Note 86 — Chapter VI · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE GOVERNOR: GENERAL RELATIONS

According to the laws of the Indies the governor, as executive, had his own sphere in which the oidores were forbidden to interfere.86 In the light of our investigation, however, it would appear that this exclusive field was exceedingly limited, and that even it was continually subject to the encroachments of the audiencia. In the exercise of his military authority the governor was independent of the tribunal, although we shall see that on some occasions the audiencia exercised military jurisdiction in an executive capacity, and that there were times when the governor was glad to call upon the audiencia for assistance in this matter. As president of the audiencia the governor exercised considerable authority during the first half of the history of the colony, but from 1776 to 1861 his position as president was merely nominal, and at the latter date it was abolished. He was the chief administrative official of the colony, and his authority in this particular was more far-reaching than in any other. In this, however, he was limited by the acuerdo of the audiencia, which developed, as we have seen, from an advisory to a legislative function, and ultimately had the effect of limiting the governor in his hitherto exclusive field.