Pedro de Córdoba

Pedro de Córdoba OP (c.1460 – 1521) was a Spanish missionary, author and inquisitor on the island of Hispaniola. He was first to denounce the Spanish system known as the Encomienda, which amounted to the practical enslavement of natives of the New World, for the abuses that it engendered.

Life and career He was born at Córdoba, Andalusia, southern Spain. He studied theology at the University of Salamanca and there joined the order of Dominicans.

In September 1510 he went to the Island of Hispaniola as vicar of the first band of Dominican missionaries and as the first inquisitor appointed in the New World. He was a zealous protector of the Indians and a friend and mentor of Bartolomé de las Casas. Friar Antonio Montesinos led the mission with Francisco de Córdoba and a lay brother, Juan Garcés. The Dominicans set up in the Chiribichi Valley in present-day Venezuela, where they were well-received by local chieftain "Alonso", who had been baptized years before. According to the royal grant, slavers and settlers were to give the Dominicans a wide berth.

Fray Pedro founded the Santa Cruz province of the order and enjoyed the reputation of a model priest, highly respected by the clergy, the laity, and the Indians. He was the only survivor of two ship of Spaniards who were all slain by the natives. He died on Santo Domingo in 1521.

Works Among the works authored by Fray Pedro de Córdoba are: . Various , or Reports to the King on the social, cultural and economic condition of the Indians. . . Many , or Letters, often written in collaboration with his fellow Dominican missionaries in defence of the Indians, including: (April or May 1517). (26 September 1517).