Encomienda

The encomienda was a colonial institution through which the Crown assigned a Spanish conquistador or settler a group of Indigenous towns (a señorío). The encomendero received their tribute and labor and, in return, was supposed to protect them and instruct them in the Christian faith. Together with offices such as the visitador, it was one of the characteristic institutions of the colonial period.

The encomenderos’ abuses were denounced by friars such as Bartolomé de las Casas. In response, the Crown issued the New Laws of 1542, which aimed to improve the lives of Indigenous people: they banned their enslavement and limited encomiendas so they could not be inherited.