Dominicans

The Dominicans, a preaching order founded in the 13th century, quickly became associated with the Inquisition. Because of this and the behavior of highly visible Dominicans like Johan Tetzel, the order was in disrepute by the 16th century. However, because of their association with the family of Christopher Columbus, they were included in the voyages of Spanish EXPLORATION from 1509, establishing MISSIONS in Mexico, Peru, Macao, and the Philippines, as well as in other Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Perhaps the most influential Dominican in the history of colonization was Bartolome de Las Casas, who protested the Spanish treatment of Natives and demanded reform of the encomienda (a system in which Native Americans were required to work for and pay tribute to Spanish colonists).

The Dominicans suffered a number of martyrdoms through their dangerous and far-flung mission activity, including six at Guadalupe in 1604. Because of the need for recruitment and new Dominicans, the order pressed for the ordination of Native and mixed-race priests and nuns, which in turn gave the Dominicans a number of saints, including St. Rose of Lima, St. Martin de Porres, and St. Juan Masias, all of whom were Latin Americans of mixed-race ethnicity. Dominican nuns were influential in the Spanish school systems of the Americas and in a continuing mission of charitable activity with the displaced Natives begun by de Las Casas, who set up workshops and protected agricultural estates. Having lost their reputation through the excesses of the Inquisition and the accusations of the Protestant Reformation, the Dominicans subsequently regained their power and influence as the premier order in the Spanish and Portuguese Americas.

—Margaret Sankey