Review article
https://doi.org/10.31823/d.31.1.5
The Contribution of the Dominican Order and Francisco de Vitoria in Defending the Rights of Peoples in the New World
Anto Gavrić
orcid.org/0000-0001-8137-727X
; Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The discovery of the New World became a challenge for the Dominican order as well. Dominicans played a significant role in the evangelization of America, but also in the beginnings of what will in the 20th century develop into a human rights discourse, particularly Dominican theologians Francisco de Vitoria and Domingo de Soto. Inspired by the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, they introduced the concepts of natural law and natural rights to discussions of concrete problems of indigenous peoples in the New World. Dominicans in direct contact with victims of human rights violations in the New World, such as Pedro de Córdoba, Antonio Montesinos, and Bartolomé de Las Casas, were strongly connected with Dominican theologians at the University of Salamanca in Spain, who based their thoughts on the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. It was this synergy of Dominican intellectual and apostolic life, best expressed in Aquinas’ »contemplata aliis tradere«, that enabled significant advances in defense of the human rights of the natives.
Keywords
Dominican order; discovery of America; human dignity; just war; people’s rights; ius gentium; Thomas Aquinas; Francisco de Vitoria; Bartolomé de Las Casas
Hrčak ID:
304246
URI
Publication date:
15.6.2023.
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