The Emperor's Order
Charles V inherited more than territory. He inherited papal authority.
When Charles became Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, he assumed control over the largest empire in human history. Spanish territories in the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America. Portuguese outposts along the African coast.
German principalities across central Europe. The Netherlands. Parts of Italy. And the legal machinery established by Dum Diversas — the 1452 papal bull authorizing the enslavement of all enemies of Christ.1
Charles V inherited papal authority from Dum Diversas (1452). Historical analysis from Kurimeo Ahau, Pt. 18 — Nations of The World // Cape Verdeans / American Indians / Sephardic / Portuguese / Whalers. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
The Spanish Inquisition was his instrument. The depopulation of indigenous America was his policy. The transformation of Cape Verde from uninhabited islands to Atlantic slave port was his system in operation.
Charles didn’t create the legal framework for perpetual slavery. But he perfected it.
In 1518, Charles V issued a charter authorizing the purchase of 4,000 people from the Cape Verde Islands.
Not from Africa. From Cape Verde.1
This is seventeen years before the official narrative says the first enslaved Africans arrived in the Americas. But Charles was already authorizing the transport of 4,000 people from Cape Verde to Spanish territories in the Caribbean and Mexico.
Charles V issued 1518 charter allowing 4,000 people to be purchased from Cape Verde Islands, not directly from Africa. Primary source charter documentation. Referenced in Kurimeo Ahau, Pt. 18 — Nations of The World // Cape Verdeans / American Indians / Sephardic / Portuguese / Whalers. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
Who were these 4,000 people?
By 1518, Cape Verde had been receiving indigenous Americans for seventeen years. The Portuguese had been depopulating Labrador since 1501, shipping Beothuk and other American Indians to the islands.1 Columbus had been sending Caribbean natives there since the 1490s.2
Portuguese began depopulating Labrador in 1501, transporting American Indians to Europe and Cape Verde as slaves. James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
The islands that had been uninhabited in 1450 now had a population large enough to supply 4,000 workers to Spanish colonial territories.
Charles V’s charter was not the beginning of Atlantic slavery. It was the expansion of an existing system.
Charles V’s decrees were religious, not racial.
In 1539, he banned Moors, Jews, “and their children” from passing into the Indies. The language was religious and genealogical: Muslim, Jewish, and their descendants. No mention of color or continent of origin.1
Charles V banned Moors, Jews, and their children from passing into the Indies (1539). Historical decree. Referenced in Kurimeo Ahau video series on Spanish colonial law. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
Columbus was the major supplier of American slaves prior to 1500, sending 3,000-6,000 slaves to Cape Verde Islands. Jack D. Forbes, Africans and Native Americans. ↩
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