# The Requerimiento: Spain's Legal Farce of Conquest

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470/the-requerimiento-spain-s-legal-farce-of-conquest
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470/the-requerimiento-spain-s-legal-farce-of-conquest.md
Podcast: [The Conquistadors: Exploration, Greed, and Destruction — Fexingo History](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470)
Published: 2026-06-25T02:55:02+00:00
Episode link: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors/episode-0116.mp3
Audio file: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors/episode-0116.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470/episodes/the-requerimiento-spain-s-legal-farce-of-conquest
Duration seconds: 501

## Resource

Before the conquistadors drew their swords, they were supposed to read a document aloud — in Spanish — to people who didn't understand it. This was the Requerimiento, a 1513 legal statement declaring that if Indigenous peoples didn't submit to the Pope and the Spanish Crown, they could be violently subjugated 'with all the war that we can make.' In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpack the history of this bizarre ritual: its origins in the Requerimiento of 1513 written by jurist Juan López de Palacios Rubios, its use by Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, the accounts of Bernal Díaz del Castillo and Bartolomé de las Casas, and the lasting scandal of a legal document designed to justify conquest. They explore how the Requerimiento was read on beaches, from horseback, even at night to sleeping villages — and how its absurdity horrified some Spaniards while enabling atrocities. A deep dive into the legal fiction that underpinned the Spanish Empire's moral crisis. #Requerimiento #SpanishConquest #HernanCortes #FranciscoPizarro #BartolomeDeLasCasas #BernalDiazDelCastillo #Mesoamerica #JustWar #ColonialLaw #JuanLopezDePalaciosRubios #IndigenousRights #ValladolidDebate #NewSpain #Conquistadors #LegalFiction #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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