A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' (), was an

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional designation ''chancillería'' (or ''cancillería'', Catalan: ''cancelleria'', English: '' chancellery'') was applied to the

s in early modern Spain.Elliot, ''Imperial Spain'', 86. Each ''audiencia'' had '' oidores'' (Spanish: judges, literally, "hearers").

''Audiencias'' in Spain

The first ''audiencia'' was founded in the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; : ) was a polity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It traces its origins to the 9th-century County of Castile (, ), as an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century, the Ca ...

in 1371 at

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

. The Valladolid Audiencia functioned as the highest court in Castile for the next two centuries. Appeals from the Castilian ''audiencias'' could only be made to the

Council of Castile The Council of Castile (), known earlier as the Royal Council (), was a ruling body and key part of the domestic government of the Crown of Castile, second only to the monarch himself. It was established under Isabella I in 1480 as the chi ...

after its creation in 1480. After the union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon in the

Kingdom of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the subsequent conquest of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

in 1492, the ''audiencia'' was divided in two, with the Audiencia of Valladolid taking cases originating north of the Tagus River, and the Royal Audiencia of

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ) is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. It was founded as Villa Real in 1255 as a ro ...

(1494) taking cases from south of the river. The second ''audiencia'' was moved to

in 1505. Under Charles V and Philip II, the ''audiencia'' system was extended first in Spain proper, with the Royal Audiencia of Aragon (1528) and then to the rest of the Spanish Empire. ''Audiencias'' in cities and provinces that belong to Spain today included

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

(1566),

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

(1568),

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

(1571),

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

(1717), and

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

(1790). The ''audiencias'' and viceroys of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

were overseen by the Council of Aragon, which had been established in 1494. POMA0488

''Audiencias'' in the Americas and the Philippine Islands

the Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

and

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

, the two institutions were also united, but with a different power relationship. The

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

early on introduced the ''audiencia'' into the Americas as part of its campaign to bring the area and its Spanish settlers and conquerors under royal control. With the vast conquests on the American mainland, which began in the 1520s, it became clear that the ''audiencia'' system would not be sufficient to effectively run the overseas government. Viceroys were therefore introduced, but without the judicial powers the office had enjoyed under the Aragonese Crown. In the New World, instead, the ''audiencias'' were given a consultative and quasi-legislative role in the administration of the territories. Both viceroys and ''audiencias'' were ultimately overseen by a Council of the Indies. Most of the laws dealing with the establishment of the 16th- and 17th-century audiencias can be found in Book II, Title XV of the ''Recopilación de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias'' issued in 1680. The first ''audiencia'' in the Americas was established at

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

(modern

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

) in 1511 with jurisdiction over the Caribbean islands and the adjacent mainland. It was quickly suppressed due to opposition by the Spanish settlers, but was re-established permanently in 1526. As the Spanish conquest of the continent continued, more ''audiencias'' were founded in the new areas of settlement. The first mainland ''audiencia'' was set up in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

in 1527, just six years after the fall of Tenochtitlan, which had jurisdiction over most of what is now

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. This audiencia was followed by the Audiencia of Panama, 1538, overseeing Central America and the littoral regions of northern South America until its abolishment in 1543. It later was reestablished with jurisdiction only over

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

proper in 1564, which functioned until 1751. In 1543 with the abolition of the first Audiencia of Panama, two audiencias were established in its place: one in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

with jurisdiction over Central America and another in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

with jurisdiction over the newly settled areas of South America, which had been gained by the

conquest of Peru The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spaniards, ...

and surrounding regions.

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, settled earlier, remained under the jurisdiction of the Audiencia of Santo Domingo until the establishment of the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...

in the early 18th century. By the end of the 16th century six more audiencias had been established in: *

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

(

Nueva Galicia Nuevo Reino de Galicia (New Kingdom of Galicia; ) or simply Nueva Galicia (''New Galicia'', ''Nova Galicia''), known in Nahuatl as Chimalhuacán (‘the land of shield bearers’), was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It w ...

), 1548, covering what is now northern Mexico * Santa Fe de Bogotá (Nueva Granada), 1548, overseeing most of modern

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

* Charcas (

Upper Peru Upper Peru (; ) is a name for the land that was governed by the Real Audiencia of Charcas. The name originated in Buenos Aires towards the end of the 18th century after the Audiencia of Charcas was transferred from the Viceroyalty of Peru to th ...

), 1559 *

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

, 1565, with jurisdiction over most of modern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, the Peruvian Amazon, and Jaén, Tumbes and Popayán provinces * Concepcíon (

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

), 1565, but which was abolished in 1575 *

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

in 1583 overseeing the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and the

Spanish East Indies The Spanish East Indies were the colonies of the Spanish Empire in Asia-Pacific, Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1901, governed through the Captaincy General of the Philippines, captaincy general in Manila for the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish Crown, i ...

In the 17th century two new ''audiencias'' were created in: *

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, 1609, replacing the one in Concepción *

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, which only operated from 1661 to 1672. The last colonial audiencias were created under the Bourbon kings as part of their administrative reforms, which also involved setting up new viceroyalties. The new dynasty found no need for the second Audiencia of Panama and abolished it in 1751, transferring its jurisdiction to the one in Bogotá. New audiencias were established in: *

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, 1786 *

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

(Peru), 1787 *

, 1783. This meant that at the moment of Spanish American independence in the early 19th century, the overseas possessions of the Spanish Monarchy were overseen by twelve ''audiencias.'' After the loss of Santo Domingo to the French in 1795, the Audiencia of Santo Domingo was transferred to

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 333,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by Sp ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and renamed the Audiencia of Puerto Príncipe. In 1838 a second Cuban ''audiencia'' was established in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.chanceries (''chancillerías'', modern Spanish: ''cancillerías''), they alone had the royal seal. Their importance in handling the affairs of state is reflected in the fact that many of the modern countries of Spanish-speaking South America and Panama have boundaries that are roughly the same as those of the former ''audiencias''. ''Audiencias'' shared many government duties with 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 Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

s and governors-captains generals of the regions they oversaw, and so they served as a check on the authority of the latter. An ''audiencia'' could issue local ordinances and served as a " privy council" to the viceroy or governor-captain general. In this function it often met weekly and was called by the term ''real acuerdo''. An ''audiencia'' also oversaw the royal treasury, and when meeting in this capacity with the royal treasurer, it was referred to as a ''junta de hacienda'' (literally, "finance board"). The crown attorney (''fiscal'') also had the right to correspond directly with the crown, especially on treasury issues and ''acuerdo'' decisions. In turn, in the viceregal capitals of Spanish America, such as Mexico and Lima, the viceroy himself served as a ''presidente'' (president) of the audiencia. Likewise the governor-captain general served in this function in the various audiencias located in the capital of a captaincy general. In both cases the president had no vote in judicial matters, unless he was a trained lawyer, and only oversaw the administration of the court. The ''audiencias'' with a viceroy or captain general in charge were referred to as ''audiencias pretoriales'' ("praetorial ''audiencias''"), or occasionally ''audiencias virreinales'' ("viceregal ''audiencias''"), in the case of the former. In the remaining audiencias, such as in Quito, where there was no viceroy or captain general, the president of the ''audiencia'' served as the main governor of the ''audiencia'' district and the region was often referred to as a "presidency," (e.g., the Presidency of Quito). The viceroy retained the right to oversee the administration of these ''audiencia'' districts, but could not interfere in judicial matters. These ''audiencias'' were referred to as ''audiencias subordinadas'' ("subordinate ''audiencias''", although this did not imply that the ''audiencias pretoriales'' had the right to hear appeals). ''Audiencia'' officials, especially the president, were subject to two forms of review. At the end of the president's term, a ''

juicio de residencia A ''juicio de residencia'' (literally, ''judgment of residence'') was a judicial procedure of Crown of Castile, Castilian law and the Laws of the Indies. It consisted of this: at the termination of a public functionary's term, his performance in o ...

'' (literally, "judgement of the period in office") was carried out, which reviewed the president's performance on the job and collected interviews many people affected by the ''audiencia's'' performance. Unscheduled inspections, called ''visitas'' (literally, "visits"), were also carried out if the crown felt it was needed. As part of the Bourbon Reforms, further limits were placed on viceroys and captains general. The office of ''regente'', a type of chief justice, was created which removed most of the administrative functions from the viceroy or captain general. Their role as ''audiencia'' president became honorary. A viceroy or captain general, as the president of the ''audiencia'', was charged by law with corresponding with the ''audiencia'' in writing, not in verbal commands. This created a record that could be checked later. ''Audiencias'' were styled, as a body, "''vuestra merced''" ("your grace", in the singular) and addressed directly as "''señores''." The size and composition of an ''audiencia'' varied over time and place. For example, the first ''audiencia'' of Mexico had four ''oidores'', one president and a ''fiscal'', or crown attorney, meeting as only one chamber overseeing both civil and criminal cases. By the 17th century it had grown to two chambers handling civil and criminal cases separately. The civil chamber had eight ''oidores'' and one ''fiscal''. The criminal chamber had four ''alcaldes del crimen'' (the chamber's equivalent of an ''oidor'') and its own ''fiscal''. In addition the ''audiencia'' had sundry other officers such as notaries, bailiffs, and the equivalent of modern

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

s. The smallest overseas ''audiencias'' had a composition similar to the early Mexican one. In their judicial function, an ''audiencia'' heard appeals from cases initially handled by justices of first instance, which could be, among others,

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

courts, corregidores, and ''alcaldes ordinarios''. (''See

Fuero (), (), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ...

''.) The ''audiencia'' also served as the court of first instance for crimes committed in the immediate jurisdiction of the city that served as the ''audiencias seat and any case involving crown officials. In criminal cases the ''audiencia'' was the court of final appeal. Only civil cases involving more than 10,000 silver pesos could be appealed to the Council of the Indies, and only then within a statute of limitation of one year. The fact that Audiencia presidents were not necessarily magistrates or lawyers, but men "clad in sword and cape", meant that they did not have any vote in court cases, and the court was not bound to submit to their authority, deferring ultimately to the crown. Thus, the authority of the president, when he was not a magistrate, was void in judicial matter and merely signed the verdicts. The Audiencias chaired by the viceroy were called viceregal Audiencias, and the chaired ones by a governor-captain general were the pretorial Audiencias. As the pretorial Audiencias were chaired by a governor-captain general, this situation caused to appear the post of president-governor of major districts, with direct rule over a province and superior control of other provinces included inside the territorial district of the Audiencia, so that they exercised functions similar to the viceroys. Thus, another administrative division appeared: while the territories in charge of a governor were the minor provinces, the juridisdiccional scope of the Audiencias constituted the major provinces. MexCity-palacio

The members (''oidores'') of the Audiencia met with the president in a committee called royal agreement (''real acuerdo''), to take measurements for the government concerning the review of bylaws, appointments of commissioners (''jueces pesquisidores''), or retention of bulls, but the advice did not correspond to the Audiencia as institution but to its members as reputable people. The decisions of the royal agreement were established in the concerted writs (''autos accordados''), nevertheless, there were matters as dispatching the issues of government, in which the Audiencia could not interfere either with the viceroy or the president-governor. This way, the control of the Audiencias over the viceroys enabled to the Crown to control the functions of government of the viceroys. While the viceregal and pretorial Audiencias were chaired by men clad in sword and cape, the presidents of the subordinated Audiencias were magistrates, so that, in the juridisdiccional scope of the subordinated Audiencias, the functions of government, Treasury and war belonged to the viceroy. Therefore, in these sections of the viceroyalties there were no governors-captains general but Audiencias, and the presidency gave them the name, for example in Charcas and

. Although there were accumulated in the same person the offices of viceroy, governor, captain general and president of the Audiencia, each of them had different jurisdictional areas. The jurisdiction of the viceregal Audiencia, whose president was the viceroy, ended face up to the jurisdiction of other Audiencias inside the same viceroyalty: as the pretorial Audiencias chaired by a governor-captain general, who had administrative, political and military authority, as the subordinated Audiencias, whose president did not have this administrative, political and military authority. Therefore, as governor, the direct administration of the province where was placed the viceregal capital belonged to the viceroy; nevertheless, with respect to the other governorates of the viceroyalty, his function was mere oversight or general inspection over the management of political affairs. The imprecision in defining the powers of the viceroy and those of the provincial governors allowed the Crown to control their officials. In the viceroyalty of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, the Audiencia of Mexico, chaired by the viceroy, ended its jurisdiction face up to the jurisdiction of other Audiencias of

(1543–1563; 1568-), of

(1583–1589; 1595-), of

(established in Compostela in 1548 and transferred in 1560 to

) and that of

(1526-). The viceroy of New Spain as governor only had jurisdiction over a more reduced governorate of New Spain, and as captain general his authority did not comprise either the captaincies of

Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...

or the New Kingdom of León, but it comprised the military command over the governorate of

, which was a territory under the jurisdiction of the Audiencia of Guadalajara, until in 1708 the captaincy general was attached to the governor of this province of Nueva Galicia. In the

viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

, the viceroy presided the Audiencia of

(1542-), and the jurisdiction of this Audiencia ended face up to the jurisdictions of the pretorial Audiencias of

(1538–1543; 1563–1717), of Santa Fe de Bogotá (1547-), of

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

(in Concepción between 1565 and 1575, and in

de Chile since 1605), and that of

(1661–1672), whose presidents were also both governors and captains general, and in addition to these Audiencias, the viceroyalty comprised the subordinated Audiencias of Charcas (La Plata; 1559-) and

(1563-).

''Audiencias'' in Italy

''Audiencias'' in the Spanish possessions in Europe included the Italian domains of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

(1564–1714) and

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

(1569–1707). In Italy, the Castilian institution of the ''audiencia'' was united with the Aragonese institution of the viceroy. The Aragonese viceroys were literally "vice-kings," and as such, had the power to administer justice and issue laws; therefore they were integrally involved in the judicial proceedings of the Italian ''audiencias''.Elliot, 165. In 1555 a

Council of Italy The Council of Italy, officially the Royal and Supreme Council of Italy (, ), was a ruling body and key part of the government of the Spanish Empire in Early Modern Europe, Europe, second only to the monarch himself. It was based in Madrid and ...

was created to oversee the viceroys and ''audiencias'' in Italy.

''Audiencias'' in Spain

''Audiencias'' in the Americas and the Philippine Islands

''Audiencias'' in Italy

References

Further reading