Real Audiencia facts for kids
A Real Audiencia (pronounced: reh-AL ow-DYEN-thya) was a very important court in Spain and its large empire. The name means "Royal Audience" or "Royal Court." These courts had judges called oidores (which means "hearers" in Spanish). They were like high courts that heard appeals from lower courts.
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Royal Courts in Spain
The first Audiencia was set up in the Kingdom of Castile in 1371 in a city called Valladolid. For about 200 years, the Valladolid Audiencia was the highest court in Castile. If someone disagreed with a decision from a Castilian Audiencia, they could only appeal to the Council of Castile, which was created in 1480.
After the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon joined to form Spain, and after the city of Granada was conquered in 1492, the main Audiencia was split into two. The Valladolid Audiencia handled cases from the north of the Tagus River. A new court, the Royal Audiencia of Ciudad Real (started in 1494), took cases from the south. This second court later moved to Granada in 1505.
Under kings like Charles V and Philip II, the Audiencia system grew. More courts were added in Spain itself, like the Royal Audiencia of Aragon (1528). Then, the system spread to the rest of the Spanish Empire. Some Audiencias in places that are part of Spain today included Seville (1566), Las Palmas (1568), Majorca (1571), Asturias (1717), and Extremadura (1790). The Audiencias and viceroys in the Crown of Aragon were watched over by the Council of Aragon, which began in 1494.
Royal Courts in the Americas
In the Americas and other Spanish lands, the Audiencias were also very important. The Spanish Crown quickly brought the Audiencia system to the Americas. This was done to help the king control the new lands and the Spanish settlers and conquerors.
As the Spanish conquered vast areas in the Americas starting in the 1520s, it became clear that the Audiencia system alone was not enough to run the huge overseas government. So, new leaders called Viceroys were introduced. However, in the Americas, the Audiencias also helped the Viceroys make decisions and create laws. Both Viceroys and Audiencias were ultimately supervised by a special group called the Council of the Indies. Many of the laws about setting up these courts in the 1500s and 1600s can be found in a book called Recopilación de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias from 1680.
The first Audiencia in the Americas was set up in Santo Domingo (which is now the Dominican Republic) in 1511. It was in charge of the Caribbean islands and nearby mainland. It was briefly closed due to opposition but was permanently re-established in 1526.
As Spain conquered more of the continent, more Audiencias were created. The first one on the mainland was the Royal Audiencia of Mexico in 1527. This was just six years after the fall of Tenochtitlan (the Aztec capital). This court was in charge of most of what is now Mexico, parts of the U.S., and Central America.
Next came the Royal Audiencia of Panama in 1538. It oversaw Central America and the northern coast of South America. It was closed in 1543 but later reopened in 1564, only for Panama itself, and operated until 1751.
In 1543, when the first Panama Audiencia was closed, two new ones were created. One was in Guatemala, covering Central America. The other was in Lima, overseeing the newly conquered lands in South America, especially after the conquest of Peru. Venezuela, which was settled earlier, remained under the Santo Domingo Audiencia until the Viceroyalty of New Granada was created in the early 1700s.
By the end of the 1500s, six more Audiencias were established:
- Guadalajara (Nueva Galicia), 1548, covering northern Mexico.
- Santa Fe de Bogotá (Nueva Granada), 1548, overseeing most of modern Colombia.
- Charcas (Upper Peru), 1559, covering parts of modern Uruguay and northern Argentina.
- Quito, 1565, overseeing most of modern Ecuador and nearby areas.
- Concepcíon (Chile), 1565, but it was closed in 1575.
- Manila in 1583, overseeing the Spanish East Indies.
In the 1600s, two more Audiencias were created:
- Santiago, 1609, replacing the one in Concepción.
- Buenos Aires, which only operated from 1661 to 1672.
The last colonial Audiencias were created under the Bourbon kings. These were part of their administrative reforms, which also included setting up new viceroyalties. The new kings closed the second Audiencia of Panama in 1751, moving its responsibilities to the one in Bogotá. New Audiencias were set up in:
- Caracas, 1786.
- Cusco (Peru), 1787.
- Buenos Aires, 1783.
This meant that when the Spanish American independence movements began in the early 1800s, there were twelve Audiencias overseeing the Spanish lands overseas. After Spain lost Santo Domingo to the French in 1795, the Audiencia of Santo Domingo moved to Camagüey, Cuba, and was renamed the Audiencia of Puerto Príncipe. Later, in 1838, a second Cuban Audiencia was set up in Havana. From 1831 to 1853, Puerto Rico also had its own Audiencia.
What the Audiencias Did
Unlike the courts in Spain, the Audiencias overseas had more roles. They not only handled legal cases but also helped make laws and manage the government. They represented the king in his roles as a lawmaker and a judge. They were so important that many modern countries in Spanish-speaking South America and Panama have borders that are similar to the old Audiencia districts.
Audiencias shared many government duties with the viceroys and governors. This helped to keep the power of the viceroys and governors in check.
An Audiencia could create local rules and acted like a "secret council" for the viceroy or governor. They often met weekly for this purpose, and these meetings were called real acuerdo. An Audiencia also looked after the royal money. When they met with the royal treasurer for this, they were called a junta de hacienda (finance board). The crown's lawyer, called the fiscal, could also talk directly to the king, especially about money matters.
In the main cities where viceroys lived, like Mexico City and Lima, the viceroy himself was the presidente (president) of the Audiencia. Similarly, the governor was the president in other important cities. In these cases, the president did not vote on legal matters unless they were a trained lawyer. Their job was mainly to manage the court.
Audiencias with a viceroy or governor as president were called audiencias pretoriales or audiencias virreinales. In other Audiencias, like in Quito, where there was no viceroy or governor, the Audiencia president was the main governor of that area. These areas were often called "presidencies." The viceroy still had the right to oversee these areas but could not interfere with their court cases. These were called audiencias subordinadas.
Officials of the Audiencia, especially the president, were reviewed in two ways. At the end of their time in office, a juicio de residencia was held. This was a review of their work, with interviews from people affected by the court. Unexpected inspections, called visitas, could also happen if the king felt it was needed. Later, as part of the Bourbon Reforms, a new role called regente (a type of chief justice) was created. This took away most of the administrative duties from the viceroy or governor, making their role as Audiencia president mostly honorary.
The size and makeup of an Audiencia changed over time. For example, the first Audiencia of Mexico had four oidores (judges), one president, and a fiscal (crown attorney). They handled both civil and criminal cases in one group. By the 1600s, it had grown to two separate groups: one for civil cases with eight oidores and one fiscal, and another for criminal cases with four alcaldes del crimen (criminal judges) and its own fiscal. They also had other staff like notaries and bailiffs. The smallest Audiencias overseas were similar to the early Mexican one.
In their role as courts, Audiencias heard appeals from cases first handled by local judges, like guild courts or town mayors. The Audiencia also acted as the first court for crimes committed in the city where it was located, and for any cases involving royal officials. In criminal cases, the Audiencia was the final court for appeals. Only civil cases involving more than 10,000 silver pesos could be appealed to the Council of the Indies, and only within one year.
Because Audiencia presidents were not always lawyers, they did not vote in court cases. The court did not have to follow their authority in legal matters. The president's role was mainly to sign the verdicts. Audiencias led by a viceroy were called viceregal Audiencias, and those led by a governor were called pretorial Audiencias.
When pretorial Audiencias were led by a governor, it created the role of president-governor for large areas. These officials had direct control over a province and oversaw other provinces within the Audiencia's territory. This meant they acted much like viceroys. So, another type of administrative division appeared: smaller provinces were run by governors, while the larger areas covered by Audiencias were called major provinces.
The members of the Audiencia (the oidores) met with the president in a group called the royal agreement (real acuerdo). They made decisions about government matters, like reviewing rules or appointing special investigators. However, the Audiencia as a whole could not interfere with the viceroy or president-governor on government issues. This system allowed the king to control the actions of his officials.
While viceregal and pretorial Audiencias were led by non-lawyers, the presidents of the subordinate Audiencias were judges. In these areas, the viceroy was still in charge of government, money, and military matters. So, these parts of the viceroyalties did not have governors, but rather Audiencias, and the presidency gave them their name, like in Charcas and Quito.
Even though one person might hold several titles like viceroy, governor, captain general, and president of the Audiencia, each title had different responsibilities. The viceroy, as president of the viceregal Audiencia, had authority over that court. However, his authority over other Audiencias within the same viceroyalty was limited. For example, as governor, the viceroy directly managed the province where the viceregal capital was located. But for other provinces in the viceroyalty, his role was more about general oversight. This unclear definition of powers helped the king control his officials.
In the viceroyalty of New Spain, the Audiencia of Mexico, led by the viceroy, had its authority end where other Audiencias began. These included the Audiencias of Guatemala (1543–1563; 1568-), Manila (1583–1589; 1595-), Guadalajara (moved to Guadalajara in 1560), and Santo Domingo (1526-). The viceroy of New Spain, as governor, only had direct control over a smaller area called the governorate of New Spain. As captain general, his military command did not include areas like Yucatán or the New Kingdom of León. However, it did include military command over Nueva Galicia, which was under the Audiencia of Guadalajara, until 1708 when the military command was given to the governor of Nueva Galicia.
In the viceroyalty of Peru, the viceroy led the Audiencia of Lima (1542-). This Audiencia's power ended where the pretorial Audiencias began. These included Panama (1538–1543; 1563–1717), Santa Fe de Bogotá (1547-), Santiago de Chile (in Concepción from 1565 to 1575, and in Santiago de Chile since 1605), and Buenos Aires (1661–1672). The presidents of these courts were also governors and captains general. In addition to these, the viceroyalty also included the subordinate Audiencias of Charcas (La Plata; 1559-) and Quito (1563-).
Royal Courts in Italy
Audiencias were also found in Spanish territories in Europe, including the Italian lands of Sardinia (1564–1714) and Kingdom of Sicily (1569–1707). In Italy, the Castilian Audiencia system was combined with the Aragonese system of viceroys. The Aragonese viceroys were like "vice-kings" and had the power to judge cases and make laws. So, they were deeply involved in the legal work of the Italian Audiencias. In 1555, a Council of Italy was created to oversee the viceroys and Audiencias in Italy.
See also
In Spanish: Real Audiencia para niños
