Summary Of The Lieutenant Nun By Norma De Erauso

The exploration and domination of the New World by the Spanish during the 15th and 16th century have been interpreted as the result of groups of bloodthirsty soldiers wanting nothing more than gold in their rucksacks and kill counts in their heads. As history has made clear, Spanish priests were also important historical actors during this age of discovery who made it their task to convert the natives to Catholicism. The conquering soldiers physically torn at the Natives while, at the same time, the priests harmed the natives spiritually. The importance of history is that we can learn from the past to aid our future. In other words, does the blindness of Spanish culture while regarding the Natives justify the physical, social and religious destruction they caused to the Natives? Considering the educational resources, sense of morality, and religious values the Spanish lived by, the answer is no. It makes sense to start this conversation by identifying what the Spanish conquerors did and if the culture they lived in was enough to justify it. Venturing into the book, The Lieutenant Nun, by Catalina de Erauso, we find evidence of …show more content…
It is true the priests and others managed to stop the mindless slaying of the Natives. Las Casas published his work regarding the treatment of Native Americans and sent it to King Philip II of Spain who wanted to preserve native life, but needed more justification to keep them alive. To do this, he found a way to still make money off the conquered New World, which was to employ the Indians as laborers on plantations and other money-generating businesses made by the Spanish. This meant that instead of being killed on the battlefield, a Native American was worked for the remainder of their life. This new form of Native suffering was indirectly from the hands of the priests, those who wanted to save the souls of the Indians, but perhaps not the bodies or the livelihood of