Empires of Slavery: Rights and Power in the Early Modern Iberian World / Daniel Allemann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Allemann, Daniel, author.

Series:

Max Planck Studies in Global Legal History of the Iberian Worlds ; 7.

Early Modern History and Modern History E-Books online, Collection 2026.

Max Planck Studies in Global Legal History of the Iberian Worlds ; 7

Early Modern History and Modern History E-Books online, Collection 2026

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Early Modern History.

Intellectual History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (300 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill | Nijhoff, 2026.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Enslavement was central to the early modern Iberian empires. No one at the time seriously questioned its legality, yet widespread reports of violent practices of captivity and human trafficking contrasted sharply with the Christian ideal of charity. This volume explores how Spanish and Portuguese theologians, jurists, and missionaries grappled with this moral dilemma. These thinkers developed ideological tools to protect the souls of those who appeared to be in a state of mortal damnation. Slavery prompted Iberian intellectuals to rethink the boundaries between property and person, law and religion, and household and commonwealth. By reconstructing these debates, this volume offers a new narrative about the relationship between individual rights and political power in the early modern Iberian world.

Contents:

Front Cover

‎Half-Title Page

‎Series Title Page

‎Title Page

‎Copyright Page

‎Contents

‎Acknowledgments

‎Introduction

‎Mapping the Book

‎Part 1. Slavery in the Iberian World

‎Chapter 1. The Iberian Imperial Theorists in History

‎1. The Iberian Imperial Theorists in the History of Slavery

‎2. Slavery, Empire, and Global Intellectual History

‎Chapter 2. Mediterranean Geographies of Slavery

‎1. Theoretical Foundations: Natural Law, the ius gentium, and Civil Slavery

‎1.1. The Idea of Civil Slavery

‎1.2. Enslavement in "Just Wars"

‎2. War and Punishment in Castile

‎2.1. Slavery in the Christian Commonwealth

‎2.2. The Iberian Peninsula as a Space of War

‎2.3. Slavery, Empire, and Protection

‎3. Fugitive Slaves in the Mediterranean

‎3.1. Unjust Slaves among the Saracens

‎3.2. Just Slaves among the Christians

‎3.3. The Freedom to Flee and the Freedom to Chain

‎Chapter 3. Trade and Trafficking in Sub-Saharan Africa and Beyond

‎1. Slavery between Mission, War, and Commerce

‎1.1. Rumor Has It …

‎1.2. Selling Oneself and One's Children

‎1.3. Contracts, Conscience, and the Slave Trade

‎2. Luis De Molina on Atlantic Slavery

‎2.1. A History of Portuguese Slaving in Africa

‎2.2. Revisiting Voluntary Enslavement

‎2.3. Possession in Good Faith and the Limits of Morality

‎2.4. The King's Conscience

‎3. Sites of Slaving in the Indian and Pacific Oceans

‎3.1. Asian Slaves or Indigenous Vassals?

‎Part 2. Slavery and the Household

‎Introduction to Part 2

‎Chapter 4. Marriage and Slavery

‎1. Slaves, Children, and the Nature of Marriage

‎1.1. The Natural Right of Marriage and the Limits of Slavery

‎1.2. Filial Obedience and the Limits of Natural Right

‎1.3. Filial Freedom of Marriage after Trent

‎2. The Politics of Slave Marriage.

‎2.1. Marriage and Enslavement Reversed

‎3. Breaking Marriage and Ending Slavery

‎3.1. Selling Slaves Reconsidered

‎3.2. Marriage and Manumission

‎4. Enslavement, Marriage, and "Human Rights"

‎Chapter 5. Punishment, Power, and Care

‎1. Dominium and Human Life

‎1.1. Owning the Lives of Enslaved Persons

‎2. Punishment and Incarceration

‎2.1. Punishment, Oeconomic Power, and the "Household Republic"

‎2.2. Whipping and Branding Slaves

‎2.3. Incarceration, Domestic Detainment, and "Private Prisons"

‎3. Care and Carelessness

‎3.1. Beyond Good Government

‎4. Spiritual Care for Enslaved Children

‎Part 3. Slavery and Labor Coercion in the Americas

‎Introduction to Part 3

‎Chapter 6. Forced Labor and the Politics of Empire

‎1. The Rise of Forced Labor

‎1.1. The Revival of Natural Slavery

‎1.2. A Composite Commonwealth

‎1.3. The Limits of Forced Labor and the Limits of Political Authority

‎2. Colonial Law and Colonial Clamor

‎2.1. Writing for the Viceroy

‎2.2. Appealing to the King's Conscience

‎3. The Persistence of a Paradox

‎3.1. Mining by Prudent Reason of State

‎3.2. The Feet of the Commonwealth

‎3.3. The Treasure from the Indies

‎3.4. Encomienda Labor, Justice, and Conscience

‎4. Subjection and Protection

‎Chapter 7. Revisiting Atlantic Slavery

‎1. Revisiting the Foundations of the Slave Trade

‎1.1. A Principled Critique

‎1.2. The Titles of Slavery Reappraised

‎2. Moirans against the Iberian Imperial Theorists

‎2.1. The Portuguese War against Angola

‎2.2. Possession, Probability, and Human Freedom

‎2.3. Moirans contra Avendaño

‎3. The Reinvention of Biblical Slavery

‎3.1. The Curse of Ham-or Whom?

‎3.2. Biblical Slavery in the Spanish Empire

‎3.3. The Foundation of African Liberty

‎Conclusion. Modes of Protection.

‎Bibliography

‎Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-76059-8

OCLC:

1587071573

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004760592 DOI