Note 100 — Chapter X · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE CHURCH: THE ROYAL PATRONAGE
Reading edition
The espolio of a deceased prelate was taken, according to the early laws, by an official of the royal treasury, who was designated by the president for the purpose, and who officiated under the supervision of the audiencia. The tribunal verified the autos and substantiated the proceedings of the agent.100 Whether any modifications in the manner of collecting, distributing or accounting for the funds or properties derived from these espolios were made elsewhere is not clear, but in the Philippines the abuses which arose in the settling of these ecclesiastical estates and benefices made the personal intervention of the oidores necessary on a number of occasions. By royal cédula of June 23, 1712, it was ordered that in all the audiencias of the Indies the magistrate next in rank to the senior oidor should be constituted as the