Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (1490–1573) was a Spanish humanist and theologian born in the province of Córdoba. After studying at Alcalá and Bologna, he translated works of Aristotle from Greek into Latin and served at the papal curia in Rome.

In 1529 he urged Charles V to unite Europe against the Turks. In Democrates (1535) he argued that a just war founded on natural law was compatible with Christianity.

He is chiefly remembered as the opponent of Bartolomé de las Casas at the Valladolid debate of 1550–1551, where he defended the Spanish conquest of the Indies and the subjugation of Native Americans.