The Real Audiencia of Santiago de Guatemala (), simply known as the Audiencia of Guatemala or the Audiencia of Los Confines, was a ''

Real Audiencia A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' (), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional designation ''chancillería'' (or ''cancillería'', Catala ...

'' (

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 ...

) in the Imperial Spanish territory in Central America known as the

Captaincy General of Guatemala The Captaincy General of Guatemala (), also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala (), was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central America, including present-day Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras ...

(1609-1821). The Audiencia's presiding officer, the president, was the head of the government of the area. The Audiencia was initially created by decrees of November 20, 1542 and September 13, 1543, and had its seat in

Antigua Guatemala Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the Guatemalan Highlands, central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque- ...

Antecedents

The colonization of the area that became the future kingdom began in 1524. In the north, the brothers Gonzalo and

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, ''conquistador'', ''adelantado,'' governor and Captaincy General of Guatemala, captain general of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the c ...

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

and others headed various expeditions into present-day Guatemala and Honduras. In the south, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, acting under the auspices of Pedrarias Dávila in

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 ...

, moved into what is today Nicaragua. The capital of Guatemala moved several times in the first decade of its existence. In 1540 the city of

Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala ("St. James of the Knights of Guatemala") was the name given to the capital city of the Spanish colonial Captaincy General of Guatemala in Central America. It is located in present-day Antigua Guatemala. H ...

was founded after Tecpán Guatemala was abandoned due to its vulnerability to attack. However, the second settlement was destroyed in 1542 by a flood, and the new capital of

was founded to replace the old capital. Although the city of Antigua Guatemala became one of the richest of the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

capitals in the subsequent centuries, this city was in turn ordered abandoned in 1776, after a series of earthquakes destroyed it. The third capital was the modern-day

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

. In 1543 establishment of the Audiencia defined the territory of the kingdom, which included most of Central America. It was the first institution to define Central America (with the exception of Panama) as a region within the Spanish Empire.

Initial creation

An Audiencia of Los Confines of Guatemala and Nicaragua was created by a royal decree of November 20, 1542, which also established the Audiencia of Lima. The new ''audiencias'' divided the territory of the abolished Royal Audiencia of Panama. The

governorate A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions ...

s of Guatemala, Honduras, Chiapas and Nicaragua, which existed at the time of the decree, were abolished, but some were later restored and new ones created: Honduras in 1552,

Soconusco Soconusco is a region in the southwest corner of the state of Chiapas in southeastern Mexico along its border with Guatemala. It is a narrow strip of land wedged between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is the sout ...

in 1561, Nicaragua in 1565 and Costa Rica in 1574. The September 13, 1543, decree ordered that the new Audiencia move to Valladolid de Comayagua and that the province 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. ...

be added to its district, but this was not accomplished until 1550. The Audiencia provisionally moved to Gracias a Dios on May 16, 1544, until the royal decrees of October 25, 1548 and June 1, 1549, ordered its return to Santiago de Guatemala. A royal decree of July 7, 1550, reiterated that Yucatán be separated from the Audiencia of Mexico and incorporated into the one of Guatemala. Finally a decree of January 20, 1553, transferred the province of Soconusco to the Guatemala Audiencia.

Move to Panama

On September 8, 1563, Philip II decreed that the Audiencia move to Panama, abolishing a separate ''audiencia'' for Guatemala. The borders of the new Panama Audiencia were in east, the coast from the Darién River to the

Ulúa River The Ulúa River (, ) is a river in western Honduras. It rises in the central mountainous area of the country close to La Paz and runs approximately due northwards to the east end of the Gulf of Honduras at . En route, it is joined by the Sula ...

; and in the west, the coast from Buenaventura to the

Gulf of Fonseca The Gulf of Fonseca (; ), a part of the Pacific Ocean, is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The waters of the gulf are shared among all three countries. History Fonseca Bay was discovered by European ...

. The rest of the territories of the former Audiencia of Guatemala were transferred to the Audiencia of Mexico.

Return to Guatemala

On January 15, 1568, a decree reestablished the Audiencia of Guatemala with the same jurisdiction as in 1563, but without Yucatán, which became a permanent territory of the Audiencia of Mexico until the beginning of the 19th century. A royal decree of January 25, 1569, transferred once again the governorate of Soconusco from the Audiencia of Mexico to the one of Guatemala. Law VI (Audiencia y Chancillería Real de Santiago de Guatemala en la Nueva España) of Title XV (De las Audiencias y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias) of Book II of the ''Recopilación de Leyes de las Indias'' of 1680—which compiles the decrees of September 13, 1543; August 6, 1556; September 16, 1560; May 31 and June 18, 1568; November 10, 1593; and August 7, 1596—describes the borders, make up and functions of the ''Audiencia''.

In the City of Santiago de los Caballeros of the Province of Guatemala shall reside another Royal Audiencia and Chancery of ours, with a president, governor and captain general; five '' oidores'', who shall also be judges of criminal cases 'alcaldes del crimen'' a crown attorney 'fiscal'' a bailiff 'alguacil mayor'' a lieutenant of the Gran Chancellor; and the other necessary ministers and officials, and which shall have for district the said province of Guatemala; and those of Nicaragua, Chiapas, Higueras, Cabo de Honduras, Verapaz and Soconusco with the Islas de la Costa; bordering its district in the east with the Audiencia of Tierrafirme, in the west with the one of New Galicia, and in the north with it and the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, and in the south with the South Sea. And we order that the governor and captain general of said provinces and the president of the Royal Audiencia of these, have, use and exercise by himself the government of that land and all its district, in the same manner as does our viceroy of New Spain and determine the ''
repartimiento The ''Repartimiento'' () (Spanish, "distribution, partition, or division") was a colonial labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America and the Philippines. In concept, it was similar to other tribute-labor systems, such a ...
s'' of Indians and appoint other offices, as said Royal Audiencia used to do, and that the ''oidores'' do not interfere with these matters, nor that said president interfere in matters of justice and that he sign with the ''oidores'' that which they sentence and decree.

Later developments

As part of the Bourbon Reforms in 1786 the crown established a series of intendancies in the area, which replaced most of the older '' corregimientos''. The intendants were granted broad fiscal powers and were charged with promoting the local economy. The new intendancies were

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

(El Salvador), Ciudad Real (Chiapas), Comayagua (Honduras), and León (Nicaragua). The Audiencia president and governor-captain general of Guatemala became the ''superintendente general'' of the territory and functioned as de facto intendant of Guatemala proper. The agricultural, southern region of Costa Rica remained under a civil and military governor with fiscal oversight of only military expenses; the expenses of the civil government were handled by the intendant of León. These intendancies helped shape local political identity and provided the basis of the future nations of Central America.

Antecedents

Initial creation

Move to Panama

Return to Guatemala

Later developments

References

See also