''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

, who had both

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a

corregidor Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...

, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) and judge of first instance of a town. ''Alcaldes'' were elected annually, without the right to reelection for two or three years, by the ''regidores'' (council members) of the municipal council. The office of the ''alcalde'' was signified by a

staff of office A staff of office is a staff, the carrying of which often denotes an official's position, a social rank or a degree of social prestige. Apart from the #Eccleasiastical use, ecclesiastical and #Ceremonial, ceremonial usages mentioned below, ther ...

, which they were to take with them when doing their business. A woman who holds the office is termed an ''alcaldesa''. In

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 ...

(Mexico), ''alcaldes mayores'' were chief administrators in colonial-era administrative territories termed ''alcaldías mayores''; in colonial-era Peru the units were called ''corregimientos''. ''Alcalde'' was also a title given to

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

(Native American) leaders inside the Spanish missions, who performed a large variety of duties for the Franciscan missionaries.

Medieval origins

The office of the ''alcalde'' evolved during the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

as new lands were settled by the expanding kingdoms of León and Castile. As fortified settlements in the area between the

Douro The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...

and

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rivers became true urban centers, they gained, from their

feudal lords Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring societ ...

or the kings of Leon and Castile, the right to have councils. Among the rights that these councils had was to elect a municipal judge (''iudex'' in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and ''juez'' in Spanish). These judges were assisted in their duties by various assistant judges, called ''alcaldes'', whose number depended on the number of parishes the town had. The title ''alcalde'' was borrowed from the Arabic '' al qaḍi'' (قاضي), meaning "the judge." The word ''alcalde'' originally was used for simple judges, as in

Andalusian Arabic Andalusi Arabic or Andalusian Arabic () was a variety or varieties of Arabic spoken mainly from the 8th to the 15th century in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula under the Muslim rule. Arabic spread gradually over the centuries ...

. Only later was it applied to the presiding municipal magistrate. This early use continued to be reflected in its other uses, such as ''alcaldes del crimen'', the judges in the '' audiencias''; ''Alcaldes de la Casa y Corte de Su Majestad'', who formed the highest tribunal in Castile and also managed the royal court; ''alcaldes mayores'', a synonym for

; and ''alcaldes de barrio'', who were roughly the equivalent of British

parish constable A parish constable, also known as a petty constable, was a Law enforcement agency, law enforcement Police officer, officer, usually unpaid and part-time, serving a Civil parishes in England, parish. The position evolved from the ancient ''headboroug ...

s. Because of this, the municipal ''alcalde'' was often referred to as an ''alcalde ordinario''.

The classic ''cabildo'', fifteenth to nineteenth centuries

By the end of the fourteenth century the definite form of the Castilian municipal council, the ''ayuntamiento'' or '' cabildo'', had been established. The council was limited to a maximum of twenty-four members (''regidores''), who may be appointed for life by the crown, hold the office as an inherited possession or be elected by the citizens (''

vecino 'Vecino' means either " neighbour" or resident in modern Spanish. Historically in the Spanish Empire it referred instead to a householder of considerable social position in a town or a city, and was similar to "freeman" or "freeholder." Histo ...

s'') of the municipality. (Many ''cabildos'' had a mix of these different types of ''regidores''.) The number of magistrates, now definitely called ''alcaldes'', was limited to one or two, depending on the size of the city and who were elected annually by the ''regidores''. To ensure control over ''cabildos'', the Castilian monarchs often appointed a ''corregidor'', who took over the role of the presiding officer of the council. The ''cabildo'' was taken to the Americas and Philippines by the Spanish

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s. Towns and villages in the Americas with the right to a council (''villas'' and ''lugares'' in the ''Recopilación de las

Leyes de Indias The Laws of the Indies () are the Code (law), entire body of laws issued by the Crown of Castile, Spanish Crown in 1573 for the Spanish colonization of the Americas, American and the Spanish East Indies, Asian possessions of its Spanish Empire, em ...

'', 1680) had one ''alcalde''. Cities (''ciudades'') had two, which was the maximum number anywhere. Early in the conquest,

adelantado ''Adelantado'' (, , ; meaning 'advanced') was a title held by some Spain, Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th a ...

s had the right to appoint the ''alcaldes'' in the districts they settled, if they could attract the legally specified number of settlers to the area. This right could be inherited for one generation, after which the right of election returned to the municipal council.

Modern usage

In modern Spanish, the term ''alcalde'' is equivalent to a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, and is used to mean the local executive officer in

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

throughout Spain and Latin America. For example, the title ''

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' continued to be used in the Spanish-speaking American Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

after the occupation of the island during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

in 1898. In the autonomous Spanish cities of

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and

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

, however, the '' alcaldes-presidentes'' have greater powers than their peninsular colleagues. Because the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

incorporated parts of the former

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 office had some influence in the local political and legal developments of those areas and is mentioned in judicial cases. This title continued to be in use in the Southwest United States after the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

until a permanent political and judicial system could be established. Alcaldes were notorious for their support for rule of law and opposition to vigilantes. In nineteenth-century California,

Stephen Johnson Field Stephen Johnson Field (November 4, 1816 – April 9, 1899) was an American jurist. He was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from May 20, 1863, to December 1, 1897, the second longest tenure of any justice. Prior to this ap ...

, later an associate justice of the

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, once served as the only ''alcalde'' of

Marysville, California Marysville is a city and the county seat of Yuba County, California, located in the Gold Country region of Northern California. As of the 2010 United States census, the population was 12,072, reflecting a decrease of 196 from the 12,268 counte ...

, a town established in 1850 during the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

by immigrants, who temporarily used the Spanish and Mexican form of municipal government. In Texas, the position of

county judge The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civi ...

was based on that of the ''alcalde'' which had existed in the state prior to the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

. Like the ''alcaldes'' before them, county judges under the Texas Constitution wield both judicial and chief executive functions. Although in larger counties today the county judge usually functions solely as county chief executive, in smaller counties, the role of the county judge continues to have many of the combined judicial and administrative functions of the ''alcalde''. The city of

Sonoma, California Sonoma () is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma' ...

, has a tradition to name an honorary title of ''Alcalde/Alcaldesa'', to preside over ceremonial events of the city, with "mayor" being the official position of city governor. In

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

, any rural community may appoint an alcalde. The alcalde serves both judicial and administrative functions and is paid a small stipend by the government. The alcalde is responsible for managing communal land, judging disputes, and determining punishment for petty crimes. This type of local government is most commonly used by Maya communities in southern Belize.

References

Sources

*
"Alcalde"
in the '' Diccionario de la Real Academia Española''. * Corominas, Joan and José A Pascual. ''Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico'', 7 vols. Madrid, Editorial Gredos, 1981. * Haring, C. H., ''The Spanish Empire in America''. New York, Oxford University Press, 1947. * O'Callaghan, Joseph F. ''A History of Medieval Spain''. Ithaca,

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. It is currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, maki ...

, 1975. {{ISBN, 0-8014-0880-6 Arabic words and phrases Spanish words and phrases Heads of local government

Medieval origins

The classic ''cabildo'', fifteenth to nineteenth centuries

Modern usage

See also

References

Sources