Justin Tang

730

11/2/14
Social Studies

Case Brief: King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

During the 16th century, Spanish Crown had adopted a policy of evangelization was
targeted at converting natives in the Caribbean Islands to Catholicism. This policy had granted
the Spanish control over the land and the native people. The natives were required to work for
the Spaniards for food, shelter and religious education. The Spaniards had to conquer the natives
before they would stop resisting the converting process to the Catholicism from the beliefs of
their own god(s). The native population had decreased drastically due to fighting with Spaniards
and exposure to European diseases which they were defenseless. As a result of decline of the
native population, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain are blamed with crimes against
humanity and aiding and abetting genocide. The penalties for these charges are either death or
life in prison. We will argue the Majesties King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are NOT guilty of
these charges.
There are many pieces of evidence that can prove the King and Queen of Spain are not
guilty. For exhibit A, is a letter from King Ferdinand to the Tainos which shows evidence who is
the ultimate superior king of the universe and why they have to follow his orders. The Pope
gave these islands and mainland of the ocean and the contents hereof to the above-mentioned
King and Queen (Exhibit A, lines11-12). King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were masters of
the land had to obey the Pope who was the leader of mankind regardless of their law, sect or
belief. He was named Pope, which means admirable and greatest father, governor of all men.
The Tainos fail to comply to the holy faith of the Church, the King and Queen has no choice but

to use force against you to make you convert like your neighbors. The King Ferdinand was
obeying the orders from Pope and the Church would only use force when necessary to obtain the
allegiance from natives allowing the religious fathers to preach holy faith to the Tainos. The
King and Queen of Spain did not kill the natives without cause. Based on this evidence, the
King and Queen didnt promote mass killings or crimes against humanity.
A second piece of evidence comes from a drawing of the Caribbean natives being
slaughtered (Exhibit I). The painting by Bartolome de las Casas, Loss of a hand because gold
quota met can be interpreted as natives were suffering from deadly diseases and required the
Spaniards to cut their hands to stop the spread of the disease. The Spanish brought over the
disease to the natives which they were defenseless. The King and Queen had no control of the
diseases and dont have vaccines to fight the deadly diseases. The sharp decreased in native
population was attributable to the exposure to the European diseases. The King and Queen cant
be charged with crimes against humanity when it was the deadly disease killed many natives.
The prosecution may argue that the King and Queen ordered Hernan Cortes to lead the
invasion of the Aztecs. For example in Exhibit E, Massacre in the Main Temple Hernan Cortes
and his men had attacked and killed innocent people in the temple. The Spaniards attacked the
musicians first, slashing at their hands and faces until they had killed all of them. These people
where in the temple and worshiping their own gods and not the Catholic Church. They had
defied the orders of the Pope and not converted themselves to the Catholic faith. These killings
were a punishment of their defiance for not converting to Catholic faith. I dont think the Aztec
account of the conquest has not provided a very convincing argument for the prosecutor to
charge the King and Queen.

In conclusion my defendants, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain are not guilty
for aiding and abetting genocide and crimes against humanity. The King and Queen had adopted
a policy to support and obey the orders of the Pope to spread Catholic Faith to natives. If the
natives fail to comply in converting from their beliefs to the Catholic Church, the Spaniards had
no choice but to use force and declared war against them. The King and Queen of Spain did not
kill the natives without cause. People also had accused the King and Queen with many of deaths
of natives when the very cause was attributable to deadly exposure of European diseases that left
the natives defenseless without any cures.
Jurors, the evidence provided by prosecutors are lacking credible evidence to prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that the King and Queen of Spain are guilty of aiding and abetting
genocide and crimes against humanity. We asked the jurors to render a NOT Guilty verdict for
the defendants.