The Law of the Indies

Hey fellow bloggers! Today’s blog post assignment is focused on the development of a set of urban ordinances that the Spanish developed. These ordinances are the key to how they founded and built cities in colonizing the Americas.

To begin my investigation into these urban planning ordinances, I skip to the chapter on the Law of the Indies in the Gasparini reading. This section lists 148 “laws” in regards to the discovering, establishing and building of new cities.

When reading through all these laws, there are two main points that can be taken away from the urban settlement ordinances.

Firstly, the laws begin by providing territorial information about how one can conquer and discover an area. It delves into requirements such as no tolerance for encroaching on already settled areas as well as emphasis on those conquering, learning about the natives that are already living in the area. These are laws number from 1- 31.

Secondly, the next section talks specifically about city planning ordinances. There are many specifics that are involved in the city planning process. When attempting to summarize what can be learnt from these city planning ordinances, they can be group into 3 different steps. The first step is discovering of the area as a whole, the land must be fertile, low lying to protect from environmental measures, and a location is best if it has access to water. The second step is the selection of the specific city site, within the entire area. Specifics about the leader (or governor) who selects the site are outlined. This leader must establish a proper hierarchy within the new city site, and they are responsible for dishing out specific plots of land, called caballerias and peonias. Once these sites are assigned, the property owners are to begin building on and farming the land. The third step is the actual town layout ordinances. There are many requirements for this grid like plan they have come up with. Requirements include the town square being the starting point for the town and size and design of this are provided based on city population. Furthermore, the street layout requirements of 4 principal streets within the square and then 4 surrounding the square are provided. These laws are then followed by outlining ordinances for the commons.

When reading through these ordinances, it becomes quite clear that the Spanish had strict settlement ordinances in the discovery and development of new cities. What is actually learnt about the urban form is the actual prescribed method in which cities are erected, and furthermore the importance of abiding by these laws. By beginning with the requirements of how the discoverer must behave, it gives the reader a sense of control these laws had over the spread of the Spanish empire in the Americas. Furthermore, we learn that although in the laws it does not state these new cities must be in grid form, the formula in which the city begins with the town square coupled with the requirement of the 4 main intersecting streets, the grid pattern is embedded in these laws.

The Spanish quite clearly articulated exact specifics as to what these cities are to look like. They provide numerous detailed laws of how to find a new location, how to approach the indigenous population located there, how to select the site for a new city, where to begin the construction of such city, the hierarchy of people within the city, and finally how the land is divided up within the city.

In conclusion, I think it is important to note how sophisticated this system of laws is, for an Ancient empire to have developed. These laws are in such detail, that it would be hard to follow exactly, even in constructing cities today. This really helps reiterate the power in which the Spaniards had in controlling the spread of their empire across the Americas. The establishment of such a law system denotes a high level of sophistication and proper composition of cities throughout the Spanish empire.

That’s all for today Folks!

See ya

- Ali