Royal Court

The royal audiences were judicial bodies created by the Crown of Castile.

With the precedent of the justice of the Royal Curia, formally, the first Audiencia, as the supreme body of justice, was created by Enrique II of Castile in the Cortes of Toro in 1371. Originally it accompanied the king on his travels and was made up of 70 oidores, although in the time of John II, they reached 100. In 1442 it was decided to establish its headquarters in Valladolid, and it would then be called the Chancellery.

In 1494, Isabel the Catholic divided said Court into two: the Royal Court of Valladolid, with jurisdiction north of the Tagus River; and that of Ciudad Real, with competition to the south of the same river. In 1500 it was decided to move the latter to Granada, which was verified in 1505.

Charles I installed the Audience of Aragon in Zaragoza in 1528. His son Philip II created numerous audiences in Spain: that of Los Grados in Seville in 1525, that of the Canary Islands (1526), that of Las Palmas in 1568 and that of Mallorca in 1571, as well as in other places in Europe - among others, that of Sardinia in 1564 and that of Sicily in 1569–. In America, an audience was established for the first time in Santo Domingo (on the island of Hispaniola) in 1511, during the governorship of Diego Columbus, but it was suppressed shortly after (being reestablished in 1526). Under Charles I and Philip II, between 1526 and 1583, audiences spread throughout America and the Philippines. In 1717 the Asturias audience was established; in 1790, that of Extremadura and in 1834, that of Albacete.

The Royal Court in the peninsula

In the Crown of Castile:

• Real Audiencia y Chancillería de Valladolid (1371).
• Royal Audience and Chancellery of Ciudad Real (1494).
• Real Chancillería de Granada (1505).

The other hearings that arose later did not have the title of chancillería and their level of competence was lower:

• Royal Audience of Galicia (1480), created from the Government of Galicia.
• Real Audiencia de los Grados de Sevilla (1525).
• Real Audiencia de Canarias (1526).
• Royal Audience of Asturias (1717).
• Real Audience of Extremadura (1790).
• Royal Audience of Albacete (1834).

In the Kingdom of Navarra there was no audience, and the judicial functions were held by the Royal Council of Navarra.

The Crown of Aragon held audiences in each of its territories since the 15th century:

• Real Audiencia de Aragón, chaired by a judge.
• Royal Audience of Catalonia (1370), chaired by a chancellor.
• Royal Audience of Valencia (1506).
• Real Audiencia de Mallorca (1571).

After the New Plant Decrees, since 1707 it was adapted to the jurisdictional model of chancillería for the first two (Aragon and Valencia), and since 1715 for the last two (Catalonia and Mallorca); in these cases with the innovation of a system of military presidency, later transferred to the Castilian ones.

The Royal Court in the Indies

In America, an audience was created for the first time in Santo Domingo (Hispaniola island) in 1511, during the governorship of Diego Columbus, but it was suppressed shortly after.

Under Charles I and Philip II, the audiences spread throughout America and the Philippines, definitively putting into operation the Audiencia of Santo Domingo and creating ten or more.

• Royal Audience of Santo Domingo in 1526.
• Real Audiencia de México (Virreinato de Nueva España) en 1527.
• Royal Audience of Panama in 1538.
• Real Audiencia de Lima (Virreinato del Perú) in 1542.
• Real Audiencia de Guatemala (Virreinato de Nueva España, actual Guatemala) in 1543.
• Real Audiencia de Guadalajara de Indias (Virreinato de Nueva España) in 1548.
• Real Audiencia de Santafé de Bogotá (Virreinato de Nueva Granada) in 1548.
• Real Audiencia de Charcas (Virreinato del Perú, actual Bolivia) in 1559.
• Real Audiencia de Quito (Virreinato de Nueva Granada, actual Ecuador) in 1563.
• Real Audiencia de Concepción (Capitanía General de Chile) in 1565 (up to 1575).
• Royal Manila Audience (Philippine General Office) in 1584.

In the XVII century, the Court of Chile was replaced, moving it to Santiago, and the first one was created in Buenos Aires:

• Royal Audience of Santiago in 1605.
• Real Audiencia de Buenos Aires (Virreinato del Río de la Plata) in 1661 (up to 1671).

In the 18th century the Buenos Aires Court was reinstated, and the last two Indian audiences were created:

• Real Audiencia de Buenos Aires in 1783.
• Real Audiencia de Caracas in 1786.
• Real Audience of Cuzco in 1787.

Given the exchange of the dominion of the island of Santo Domingo for Louisiana, that of Santo Domingo is suppressed and the following is created:

• Royal Audience of Port-au-Prince (Camagüey) in 1800.

Finally, the last ones to be created were:

• Real Audiencia de Puerto Rico en 1831.
• Real Audiencia de La Habana in 1838.

In Hispanic America under the rule of the Spanish crown, the royal audience acquired increasing importance, ensuring compliance with the law, the protection of the governed and the application of justice on the continent. Likewise, they all also became royal chanceries, being depositaries of the royal seal (royal seal), which is why they were considered representatives of the person of the monarch in their respective territories..

Composition

The royal audiences were composed of a president, who was generally the respective viceroy or governor, and a variable number of oidores (judges), plus some mayors of crime (in Spain, Mexico and Lima). In addition, a prosecutor and "other junior officers" were part of this court, among them: a senior bailiff, a relator, a chamber clerk and a doorman.

In Spain, those of Valladolid and Granada also had other figures such as the mayor of the Hijosdalgo, reserved for the lawsuits of this state.

By royal decree of March 11, 1776, it was ordered that the 10 Indian audiences then existing be presided over by a regent, which was communicated by royal cell of April 6, 1776 and their functions established by royal instruction of April 20. June 1776. It was also decided to add 2 oidores and a mayor of crime to the audiences of Mexico and Lima; 2 listeners to those of Guadalajara, Santo Domingo and Quito; and an oidor to those of Manila, Guatemala, Charcas and Santafé.

Functions

The royal audiences were perhaps the only organs of the time that had a more marked function: the administration of justice.

By the 18th century, mainly by spontaneous evolution, rather than by legal reforms, they essentially became courts of appeal..

• They knew of civil and criminal trials, except those of ecclesiastical, military or commercial jurisdiction.
• Their rulings could be appealed to the Indian Council (as long as these were matters for more than 6000 pesos of gold).
• They knew about force, i.e., the claim of the aggrieved by the ecclesiastical judges, which proceeded in the event of incompetence of the ecclesiastical judges to know the cases, the non-observance of the rules governing the ecclesiastical trials and the refusals of appeal that were appropriate.
• They knew about the competition between lay and ecclesiastical judges.
• They knew of some ecclesiastical judgments and judgments of command.
• The aggrieved by the resolutions of the viceroy or the governor could "appeal" them.
• They could dictate agreed orders, for proper administration of justice, and could fill with them the normative gaps in procedures or in interpreting existing procedural rules.

In case of vacancy of the viceroy or governor, the oldest Oidor (called dean oidor) could temporarily replace him. Likewise, they were advisory bodies to the viceroys and governors in matters of government and finance.

They had to enforce the royal orders and eventually they could "beg" a law (when it suffered from a vice) and represent it to the Council of the Indies. In addition, they had to examine the ordinances, regulations and decrees of the respective viceroy or governor. In the event that they exceeded their powers and powers, they could represent said situation to them, and if they were not heard, report to the sovereign.

Likewise, they had to worry about the good treatment of the indigenous people and could prohibit the circulation or confiscate certain books. Furthermore, they were concerned with informing the king about the conduct of the priests within their jurisdictional territory and could stop bulls that they considered to be an attack on the patronage.

Classification

The royal audiences had a classification, according to their hierarchy:

• Viral hearings: They were presided over by a viceroy and had their seat at the headquarters. They were of this kind, in the century.XVIthe Royal Audience of Santo Domingo (1511-1526), Mexico (from 1535) and Lima (from 1542) and, in the centuryXVIIISantafé de Bogotá (1718-1723 and 1740), Charcas (1776-1785) and Buenos Aires (1785).

• Pretorial hearings: They were presided over by a president-governor and were not subordinated to a viceroy, so they could establish direct contact with the king and the Council of Indias. Of this type were those of Santo Domingo (since 1527), of Mexico (1527-1535), of Panama (1539-1614), of the Confines or of Guatemala (1543-1565 and since 1570), of Manila (since 1584), of Buenos Aires (1663-1672), of Santafé of Bogotá (1550-1717 and 1723-1740), of Caracas (since 1787), of Santiago de Chile (since 1798),

• Assistant hearings: they were presided over by a legal president and depended on the viceroy in matters concerning civil, ecclesiastical government, war and, eventually, finances. These were those of Compostela or Guadalajara (from 1548), Charcas (1561-1776 and 1785), Quito (from 1564), Concepción (1565-1575), Santiago de Chile (1609-1798), Panama (from 1614) and Cuzco (from 1788).