The Royal ''Audiencia'' and ''Chancellería'' of Valladolid was a judicial body established by

Henry II of Castile Henry II (13 January 1334 – 29 May 1379), called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal (''el Fratricida''), was the first King of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara. He became king in 1369 by defeating his half-brother Peter th ...

in 1371, with jurisdiction over the entire territory of the Crown of Castile, except for the characteristics of the Hall of Justice (also called ''Mil y Quinientas'') of the Council of Castile. The building was originally called ''El Palacio de los Vivero''. It was based in the city of

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

and operated for much of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and throughout the Early Modern Ages as the highest

court of law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordan ...

in the kingdom, and was suppressed in 1834 as a result of liberal reforms. In 1494, it lost part of its jurisdiction to the newly created Real Audiencia y Chancillería de Ciudad Real, which was itself soon transferred to Granada, with the creation of the Real Chancillería de Granada in 1505.

Antecedents

Henry II established an Audiencia to administer justice at the request of 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 ...

of Toro, convened in 1371 by the king himself. The Audiencia consisted of eight ''

oidor An ''oidor'' () was a judge of the Royal ''Audiencias'' and ''Chancillerías'', originally courts of Kingdom of Castile, which became the highest organs of justice within the Spanish Empire. The term comes from the verb ''oír'', "to hear," referr ...

es'' (or ''jueces letrados'', "learned judges"), two

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

s and the chancellors of justice, who were in charge of sealing documents. (Compare with the British

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

John I of Castile John I ( es, Juan I; 24 August 1358 – 9 October 1390) was King of Castile and León from 1379 until 1390. He was the son of Henry II and of his wife Juana Manuel of Castile. Biography His first marriage, to Eleanor of Aragon on 18 June 137 ...

applied the term ''chancillería'' (a

court of last resort A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, not to be confused with a chancellery), in 1387 to these audiencias. By this time, the Valladolid Chancillería had come to consist of a governor (or regent), sixteen ''oidores'' (or " civil-case judges"), three ''alcaldes del crimen'', grouped into four civil chambers, one criminal and one for cases among

hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

s and

nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...

. The rulings of the Chancillería were irrevocable, although a very serious case could be reviewed by the

Council of Castile The Council of Castile ( es, Real y Supremo Consejo de Castilla), known earlier as the Royal Council ( es, Consejo Real), was a ruling body and key part of the domestic government of the Crown of Castile, second only to the monarch himself. It ...

Seats

During it first years, the ''Chancillería'' had a nomadic existence, just like the royal court. The Valladolid audiencia originated in the residence of the audiencia which was established in Valladolid by the Cortes of Valladolid (1442 and 1447). It was during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs,

Isabella I Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...

and Ferdinand V, that its permanent seat in Valladolid was confirmed by the 1489 Ordinances of

Medina del Campo Medina del Campo is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Part of the Province of Valladolid, it is the centre of a farming area. History Medina del Campo grew in importance thanks to its fairs ...

. Later, Isabella and Ferdinand established two districts: one north of the

Tagus River The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to ...

under the jurisdiction of the Valladolid audiencia, and one south of the river under the audiencia of Granada. After the sixteenth century, other audiencias were created to administer justice in the many territories that came under the dominion of the Crown. For a short period from 1601 to 1605, the Valladolid Audiencia sat in Medina del Campo, when the royal court moved to Valladolid. The Audiencia later moved into the Palace of the Four Towers (today the Captaincy General) in

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...

for a mere nine months between 1605 and 1606. After this, it returned to Valladolid when the royal court moved to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

. The Audiencia thereafter remained in Valladolid until 1834, when it was abolished.

Palacio de los Viveros

The official residence of the Audiencia was the Palace of the Viveros. This was originally constructed in the mid-fifteenth century as a fortified palace for Alonso Pérez de Vivero, ''Contador mayor'' ("chief treasurer") of

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...

. In one of its great halls, the ''Sala Rica'', 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 ...

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

and

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

, were married on October 19, 1469. Their marriage united the Crowns of Aragon and Castile. When it was the property of the Viveros, the palace had towers, a wall, a moat and a keep. These were torn down on the orders of the Catholic Monarchs in 1475 to avoid their use in a rebellion against the monarchy. When the Vivero family lost possession of the palace, the Crown adapted it for the Chancellería and carried out other renovations including the central cloister.

Antecedents

Seats

Palacio de los Viveros

See also