The School of Salamanca: New Digital Edition of Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda’s Apologia now online

February 05, 2020

Following Bartolomé de las Casas, the digital edition project turned its attention to his adversary in the Valladolid debate, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. With the inclusion of his 'Apología pro libro de iustis belli causis' (1552), the humanist and historian of Charles V is now represented in the Digital Collection of Sources (available online).

The 'Book on the Just Causes of War' referred to in the title is Sepúlveda's 'Democrates Alter', a treatise presented in dialogue form on the justification of the Spanish right of conquest in America. Due to the harsh criticism and prominent negative opinions from the universities of Salamanca and Alcalá, this text never received permission for publication. This prohibition meant that only the 'Apología' made it into print and thus remained the sole printed source for Sepúlveda's colonial political ideas until the early 20th century

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