History of Central America, Volume 2, 1530-1800: The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 7Bancroft, Hubert Howe
History
History of Central America, Volume 2, 1530-1800: The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 7
Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Central America -- History
The share of each foot-soldier was ascertained to be five castellanos,
from which it would appear that the Spaniards lost about half their
number before arriving at Calí. The remainder of the band followed the
course of the Cauca River northward as far as the Indian province of
Umbrá, where most of them took service under one Jorge Robledo, who made
further explorations on the right bank of the Cauca in the mountainous
region which now bears the name of Antioquia.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: THE AUDIENCIA OF PANAMÁ.]
In 1533[II‑15] the audiencia real y chancillería of the city of Panamá
was established, the _personnel_ of which included a president,
four oidores, a fiscal, a relator, two secretaries, and for local
government two alcaldes and three ministers of justice. The territory
under the jurisdiction of the audiencia originally included Peru with
the exception of the port of Buenaventura, but was afterward bounded
by Costa Rica, Cartagena, and the two oceans, and was divided into
the three provinces of Castilla del Oro, Darien, and Veragua, all of
which were included under the one name of Tierra Firme. During the
administration of Pedrarias, as we have seen, an interdict was passed
forbidding lawyers and magistrates to reside in Castilla del Oro, and
the minions of the governor decided civil cases always in favor of
the party who paid the heaviest bribe. There was no appeal but to the
governor himself except in cases where the amount exceeded five hundred
pesos. A transcript of proceedings might in such cases be sent to the
audiencia of Española, which at that time held jurisdiction over the
inferior courts of Castilla del Oro. Some few years after the demise of
Pedrarias the prohibition was removed, when there fell upon the fated
land an avalanche of lawyers. "A magistrate," writes Oviedo to the
emperor, "is worse than a pestilence, for if the latter took your life
it at least left your estate intact." After the establishment of the
audiencia of Panamá certain changes were made, but they were of little
benefit to the community, for in 1537 we find the alcalde mayor holding
the threefold office of presiding judge and attorney both for plaintiff
and defendant, "passing sentence," as Oviedo says, "on him whom he least
favored."[II‑16] The government of the three provinces was in fact
little else than a legalized despotism. Complaint was sometimes made
to the emperor, but the colonists soon found that the complainant was
only made to suffer the more for his presumption. "Only that an ocean
lay between Charles and his downtrodden subjects," exclaims Vazquez,
"nineteen out of twenty would have thrown themselves at his feet to pray
for justice."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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