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 List of Castilian monarchs, King of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from the House of Trastámara. He became ...

in 1371, with jurisdiction over the entire territory of 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 ...

, 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 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 ...

and operated for much of the

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

and throughout the Early Modern Ages as the highest

court of law A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

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 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 ...

, which was itself soon transferred to

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 ...

, with the creation of the Real Chancillería de Granada in 1505.

Antecedents

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

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

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

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

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

John I of Castile John I (; 24 August 1358 – 9 October 1390) was King of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1379 until 1390. He was the son of Henry II of Castile, Henry II and of his wife Juana Manuel of Castile. John ascended to the throne in 137 ...

applied the term ''chancillería'' (a

court of last resort In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. 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 hidalgos and

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

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

. Among the chambers, there was the ("chamber of Biscay"), which was an appellate court for people of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, considered born hidalgos under the law of Biscay, no matter where in the Crown of Castile they were. Since several of the Biscayans could only testify in Biscayan Basque, the chamber required the officers taking evidences to understand the language.

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 (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

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. It lies on the banks of the Zapardiel river, in the centre of t ...

. Later, Isabella and Ferdinand established two districts: one north of the Tagus River under the jurisdiction of the Valladolid audiencia, and one south of the river under the audiencia of

. 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 The Captaincy General was a division of a viceroyalty in Spanish or Portuguese colonial administration. Captaincies general were established districts that were under threat from foreign invasion or attack from indigenous peoples. Their gove ...

) in

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

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 List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

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

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

, Isabella and

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

, were married on October 19, 1469. Their marriage united the Crowns of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

and Castile. When it was the property of the Viveros, the palace had towers, a wall, a moat and a

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Audiencia and Chancilleria of Valladolid 1371 establishments in Europe 1834 disestablishments in Spain Legal history of Spain Valladolid Real Audiencias 14th-century establishments in Castile Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Valladolid History of Biscay

Antecedents

Seats

Palacio de los Viveros

See also

References