encomienda
The encomienda was a repressive system fixing the Spanish conquistadors' entitlement to labour and tribute from Indian communities. Although the Indians theoretically remained free subjects of the Spanish Crown, in practice they were enslaved to the encomenderos (those having encomienda rights). One of its most celebrated opponents was the Dominican friar and former encomendero Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (1474-1566). In 1542, in response to protests from the Church, and fearful of the growing power of the encomenderos, Charles V brought in laws aimed at phasing out the system. The Spanish settlers rebelled, but the Crown held fast to the central principle that encomienda rights should not be hereditary.
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