Las Casas Pleading the Cause of the Indians (c. 1540), by Lee Lawrie, East Façade.

Bartolome de Las Casas (1474-1566) was a monk who served as an advisor to colonial governors in the New World.

In the New World, the Spanish had set up a fuedal system called the encomiendas, which basically enslaved Indians to work on plantations and to pay tribute to the Spaniards.

Here Las Casas pleads before the Spanish King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his queen.

The "New Laws" passed in 1542 banned encomiendas, but were impossible to enforce.

Note the Moorish designs in the background architecture.

Read more about Las Casas here.