Corregidor (position)
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A ''corregidor'' () was a local administrative and judicial official in
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
. They were the representatives of the
royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...
over a town and its district. He was the highest authority of a ''
corregimiento ''Corregimiento'' (; ca, Corregiment, ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purposes, ensuring districts were under crown control as opposed to local elites. A ''corregimiento'' was usually headed by a '' corr ...
''. In the Spanish Americas and the Spanish Philippines, a ''corregidor'' was often called an ''alcalde mayor''. They began to be appointed in Pre-Spanish Imperial fourteenth century Castile.


Development in Spain

The idea of appointing
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
officials to oversee local affairs was inspired by the late-medieval revival of Roman law. The goal was to create an administrative bureaucracy, which was uniformly trained in the Roman model. In spite of the opposition of council towns and the ''
Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of N ...
'' (Parliament), Castilian kings began to appoint direct representatives in towns during fourteenth century. They were also called ''jueces del salario'' or ''alcaldes veedores'' but the term ''corregidor'' prevailed. The word ''regidor'' often means
town councillor A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
in the
Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
. Thus, ''co-regidor'' was the position intended to co-rule the town together with elected councillors. The first monarch to make extensive use of ''corregidores'' was
Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...
, who ascended to the throne at the age of eleven. In order to consolidate royal authority and reward the newer nobility and certain great
magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
s who supported him he greatly expanded the use of the office. Some bishops and local lords were given the right to appoint ''corregidores'' in their territories. Henry used them mostly in
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
, the Basque provinces and Galicia, areas where royal power was weakest. The definitive consolidation of the institution occurred during the reign of the
Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...
(1474–1516). ''Corregidores'' were crucial for the state building process that both monarchs ushered in. Their job was to collect taxes, to report to the crown on the state of affairs in the area, and to ensure that royal jurisdiction was not interfered with by members of the church or the nobility. From 1480 onward, they—and all subsequent Spanish monarchs—never again appointed a noble ''corregidor'' and instead relied exclusively on commoners with legal training to fill this office.Harold, ''A History of Spain'', 189. As representatives of the royal power, ''corregidores'' administered
justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
, both criminal and civil, in the
first instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Mos ...
(or in appeal in districts with '' alcaldes ordinarios''), presided over the town council and ruled a district called a ''corregimiento''. They were audited and controlled through the ''
juicio de residencia A ''juicio de residencia'' (literally, ''judgment of residence'') was a judicial procedure of Castilian law and the Laws of the Indies. It consisted of this: at the termination of a public functionary's term, his performance in office was subject ...
'' (a general audit and review at the end of their term in office) or by means of ''visitas'' (literally, 'visits'; more accurately, 'inspections'), which could occur at any point in their term in response to complaints. The ''corregimiento'' became the basic unit of state administration in early modern Spain. After the
War of Succession A war of succession is a war prompted by a succession crisis in which two or more individuals claim the Order of succession, right of successor to a demise of the Crown, deceased or deposition (politics), deposed monarch. The rivals are typic ...
, the new
Bourbon kings The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...
introduced them into the Aragonese territories, replacing the ''bailes'' and '' vegueres'', who, nevertheless, had very similar functions to Castilian ''corregidores''.


Introduction into the Americas and the Philippines

The institution was established also in
Spanish America Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' Spanish Empire, imperial era between 15th century, 15th ...
during the
conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...
and the
Spanish Philippines Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, where it was also known by the names ''
justicia mayor Justicia mayor was a title bestowed upon a person in 19th century Spanish Empire which authorized him to perform law enforcement and judicial functions within a town, city of region. It is similar to the position of sheriff in some jurisdictions ...
'' and ''
alcalde mayor An ''alcalde mayor'' was a regional magistrate in Spain and its territories from, at least, the 14th century to the 19th century. These regional officials had judicial, administrative, military and legislative authority. Their judicial and ad ...
'' (not to be confused with the '' alcaldes ordinarios'' of the '' cabildo''). In
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
areas the office was known as the ''corregidor de indios''. ''Corregidores'' essentially had the same powers and duties as governors (''gobernadores''), except that whereas the latter ruled over a province-sized area (called variously a ''gobernación'' or a ''provincia''), the ''corregidor'' administered a district-sized ''corregimiento''. The ''corregidores'' were introduced in the mid-16th century to replace the ''
encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
s'', which had become a source of autonomous power for the settlers. It was a decades-long process. The corregidores were given this privileged position either due to having influential families in Spain, or through paying the crown and in return being appointed. The reformed '' Audiencia'' of
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
began implementing them in the 1530s, but they were not successfully set up in the
Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed from ...
until the administration of Toledo. As the ''encomiendas'' were phased out, ''corregidores'' oversaw most of the local ''
repartimiento The ''Repartimiento'' () (Spanish, "distribution, partition, or division") was a colonial labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America. In concept, it was similar to other tribute-labor systems, such as the ''mit'a'' of t ...
s''. Corregidores were the pillar for the crown, and the system of colonial domination. whether it was a
cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...
or another representative that was used by the Spanish: as a broker between the indigenous Indians, and the Spanish conquerors, they answered to these corregidores. As a crown appointed official, they were served as a intermediary within the crown, the viceroy who was the top of the colonial administration, and of the riches of the Americas. The corregidores ensured that the product of
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
labor such as farming, mining, sweatshop produce and other production would be handed to the Spanish. The corregidores also served to manage the demands of landowners and merchants, who were eager to take the maximum amounts of profits from indigenous labor. One huge issue was that the indigenous population, due to demands from the higher ups, could not reach the large quotas and were dying due to newly brought diseases from the Europeans that they were not immune to, as well being overworked, and the brutality that the European colonizers conducted. Appointed by the crown, the corregidores served as the crown official, overseer, account taker, negotiator, and slave driver. The corregidores was known to be the wealthiest, most powerful and most hated official in the colony. By law neither ''corregidores'' nor governors (nor viceroys, for that matter) could be persons who resided in the district in which they ruled, so that they should not develop ties to the locality, such that they remain disinterested administrators and judges. For this reason, they were also forbidden to marry in their district, although they could apply for exemptions from this restriction. However, in reality, they largely became enmeshed with local society, especially through financial ties, since their pay was based on a proportion of local royal revenues, and this was often an insufficient amount to cover living costs, much less the costs incurred in traveling to America. ''Corregidores'' often invested in the local economy, received loans from locals, and could abuse the ''reparto de comercio'' monopoly they oversaw, which often led to corruption. Nominally, under the
viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
s, the long distances from the viceregal and even provincial capitals meant that most ''corregidores'' acted independently. Therefore, since their office held both police power (as the main local administrative institution) and judicial power (as the court of first instance) in rural areas, ''corregidores'' were very powerful persons. Because most of the ''corregidores'' in the Americas were not legally trained, they were assisted by lawyers who served as their ''asesores'', or "advisers." If their district were large enough to require it, they were further assisted by subordinate delegates, called ''tenientes'' (lieutenant ''corregidores''). In municipal areas with a ''cabildo'', ''corregidores'' were to work with the council—for example, they recorded the annual election of ''alcaldes ordinarios'' and other council officers—but they could not hear cases in the first instance, which was the duty of the ''alcaldes ordinarios''. In these cases, ''corregidores'' functioned as the first
court of appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
, instead. With the
Bourbon Reforms The Bourbon Reforms ( es, Reformas Borbónicas) consisted of political and economic changes promulgated by the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon, since 1700, mainly in the 18th century. The beginning of the new Crown's po ...
of the late 18th century, most ''corregidores'' were replaced by the more powerful
intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
s.


See also

*
Corregimiento ''Corregimiento'' (; ca, Corregiment, ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purposes, ensuring districts were under crown control as opposed to local elites. A ''corregimiento'' was usually headed by a '' corr ...
*
Alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...
*
Alcalde ordinario Alcalde ordinario refers to the judicial and administrative officials in the cabildos in the Spanish Viceroyalties in the Americas during the times of the Spanish Empire in the 16th through 19th centuries. Always existing in pairs, they were ca ...
* Sargento mayor * Cabildo *
Regidor A regidor (plural: ''regidores'') is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of ''regedor''. Mexico In Mexico, an ayuntamiento (municipal council) is composed of a municipal ...
* Síndico *
Ayuntamiento ''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain: * ca, ajuntament (). * gl, concello (). * eu, udaletxea (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin Amer ...
*
Teniente a guerra Teniente a guerra (roughly translated into English as "War lieutenant") was a title used in times of the Spanish colonial Empire to describe a position exercising duties similar to those exercised by a town or city mayor today (2019). A teniente ...
*
Santa Hermandad Santa Hermandad (, "holy brotherhood") was a type of military peacekeeping association of armed individuals, which became characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain, especially in Castile. Modern hermandades in Spain, some of which evo ...


Further reading

*Baskes, Jeremy. ''Indians, Merchants, and Markets: A Reinterpretation of the Repartimiento and Spanish-Indian economic relations in Colonial Oaxaca''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2000. * Gibson, Charles. ''The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1964. *González Alonso, Benjamín: ''El corregidor castellano (1348-1808)'', Madrid: Instituto de Estudios Administrativos, 1970 * Haring, C. H. ''The Spanish Empire in America''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1947, 128-134 *Lohman Villena, Guillermo. ''El corregidor de indios en Perú bajo los Austrias''. Madrid: Ediciones Cultura Hispanica 1957. *Lunenfeld, Marvin: ''Keepers of the City: The Corregidores of Isabella I of Castile (1474-1504)'', Cambridge University Press, 1987 *Moreno Cebrián, Adolfo. ''El corregidor de indios y la economía peruana del siglo XVIII (los repartos forzosos de mercancías)''. Madrid: Instituto Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo 1977. * de Andagoya, Pascual and translated by Markham, Clements R.
Narrative of the Proceedings of Pedrarias Davila
', London, 1865.


References

{{reflist Spanish colonial governors and administrators Early Modern history of Spain 14th-century establishments in Spain 1833 disestablishments Positions of subnational authority