The Spanish are not 'uniquely' cruel and prone to horrible brutality. And while there are antecedents found in the various cultures (not particular to any one) in Europe, as well as its theology, it is too simplisitc to assume as a direct cause-effect relationship. The point is that there is enough blame to pass around and to place it all at the feet of one culture or religion (let's face it, the people engaged in the actions are almost exclusively Christian) in simply wrong. The United States did a masterful job of systematically killing, moving, and dispensing with the 'Indian problem.' France, rather than being as actively involved in extermination, tended to play various tribes off against each other, letting them do the work for her. England led the way in the attempts to exterminate the Indians of North America (up to and including the notorious Lord Jeffrey Amherst smallpox blankets incident) as well a having a thriving slave trade of its own at one point. Portugal was also guilty of mistreatment and slavery, if on a much smaller scale. Few European nations colonizing the New World (if any) escape the stain of cruelty and atrocity. The first thing to do is look past the attempt at characterizing the Spanish as somehow uniquely cruel and savage as a people-which is what the promoters of the legend were attempting. The question comes as to the accuracy of the Legend. Also, it helped England ignore its own cruelties in the Caribbean slave trade. This gave them further justification and support for their ongoing battles with Spain. It was used as 'evidence' that 'proved' that the Spanish (as a people, as an empire, and additionally, as Catholic) were evil, bloodthirsty, unchristian, savages with no care or respect for human life (or the life of Indians, tow things that could often be seen as mutually exclusive). Adversaries, especially the English and the Dutch, made sure it was quickly translated and disseminated throughout Europe for propagandistic purposes. Unfortunately for him and Spain, its biggest influence was on what became known as the Black Legend. While it did, admittedly (along with other writings by him), have some positive consequences-primarily in the long run-it didn't curb much of the abuse at the time (a less perjorative term than some of the atrocities that were taking place). In it, he included the things he had heard and witnessed, hoping to get Spain to realize the problems in the New World.

One of the key parts of this was writing and getting published the book BrevГsima relaciГіn de la destrucciГіn de las Indias ( A Brief Report on the Destruction of the Indians, 1542). He became a crusader of sorts in attempts to improve treatment and to get those who mistreated them punished.

Part of the colonization from early on, Las Casas became upset and even horrified by many of the abuses he saw committed on the Indians. The genesis of the legend (in that context) is largely due to the writing of BartolomГ© de Las Casas, a Dominican missionary and historian. But the most common usage of the term refers to the Spanish behavior during the colonization of the New World. The Spanish Inquisition was a big part of it (also pointing out another common aspect of the typical legend, the omittance of one's own sins in that regard). This is in a large part due to their battles with other, mostly Protestant, countries.

Some of the most prolific seem to center around the Catholic church ( the crusades, for instance) and, more specifically, Catholic Spain (they even have the term: La leyenda negra). (I'm not going to comment on the veracity of these, being outside of the scope of this writeup, only giving them as examples.) There is the one that suggests that Germans are endemically evil and anti-Semitic, causing WWII and the Holocaust there's the legend about Mother Teresa and the consequences of some of her beliefs on the people under her care then there is the one about the Vatican's participation in WWII and the level of cooperation between it and the Nazis. It's always branded as such by the ' victim' of the legend. Often (maybe usually) grounded in truth (to varying degrees), the 'legend' will exaggerate or selectively use information in order to spread its message.

The Black Legend and Spain in the New WorldДЄ Black Legend is a claim that some individual, group, or institution is propagating misinformation in order to demonize another individual, group or institution.

Black legend of spanish cruelty