Amores Prohibidos: The Consequences of the Clash of Juridical Norms in Sixteenth Century Peru
Laws make criminals. Lao-tzu, Chinese Philosopher (circa sixth century B.C.E.) Fundamental to the establishment of Spanish colonial power in America was the formation of a system of laws and the invention or extension of institutions needed to implement them. In Peru, a more systematic imposition of Spanish regulation began in the 1540s with the introduction of the New Laws (1542), which were directed to the west coast of South America in 1543 by the first appointed Viceroy, the ill-fated peninsular noble, the caballero (gentleman) Blasco Nuñez Vela.