Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/875

* LASCA. 791 LAS CASAS. LASCA, las'ka, II. The name generally ap- jiliid tu the Ilaliau pout Antonio Francesco Uraz- zini Ul-v.j. LAS'CARIS, CoxSTAXTiNE (c.1434-1501). A celebrated Greek graniiuarian, one of the first founders of Greek studies in the West. He was a nieuibor of a noble Bithynian famih-. After the capture of Constant ino|)le by the Turks ( 14r)3 ). he lied to Italy, where he became tutor to Hip))olita. daughter of Francesco iiforza, Uuke of Mihiii. Later he taught at Rome ( where lie became an intimate friend of the learned Greek cardinal Bessarion), at Naples, and at ilessina. His (ireek grammar, the so-called 'Epwn/ifjLaTa, publislied at Jlilan in 147G, was the first Greek book ever printed. After his i^-ath his valuable librarj' was carried to Spain, where it is now preserved in the Escorial. — Axure..s .Johannes or Janus Lascaris (c.144o-1535), a brother or cousin of C'onstantine, was also prominent as a missionary of (inek learning in the West. After studying at Padua, lie settled at the Court ot Lorenzo ile' Medici, ami was sent l)y him to the East, where lie acquired many manuscripts for the Medici Library, especially from Mount Athos. After the death of Lorenzo (1492) lie was sum- moned to Paris by Charles VIll. Here he taught until 1513, wlien he was called to Rome by Leo X.: but in 1518 he returned to France, as an ambassa<lor to Francis I., and helped to found the Royal Library. Later he resided for some time at Venice, until Paul III. recalled him to Rome, where lie remained until his death. He is to-day best known as the editor of five edi- tioncs principes, including a famous Greek an- thology. Consult : Villemain, Lascaris, ou les Grccs ail XVinic siccle (Paris, 1825) ; Vast, De Vita et Operihus J. Lascaris (Paris, 1878) ; Voigt, Wiederhelebunp des klassischen Alter- tuins (3d ed., Leipzig. 1803) ; Sj-monds, Ren<iis- satice, vol. ii. (London, 1877). LASCARIS, Theodore I., Emperor of Xicjea from 12UIJ til 1222. He was placed upon the tlirone of ilie Byzantine Empire during the siege of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204. Compelled to lice, he estaldished a principality in Asia Minor, and made extensive conquests. — His grandson. Theodore La.scaris TL, who reigned from 1255 to 1258, is described by Krumbacke as a degenerate, but as remarkable for his states- mansliip mihI intellectual ability. LAS CASAS, las kii'sas. Bartolom£ de (1474- 156G). A Siiaiiisli monk of the Dominican Order, known as the 'Apostle of the Indies.' He was born in Seville of an old family which prob- ably originated in France. He studied phi- losophy, theology, and jurisprudence at the old University of Salamanca, and in 1502 went to Hispaiiiola. where he became a planter. At first he held Indian slaves, as did the rest of his coun- trymen. Though he was soon aroused by the powerful sermons of a Dominican monk, named Montesino, to some sense of the injustice thus inflicted on the natives, it was not until 1514, four years after he had been ordained priest, the first ordained in America, that he realized the full enormity of the system. He then released his slaves and began his long-continued crusade against Indian slavery. First he preached tn the Spaniards about it, but his appeals fell on deaf ears, so in 1515 he returned to Spain to lay the case before the King. Soon alter his arrival, however, Ferdinatid died ; his successor, after- wards the Emperor Cliarles V., was absent in Flanders. Repulsed by the powerful Fonseca, Las Casas was contemplating a journey to Flan- ders when he was .sympathetically received by the regents, Cardinal Ximenes and Adrian, who con- terred upon liim the title 'Liiiversal Protector of the Indians.' He Iheu returned to the Indies; but his zeal and plain speaking soon stirred up against him active and powerful enemies not only in the X^ew World, but also in Spain. Among the most formidable were Oviedo (q.v.) and Scpfllveda, an intimate of the King. Scarcely less troulilesome than the openly declared enmity of powerful courtiers was the more secret op- position of the Jeronymite Order, several nicni- bers of which were .sent out with him in 1510 to aid in ameliorating the condition of the natives. Their eli'orts nullified his to such an extent that after only a few mouths Las Casas sailed again for Spain, where he gathered fifty picked men with whom he planned to found a new col- ony on the shores of the Caribbean Sea. It was during this visit to Spain that he made his un- ha])py concession to negro slavery. Believing that an increase in the numbers of negro slaves might result in the freeing of Indian captives, he ad- vised that each colonist be allowed to import twelve negroes. It was not lone, however, before he realized the terrible mistake lie had made. In 1520 he established his little colony at Cu- manii. on the Pearl Coast, the modern Venezuela ; but soon afterwards, during his absence in His- paiiiola, it was destroyed by the Indians. Las Casas then retired to the Dominican convent in Hispaniola, where he remained for eight years, receiving the tonsure in 1522. It was here that he began to write his Historia f/encral de las Indias. In 1531 he was in Mexico, and three years later in X'icaragua, where he did much to save the na- tives from the ferocity of the conquerors, anil where he succeeded in converting the warlike people of Tuzulutlan. who had thrice defeated the Spanish forces. From 1530 to 1544 he was in Spain as adviser to the Council of the Indies. During this period he wrote his tract, ftrcuiss'ima rrhicioii dc la dcstnii/cimt de las Ittdiat;. the first and most important of the series piiblished at Seville in 15.52-53, to which we owe most of our knowledge of Spanish misrule in the Xew World, He obtained from the Emperor. Charles V.. the 'Xew Laws.' which absolutely forbade the enslave- ment of Indians. So drastic were these new laws that their promulgation led to an insurrection in Peru under the leadership of Gonzalo Pizarro, which might have resulted in the setting up of an independent kingdom, had not the Emperor molli- fied them, besides choosing as his representative the able Pedro de la Gasca. However, much per- manent good was accomplished, the system of encomiendas gave place again to the milder sys- tem of repartimientos. and abject slavery to something like European villeinage. In 1544 Las Casas was consecrated Bishop of Chiapa. a little see in ^lexico, after having refused other and wealthier bishoprics. Three years later he re- turned to Spain, where he passed most of the re- mainder of his life in the quiet of the Dominican College of San Gregorio at Valladolid. engaged in the preparation of those works which finally opened the eyes of liis countrynien to the enor- mity of their conduct toward the Indians. His Ilixtoria (inirral de las Iiidias. a great source of