Time of memory, omission, and manipulation: The expelled Spanish Jesuits and the defence of the conquest of the West Indies

Abstract

From exile, and under the auspices of the Count of Floridablanca, a singular group of expelled Jesuits took part in the controversy surrounding the New World, making a fierce defence of Spanish colonialism. Through the apologias of Ramon Diosdado, Juan Nuix, Antonio Julian and Mariano Antonio Llorente, this article reflects on the purely national Ignatian discourse as an exercise to revive the memory of the conquest. It is a heroic remembrance impregnated with conservative Catholic values, omissions and distortions. Defending Spain against the allegations made by the illustrious foreigners of the late eighteenth century, the Jesuits differentiated and exalted the Spanish past in opposition to European powers, while distorting the figure of Bartolomé de Las Casas, who was converted into an anti-Spanish traitor.