The "Black Legend"

The Black Legend (La Leyenda Negra in Spanish), allegedly contributed to the English for blackening the name and reputation of the Spaniards for their contribution to the torture practices in Europe during the Spanish Inquisition and also the mistreatment of Indians in America, surprisingly enough, was started by a Spaniard, by the name of Bartolomé de las Casas, a friar and an actual eye witness of this mistreatment. As the man was shocked enough to take the matter to the Pope and to Charles V of Spain, it will be very unlikely that he was merely lying about it and I also don't see what personal gain he could have had about it. But then the idea of the Black Legend came only centuries later in 1914 from a Spanish writer called Julián Juderías who wrote a book called La Leyenda Negra y la Verdad Histórica (The Black Legend and the Historical Truth) or at least the truth according to Mr Jederías because apparently he wasn't around him- self centuries earlier. Many people have some shameful history at some time in history but coming clean with that and improving it is always better

Bartolomé de las Casas

and always preferred to then just denying it all or trying to justify it.

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