 In 1521 the bishop of Burgos, Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, was president of the Council of the Indies, the body exercising direct royal control over the overseas empire of Spain.He was the dominant voice on the Council, and he was no friend of Cortés.In the spring of 1521, the Council passed a series of ordinances intended to reign in Cortés and strengthen Spanish control over the lands he had conquered.