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Chapter 2 examines the kingdom’s institutional setup through the lens of Tomás López, a humanist turned administrator who arrived in the New Kingdom of Granada in the late 1550s and participated in the establishment of the political architecture. López was convinced of the benefits of the empire: he believed the monarchs had the moral obligation to save “indios” from the deceits of the devil to gain a path to salvation. In pursuit of this ideal he took part in the establishment of a new administrative entity, the audiencia—a royal appellate tribunal in charge of the administration of justice that reported to the Council of the Indies. In the 1560s, disheartened by the horrific outcome of his well-intentioned policies, he wrote to the king to expose the extreme cruelty of these measures, returned to Spain, and refused every further attempt by the monarchy to draw him back to the Indies.