Encomienda

Lore & Background

The encomienda system originated in the Catholic south of Spain during the Reconquista, where it extracted labor and tribute from Muslims. It traveled to America with Castilian law. Conquered peoples were considered vassals of the Spanish monarch, and the Crown awarded an encomienda as a grant to a particular individual, called an encomendero.

Reader's Guide

The encomienda was essential to the Spanish crown's control over North, Central, and South America in the first decades after colonization. It was the first major organizational law instituted on the continent, affected by war, epidemics, and turmoil. The system did not grant land; native lands remained in community possession. Encomenderos were to ensure Catholic instruction, protection from warring tribes, and suppression of rebellion. Natives provided tributes in metals, maize, wheat, pork, and other products. The system became corrupt and harsh, with natives forced into hard labor and subjected to extreme punishment. Its legacy includes geographical displacement and breakup of communities, though in New Spain, natives remained in their settlements with families.

Did You Know?

• The encomienda was first established in Spain after the Christian Reconquista, applied on a much larger scale in the Americas and East Indies.
• Queen Isabella I of Castile forbade slavery of the native population and deemed them 'free vassals of the crown.'
• Some women and Indigenous elites, such as Isabel Moctezuma and her sister, were granted encomiendas.