Real Audiencia de Charcas

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The Real Audiencia de Charcas (in Spanish in full: Audiencia y Cancillería Real de La Plata de los Charcas ) was established in 1563 and was a court of law with jurisdiction over one of six judicial districts of the Viceroyalty of Peru and an institution of colonial administration (see: Real Audiencia ).

After the division of the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1776, the Real Audiencia of Charcas belonged to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata . It was dissolved with the independence of Bolivia in 1825 .

In 2011, the court 's document collection was included in the UNESCO document heritage .

The role of the Real Audiencias in the colonies

After the conquest of Central and South America ( Conquista ) by the Spaniards, King Charles V issued the “Laws on India” (Spanish: Leyes de Indias ) as well as the “New Laws” (Spanish: Leyes Nuevas ), in which he is the administration of the overseas colonies in the "Viceroyalty of New Castile" organized and regulated.

The Real Audiencias were responsible for the implementation of the laws and the support of the military governors . They fulfilled tasks in administration and finance that went far beyond that of a court according to today's understanding, especially as a separation of powers was unknown. In addition to a chairman and four judges (Spanish: Oidores ) there was a public prosecutor (Spanish: fiscal ), but also subordinate executive forces such as a bailiff (Spanish: alguacil mayor ), police forces, translators, etc.

The establishment

Immediately after the first permanent settlement by the Spaniards from 1540, today's Bolivian area was subject to direct administration and jurisdiction by the Viceroyalty of Peru . The Real Audiencia of Lima , founded at the same time as the Viceroyalty in November 1542, acted as the court of appeal . King Philip II established the Audiencia of Charcas by order of September 4, 1559 in Charcas, today's Sucre . More precise regulations can be found in documents from 1563 to 1573.

The territory of the Real Audiencia de Charcas

The area of ​​responsibility extended from Cuzco in the north to Buenos Aires (and thus also included Paraguay and Tucumán ) in the south. In the west it was bordered by the Pacific at the level of the Atacama Desert in present-day Chile , and in the east by the border with Brazil .

Foundation of the Audiencia of Buenos Aires

With the establishment of the Real Audiencia of Buenos Aires , Charcas lost responsibility for the areas on the Río de la Plata , Tucumán and Paraguay.

Reforms from 1776

Territory de la Plata from 1785

King Charles III reformed the administration of the grown colony. He created a new viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata , into which the Audiencia of Charcas was incorporated.

Internal administration was also subdivided into Intendencias . In the area of ​​the Audiencia Charcas there were four Intendencias from 1782 : La Plata, Potosí , Cochabamba and La Paz . In 1784 the Intendencia of Puno followed, which from 1796 fell under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Cuzco and thus in the viceroyalty of Peru.

War of Independence

In upper Peru, today's Bolivia , Juntas of their own were formed early on (from 1809) (cf. Bolivian War of Independence ). From then on, the Audiencia lost its executive powers and limited itself to the legal function.

In 1810, the Viceroy of the Río de la Plata was deposed and the independence movement took over. Charcas entered the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata . On August 3, 1810, the Viceroy of Peru, José Fernando Abascál y Sousa formally annexed the breakaway territory for his viceroyalty after royalist administrative officials had urged him.

With a government resolution of May 21, 1813, the Real Audiencia of Charcas was dissolved. Charcas sent envoys to the Congress of Tucumán on July 9, 1816 , who declared the independence of the provinces of the viceroyalty from Spain.

After the Battle of Yavi , the Spaniards regained a foothold in the highlands in November 1816 and re-established the Audiencia, albeit as part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

On February 22nd, 1818, the commander-in-chief of the royal army appointed General Rafael Maroto as governor of the province of La Plata and thus also president of the Real Audiencia of Charcas. During five years of independence and civil war, he retained the power until 1823 Andrés de Santa Cruz was able to recapture La Paz for the independence movement. The last president of the Audiencia was Antonio Vigil , whom Pedro Antonio Olañeta appointed in the middle of the fight against the Independence Army. With the establishment of the Court of Justice of Upper Peru (Spanish: Tribunal de Justicia del Alto Perú ) by Simón Bolívar and the independence of Bolivia on August 6, 1825, the Real Audiencia of Charcas finally ended.

Chair of the Real Audiencia de Charcas

  • Pedro Ramírez de Quiñones (1559–1572)
  • Lope Díez Aux de Armendáriz (1573–1577)
  • Antonio González (1578-1580)
  • Juan de Matienzo (1580)
  • Juan López de Cepeda (1580–1602)
  • Alonso Maldonado de Torres (1602-1610)
  • Diego de Portugal (1610-1627)
  • Martín de Egües (1627-1632)
  • Juan de Carabajal y Sande (May 1632-1635)
  • Juan de Lizárazu y Recain (March 1635–1642)
  • Dionisio Pérez Manrique de Lara, marqués de Santiago (1642–1647)
  • Francisco de Nestares Marín (1647–1656)
  • Pedro Vázquez de Velasco (1661-1670)
  • Bartolomé de Salazar (1670–1673)
  • Bartolomé González de Póveda (1673–1685)
  • Diego de Mejia (1685)
  • Francisco Domínguez (1695–1698)
  • José Boneu (1702)
  • José Antonio de la Rocha y Carranza, marqués de Villarocha (1704)
  • Francisco Pimentel y Sotomayor (1706)
  • Jorge Manrique de Lara (- 1723)
  • Gabriel Antonio Matienzo (1723-1725)
  • Francisco de Herboso y Luza (1725–1732)
  • José Francisco de Herrera (1728)
  • Ignacio Antonio de Querazyju y Mollinedo (1730)
  • José Gabriel de Jauregui y Aguirre (1738)
  • Nicolás Jiménez de Lobatón y Azaña, marqués de Rochafuerte (1746–1757)
  • Juan Francisco Pestaña y Chumacero (1757–1766)
  • Juan Martínez de Tineo (1767–1769)
  • Ambrosio de Benavídes (1769–1776)
  • Jerónimo Manuel de Ruedas (1776)
  • Agustín de Pinedo Fernández de Valdivieso (1779–1780)
  • José Ignacio Flores de Vergara y Ximénez de Cárdenas (1781–1785)
  • Vicente de Gálvez y Valenzuela (1786–1790)
  • Joaquín del Pino y Rosas Romero Negrete (1790–1797)
  • Ramón García de León y Pizarro , marqués de Casa Pizarro (1797 - July 12, 1809)
  • Vicente Nieto de las Viñas y García Sánchez de Valencia y González (September 30, 1809–1810)
  • José Pascual de Vivero y Salaverria (1816-1818)
  • Rafael Maroto e Ysern (1818-1824)
  • Pedro Antonio de Olañeta (1824-1825)
  • Antonio Vigil (1825)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Documentary Fonds of Royal Audiencia Court of La Plata (RALP). UNESCO / Memory of the World - Register, 2011, accessed December 7, 2013 .