inter connected to each other and we have responsibilities for each other especially towards the needy and poor. Through creation God makes his presence felt to everyone and stewardship is taking care of those creations (Sison, Ferrero Guitin, 2016). However that does not give us any authority to manipulate the creations as only God holds the complete power over the whole of humanity. Solidarity Christian ethics gives immense importance to solidarity. Solidarity increases the visibility of others and binds every one and nations together. The solidarity cannot be achieved if such barriers related to religion, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality or economic status is not eliminated (Beyer, 2014). The Gods purpose of developing common good for everyone will be hampered if the one ignores the solidarity by acting indifferently towards others pain and suffering. We have to do our parts of the job responsibly and ensure the common good of the society. Human Flourishing and Common Good We are all social creature by nature. A persons existence is meaningless without the presence of other. The Catholic Social Thoughts should be adapted in our everyday life to ensure our meaningful existence in the world and contribution to the development of the community. Humans are social beings so we cannot flourish without each other. According to Aristotle humans can live virtuous life through flourishing (Tablan, 2015). Individual should have the access to all the physiological and emotional resources. In the catholic tradition the human and community flourishing is at the centre of development and through flourishing only the common good can be achieved (Wallis, 2013). Catholic social thoughts and flourishing of self and community The discussed nine principles of the catholic social doctrine offer us strength and nourishment in the maintenance of all the relationships. The flourishing of self is dependent of the flourishing of the community. Both the self and community should participate actively for improving the whole society. The ultimate good is achievable only when there is our active participation and solidarity as the Catholic Social Thoughts teaches us. As the God has claimed, if we fail to resist ourselves from committing the similar sins and overlook the suffering or poor we are bound to get punished. This will eventually cause great harm for our society. Reference Beyer, G. J. (2014). The meaning of solidarity in Catholic social teaching.political theology,15(1), 7-25. Bretherton, L. (2016). Democracy, society and truth: an exploration of Catholic social teaching.Scottish Journal of Theology,69(3), 267-280. Catholicsocialteaching.org.uk (2017).Catholic Social Teaching. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from https://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/principles/history/ Engelland, B. T. (2014). Religion, humanism, marketing, and the consumption of socially responsible products, services, and ideas: Introduction to a special topic section.Journal of Business Research,67(2), 1-4. Kearns, A. J. (2014). Catholic social teaching as a framework for research ethics.Journal of Academic Ethics,12(2), 145-159. McCann, D. P. (2014). Who is responsible for the common good? Catholic social teaching and the praxis of subsidiarity. InThe common good: Chinese and American perspectives(pp. 261-289). Springer Netherlands. Rubio, J. H. (2016). The Vision of Catholic Social Thought: The Virtue of Solidarity and the Praxis of Human Rights by Meghan J. Clark.Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics,36(2), 227-229. Sison, A. J. G., Ferrero, I., Guitin, G. (2016). Human dignity and the dignity of work: Insights from Catholic social teaching.Business Ethics Quarterly,26(4), 503-528. Stabile, S. J. (2006). CST 101: basic principles of Catholic Social Thought.Review of Business,27(2), 7. Tablan, F. (2015). Catholic social teachings: Toward a meaningful work.Journal of Business Ethics,128(2), 291-303. Thiselton, A. C. (2015). The Image and the Likeness of God: A Theological Approach.The Emergence of Personhood: A Quantum Leap, 184-201. Wallis, J.(2013).On God's side: What religion forgets and politics hasn't learned about serving the common good. christianaudio. What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me. (2017).Catholic.net. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from https://catholic.net/op/articles/452/cat/1187/what-you-did-not-do-for-one-of-these-least-ones-you-did-not-do-for-me.html