Juan López de Palacios Rubios

Juan López de Palacios Rubios (1450–1524) was a Spanish jurist called El Doctor for his expertise in canon law.

He was the primary author of the famous Requerimiento, read during the conquest of America to the Indians, instructing them to submit peacefully.

The text informed the natives that they were vassals of the Castilian monarch and subjects of the pope and, if they opposed they would be subjugated by force and turned into slaves.

He served as College of San Bartolome, President of the Mesta during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, judge of Valladolid, Minister of the Council of India and Ambassador to Rome.

Specifically, in his Oceanis Insulis Libellus of legal reasoning makes a conscientious about the legitimacy of Spanish sovereignty in the American territories.