What did Spaniard like de Las Casas and de Mendieta attribute the reasons for the devastation caused by European diseases in the Americas?
Bartolomé de las Casas and Bernardino de Mendieta, both Spaniard historians and priests, attributed the devastation caused by European diseases in the Americas to divine retribution.
According to de las Casas, the diseases that ravaged the indigenous populations were part of God's punishment for their sins and wickedness. He argued that the native people were idolatrous and engaged in practices considered immoral by Christian standards, and therefore, they received divine punishment in the form of diseases introduced by the Europeans.
Similarly, de Mendieta also believed that the diseases were a result of God's punishment. He claimed that the indigenous people deserved to suffer due to their idolatry, human sacrifice, and other acts considered sinful according to Christian beliefs. He saw the diseases as a tool of God's justice in punishing the natives for their wrongdoings.
Overall, both de las Casas and de Mendieta believed that the devastation caused by European diseases in the Americas was a consequence of divine retribution for the perceived sins and cultural practices of the indigenous people.