The Jesuit reductions of guaranies in the juridical theological framework of the Escuela Ibérica de la Paz

Abstract

The abuses and cruelties committed by the Spanish conquerors and colonizers in America were, from an early age, denounced by other Spaniards who showed a deep critical awareness of such events. The systematic and convergent reflection on the referred facts, carried out by the theologians and jurists of Portuguese and Spanish Universities, gave rise to a current of thought that has been denominated "Escuela Ibérica de la Paz". The Jesuits, founders of the Paraguay reductions, knew and took this line of thought for themselves, seeking, in addition, to put it into practice. Around this would be constituted what was often understood as the utopian model of the aforementioned missions. The writings of the first Jesuit Provincial of Paraguay, Diego de Torres Bollo, the Ordenanzas of Francisco de Alfaro and the Memoriales of Father Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, as well as the indigenous assembly of Mbaracayú of 1630, would confirm this hypothesis.