The conquistadors, typically unaware of the motive, were legally obliged to recite the Requirement’s precepts aloud at the outset of each new conquest. For the native peoples of the Americas, witnessing such a puzzling performance paled in comparison to the violence it portended. The Requirement became a ritualized part of Spanish warfare, an unsheathing of the sword before it was plunged into flesh. Its words remain central to our understanding of the age.
