Royal Audience of Quito
Encyclopedia
The Royal Audience of Quito was an administrative unit in the Spanish Empire which had political, military, and religious jurisdiction over territories that today include Ecuador
, parts of northern Peru
, parts of southern Colombia
and parts of northern Brazil
. It was created by Royal Decree on 29 August 1563 by Philip II of Spain
in the city of Guadalajara
(Law X of Title XV of Book II of the Recopilación de Leyes de Indias). It ended in 1822 with the incorporation of the area into the Republic of [Gran] Colombia
, which had been established in 1819.
The Audiencia was effectively autonomous because the Viceroyal government (to which the Audiencia was technically subordinate in political matters) was too far away to administer its territories effectively. Thus, power was devolved to the Audiencia by the Viceroy and the audiencia territory was directly administered by the President of the Audiencia and the political, military, and religious officials underneath him. Initially the Audiencia of Quito formed part of the Viceroyalty of Peru (1563 - 1717) and (1723 - 1739). Later the Audiencia was part of a newly created Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada (1717 - 1723). This Viceroyalty was temporarily suppressed by the King of Spain in 1723 and the Audiencia of Quito returned to the Viceroyalty of Peru
. In 1739, the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada was re-established and the Audiencia of Quito was returned to it until it declared itself independent from Spain in 1822. Ecuador joined the territories of what is today Venezuela
, Colombia
and Panama
to form the Republic of Colombia
.
, waiting to be discovered. Dr. Eduardo Estrella Aguirre was in the Archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Madrid Spain in 1985 where In the documentary of the "Division IV" corresponding to the expedition of Ruiz and Pavon in Peru and Chile, Eduardo Estrella found a lot of descriptions of plants whose origin corresponded to places belonging to the Royal Audience of Quito. Dr. Eduardo Estrella Aguirre also founded the Ecuador National Museum of Medicine
.
This was a job that took over three years of almost non stop work in the archives before Dr. Estrella to uncover the mystery. The folios were numbered and contained the mysterious initials FH and differed from others that did not correspond to the flora of the Royal Court, and had the initials FP Still nothing was clear, but there was sufficient evidence to consider that was the trail of something important and this let to the publishing of the Flora Huayaquilensis
and after 200 years, Dr. Eduardo Estrella
finally published the hard work and giving the credit to the expedition of Juan Tafalla.
As part of Gran Colombia
, the territories of Quito were divided up into districts, departments, and provinces on 25 June 1824 by La Ley de Division Territorial de la Republica de Colombia. The Audiencia de Quito was divided into 4 departments: Ecuador Department
, Guayaquil Department
, Azuay Department
, and Cauca Department
. The departments of Ecuador, Guayaquil, and Azuay united to form the Distrito del Sur. On 13 May 1830 the departments of Ecuador, Guayaquil, and Azuay separated from La Gran Colombia to form a new nation called Ecuador with Juan José Flores
as its first president, who tried to incorporate the Department of Cauca, but to no avail.
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, parts of northern Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, parts of southern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and parts of northern Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. It was created by Royal Decree on 29 August 1563 by Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
in the city of Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Spain
Guadalajara is a city and municipality in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain, and in the natural region of La Alcarria. It is the capital of the province of Guadalajara. It is located roughly 60 km northeast of Madrid on the Henares River, and has a population of 83,789...
(Law X of Title XV of Book II of the Recopilación de Leyes de Indias). It ended in 1822 with the incorporation of the area into the Republic of [Gran] Colombia
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...
, which had been established in 1819.
Structure
The 1563 decree established its structure and district:In the City of San Francisco of El QuitoQuitoSan Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
, in Peru, shall reside another Royal Audiencia and Chancellery of ours, with a president; four judges of civil casesPrivate lawPrivate law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...
[oidores], who will also be judges of criminal casesCriminal lawCriminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
[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 Province of Quito, and along the coast towards the Ciudad de los ReyesLimaLima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
[Lima] to the Port of PaitaPaitaPaita is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Paita Province which is in the Piura Region. It is a leading seaport in that region...
, exclusive; and inland towards PiuraPiuraPiura is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. The population is 377,496.It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro founded the third Spanish city in South America and first in Peru, San Miguel de Piura, in July 1532...
, CajamarcaCajamarcaCajamarca may refer to:Colombia*Cajamarca, Tolima a town and municipality in Tolima DepartmentPeru* Cajamarca, city in Peru.* Cajamarca District, district in the Cajamarca province.* Cajamarca Province, province in the Cajamarca region....
, ChachapoyasChachapoyas, PeruIn this part of Peru, located in the eyebrow of the jungle, the climate is subtropical highland, described by the Köppen climate classification as Cwb, with an average temperature of 18 °C and an average relative humidity of 74 percent. However, in some areas the temperature can drop to 2 °C....
, MoyobambaMoyobambaMoyobamba is the capital city of the San Martín Region in northern Peru. Called "Santiago of eight valleys of Moyobamba" or "Maynas capital". There are 70,000 inhabitants, according to the 2009 census. Some 3,500 species of orchids are native to the area, which has led to the city's nickname of...
and MotilonesHuallaga RiverThe Huallaga River is a tributary of the Marañón River, part of the Amazon Basin. Old names for this river include Guallaga and Rio de los Motilones. The Huallaga is born on the slopes of the Andes in central Peru and joins the Marañón before the latter reaches the Ucayali River to form the Amazon....
, exclusive, including towards the aforesaid part the towns of JaénJaén, PeruThe city of Jaén is the capital of the Jaén Province in the Cajamarca Region of Peru. At an altitude of 740 meters above sea level it is considered part of the northern Sierra region of Peru. It has a warm and humid climate. Temperatures fluctuate between 15 and 33 degrees Celsius. Rice is the main...
, Valladolid, LojaLoja, EcuadorLoja is the capital of Ecuador's Loja Province. It is located in the Cuxibamba valley in the south of the country, sharing borders with the provinces of Zamora-Chinchipe and El Oro, and with Peru in the south...
, ZamoraZamora, EcuadorZamora is a city in southeastern Ecuador, capital of Zamora-Chinchipe province and cantonal head of Zamora Canton.Zamora is the second populous city in Zamora-Chinchipe after Yantzaza...
, CuencaCuenca, EcuadorCuenca is the capital of the Azuay Province. It is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about 2500 m above sea level...
, La Zarza and GuayaquilGuayaquilGuayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...
, with the rest of the towns, which are in their districts or will be founded [in them]; and towards the towns of La CanelaLa CanelaLa Canela, the Valley of Cinnamon, is a legendary location in South America. As with El Dorado, its legend grew out of expectations aroused by the voyage of Columbus...
and QuijosQuijos-QuichuaThe Quijos-Quichua are a Lowland Quechua people, living in the basins of the Napo, Aguarico, San Miguel, and Putumayo river basins of Ecuador and Peru....
, it should include said towns and the rest that shall be discovered; and along the coast towards PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, until the Port of BuenaventuraBuenaventura, ColombiaBuenaventura is a port city and municipality located in the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia . Buenaventura is the main port of Colombia in the Pacific Ocean....
, inclusive; and inland to PastoPastoPasto, officially San Juan de Pasto, is the capital of the department of Nariño, located in southwest Colombia. The city is located in the "Atriz Valley", on the Andes cordillera, at the foot of the Galeras volcano, at an altitude of 8,290 feet above sea level...
, PopayánPopayánPopayán is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between Colombia's Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range...
, CaliSantiago de CaliSantiago de Cali , simply referred to as Cali, is a city in western Colombia and the capital of the Valle del Cauca Department. With a population of 2.5 million, Cali is the third largest city in the country. It has one of the fastest growing economies and infrastructure in the country because...
, BugaBuga, Valle del CaucaBuga formally Guadalajara de Buga is a city and municipality in the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia. It is famous for its Basilica del Señor de los Milagros, which houses an image of Christ called El Señor de los Milagros .-History:Guadalajara de Buga is one of the oldest cities in...
, Chapanchinca and Guarchicona; because the rest of the places of the Government (Gobernación) of Popayan are of the Audiencia of the New Kingdom of GranadaNew Kingdom of GranadaThe New Kingdom of Granada was the name given to a group of 16th century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Audiencia of Bogotá, an area corresponding mainly to modern day Colombia and parts of Venezuela. Originally part of the Viceroyalty of...
, with which, and with the one of TierrafirmeTierra FirmaTierra Firma served in Spanish colonial times as the name of the Isthmus of Panama, which was a province of New Granada....
[Panama], it shall share a border on the north; and with the one of Los Reyes in the south; having for its western border the South SeaPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
[Pacific Ocean] and eastern the provinces still not yet pacified nor discovered.
The Audiencia was effectively autonomous because the Viceroyal government (to which the Audiencia was technically subordinate in political matters) was too far away to administer its territories effectively. Thus, power was devolved to the Audiencia by the Viceroy and the audiencia territory was directly administered by the President of the Audiencia and the political, military, and religious officials underneath him. Initially the Audiencia of Quito formed part of the Viceroyalty of Peru (1563 - 1717) and (1723 - 1739). Later the Audiencia was part of a newly created Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada (1717 - 1723). This Viceroyalty was temporarily suppressed by the King of Spain in 1723 and the Audiencia of Quito returned to the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
. In 1739, the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada was re-established and the Audiencia of Quito was returned to it until it declared itself independent from Spain in 1822. Ecuador joined the territories of what is today Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
to form the Republic of Colombia
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...
.
Royal Audience of Quito, The Botanical Expedition of Juan Tafalla 1799-1808
Flora Huayaquilensis a book that details one of the first expeditions to South America that documents plants was done by Juan Tafalla who was under the direction of the Royal Audiencia of Quito. The works were never published during the life of Juan Tafalla but instead, all his materials and paintings were in the Archives of the Royal Botanical Gardens of MadridReal Jardín Botánico de Madrid
The is an botanical garden located at , next to the Prado Museum in Madrid ....
, waiting to be discovered. Dr. Eduardo Estrella Aguirre was in the Archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Madrid Spain in 1985 where In the documentary of the "Division IV" corresponding to the expedition of Ruiz and Pavon in Peru and Chile, Eduardo Estrella found a lot of descriptions of plants whose origin corresponded to places belonging to the Royal Audience of Quito. Dr. Eduardo Estrella Aguirre also founded the Ecuador National Museum of Medicine
Ecuador National Museum of Medicine
The Ecuador National Museum of Medicine is located in Calle Sodiro y Valparaiso, Quito, Ecuador.- The mission of the Museum of Medicine :Dr. Eduardo Estrella founded Ecuador's National Museum of Medicine on the 5th of March, 1982. The mission of Dr...
.
This was a job that took over three years of almost non stop work in the archives before Dr. Estrella to uncover the mystery. The folios were numbered and contained the mysterious initials FH and differed from others that did not correspond to the flora of the Royal Court, and had the initials FP Still nothing was clear, but there was sufficient evidence to consider that was the trail of something important and this let to the publishing of the Flora Huayaquilensis
Flora Huayaquilensis
Flora Huayaquilensis is the popular name for the body of work produced by the botanist Juan José Tafalla during his time in South America.Juan José Tafalla Navascués made one of the first expeditions to South America by a Spaniard that documented plants of South America. His unpublished works had...
and after 200 years, Dr. Eduardo Estrella
Eduardo Estrella Aguirre
Eduardo Estrella Aguirre was an Ecuadorian doctor and researcher who published Flora Huayaquilensis: The Botanical Expedition of Juan Tafalla 1799-1808....
finally published the hard work and giving the credit to the expedition of Juan Tafalla.
Independence
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...
, the territories of Quito were divided up into districts, departments, and provinces on 25 June 1824 by La Ley de Division Territorial de la Republica de Colombia. The Audiencia de Quito was divided into 4 departments: Ecuador Department
Ecuador Department
Ecuador Department was one of the departments of Gran Colombia.It had borders to:* Azuay Department in the South.* Guayaquil Department in the West.- Subdivisions :3 provincias y 15 cantones:...
, Guayaquil Department
Guayaquil Department
Guayaquil Department was one of the departments of Gran Colombia.It bordered* Ecuador Department in the East* Azuay Department in the South* Pacific Ocean in the West- Subdivisions :2 provincias y 9 cantones:...
, Azuay Department
Azuay Department
Azuay Department was created with the 1824 reform of the subdivisions of Gran Colombia.* Cuenca Province - Capital: Cuenca. Cantons: Cuenca, Cañar, Gualaseo y Girón.* Loja Province - Capital: Loja. Cantons: Loja, Catacocha, Cariamanga y Zaruma....
, and Cauca Department
Cauca Department
Cauca is a Department of Colombia. Located in the south-western part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department to the northeast, Huila Department to the east and the Nariño Department to the south, covering a total area of...
. The departments of Ecuador, Guayaquil, and Azuay united to form the Distrito del Sur. On 13 May 1830 the departments of Ecuador, Guayaquil, and Azuay separated from La Gran Colombia to form a new nation called Ecuador with Juan José Flores
Juan José Flores
Juan José Flores y Aramburu was a Venezuelan military general who became Supreme Chief, and later the first President of the new Republic of Ecuador. He later served two more terms from 1839 to 1843 and from 1843 to 1845, and is often referred to as "The founder of the Republic".-Biography:Flores...
as its first president, who tried to incorporate the Department of Cauca, but to no avail.