Abstract
Questions surrounding the theological engagement of the School of Salamanca with the Spanish conquest of the New World include issues of subjective rights, natural slavery, international law, and theories of legal jurisdiction and political dominion. In this essay, I will consider how Vitoria’s lectures broke with the settled theological and legal consensus to challenge Spanish dominion in the New World. I will specifically consider how Vitoria and later members of the school of Salamanca, Soto and Suárez, contributed to the development of an innovative understanding of medieval natural law theory in order to support Native American legal jurisdiction and sovereignty even when these did not conform to Spanish understanding of the good and the just. The natural law tradition developed by these Spanish scholastics expands on earlier natural law theory to provide theological justification of a wide range of legal regimes based on natural law, grounded in basic human instincts and oriented toward human flourishing experienced in a multitude of cultural contexts.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
