The Valladolid Debate
In Our Time: History
02/20/20
•53m
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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the debate in Valladolid, Spain in 1550, over Spanish rights to enslave the native peoples in the newly conquered lands. Bartolomé de Las Casas (pictured above), the Bishop of Chiapas, Mexico, was trying to end the encomienda system in which those who now owned the land could also take the people in forced labour. Juan Gines Sepulveda, a philosopher, argued for the colonists' property rights over people, asserting that some native Americans were 'natural slaves' as defined by Aristotle. Valladolid became seen as the first open attempt by European colonists to discuss the ethics of slavery, and Las Casas became known as 'Saviour of the Indians' and an advocate for human rights, although for some time he argued that African slaves be imported to do the work in place of the native people, before repenting.
With
Caroline Dodds Pennock Senior Lecturer in International History at the University of Sheffield
John Edwards Faculty Fellow in Spanish at the University of Oxford
And
Julia McClure Lecturer in Late Medieval and Early Modern Global History at the University of Glasgow
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Previous Episode
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
February 13, 2020
•51m
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great Roman military disaster of 9 AD when Germanic tribes under Arminius ambushed and destroyed three legions under Varus. According to Suetonius, emperor Augustus hit his head against the wall when he heard the news, calling on Varus to give him back his legions. The defeat ended Roman expansion east of the Rhine. Victory changed the development of the Germanic peoples, both in the centuries that followed and in the nineteenth century when Arminius, by then known as Herman, became a rallying point for German nationalism.
With
Peter Heather Professor of Medieval History at King’s College London
Ellen O'Gorman Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Bristol
And
Matthew Nicholls Fellow and Senior Tutor at St John’s College, Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Next Episode
The Covenanters
March 12, 2020
•53m
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the bonds that Scottish Presbyterians made between themselves and their monarchs in the 16th and 17th Centuries, to maintain their form of worship. These covenants bound James VI of Scotland to support Presbyterians yet when he became James I he was also expected to support episcopacy. That tension came to a head under Charles I who found himself on the losing side of a war with the Covenanters, who later supported Parliament before backing the future Charles II after he had pledged to support them. Once in power, Charles II failed to deliver the religious settlement the Covenanters wanted, and set about repressing them violently. Those who refused to renounce the covenants were persecuted in what became known as The Killing Times, as reflected in the image above.
With
Roger Mason Professor of Scottish History at the University of St Andrews
Laura Stewart Professor of Early Modern British History at the University of York
And
Scott Spurlock Professor of Scottish and Early Modern Christianities at the University of Glasgow
Producer: Simon Tillotson
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