Note 9 — Chapter VIII · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE GOVERNOR: CONFLICTS OF JURISDICTION

It is clear that the power of the new governor was derived chiefly from his status as royal vicepatron, acting in conjunction with the archbishop. This power Vargas had formerly employed in co-operation with the audiencia, and thereby both had gained their victory over the prelate before the arrival of the new governor. Curuzaelegui used the same authority to recall Pardo; and in so doing he was probably the only governor in the history of the Islands who ever supported a prelate against the advice of the audiencia. The combination of a governor and an audiencia was much more frequent, as we shall see. The position of the governor was strengthened, also, by his commission to conduct the residencia of Vargas, and the respect which the audiencia had for him was increased by the fact that in judging the ex-governor’s misdeeds he was also authorized to hold the oidores responsible for all their official opinions and acts in acuerdo with the disgraced governor.9 Another source of the governor’s strength was to be found in the royal instructions which he carried with him to stop the quarrels previously existing in the colony. The oidores very prudently submitted to the new governor, and therefore, for a time, they were patronized by the latter, who utilized their intimate knowledge of local affairs to aid him in obtaining control of the government and familiarizing himself with it. Meanwhile he literally held the residencia over their heads.