Royal Audience of Quito
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The Royal Audience of Quito (Spanish: Audiencia Real de Quito, sometimes refered to as la Presidencia de Quito or el Reino de 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 August 29, 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) was too far away to administer its territories effectively. Thus, power was devolved to the Audiencia by the Viceroy and the audiencia was directly administered by the President of the Audiencia and his political, military, and religious officials. Initially the Audiencia de 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 de Quito returned to the Viceroyalty of Peru. In 1739, the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada was re-established and the Audiencia de 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 La Gran Colombia.
As part of Gran Colombia, the territories of Quito were divided up into districts, departments, and provinces on June 25, 1824 by La Ley de Division Territorial de la Republica de Colombia. The Audiencia de Quito was divided into 4 departments: Ecuador, Guayaquil, Azuay, and Cauca. The Departments of Ecuador, Guayaquil, and Azuay united to form the Distrito del Sur. On May 13, 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.
| Spanish Empire | ||
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Viceroyalties: New Spain · Peru · New Granada · Rio de la Plata | |
| Real Audiencias: Mexico · Guadalajara · Guatemala · Manila · Santo Domingo | ||
| Lima · Cusco · Chile · Bogota · Panama · Caracas · Quito · Buenos Aires · Charcas | ||
| Captancies General: Philippines · Cuba · Yucatán · Guatemala · Venezuela · Chile · Puerto Rico | ||
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