Council of the Indies

This article is about the administrative body of the Spanish Empire. For the administrative body of Dutch Indonesia, see Council of the Dutch East Indies.
Royal emblem of the Council of the Indies, as on the frontispiece of the Recopilación de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias. Madrid, 1774.[1]

The Council of the Indies (Spanish: Consejo de las Indias), officially the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies (Spanish: Real y Supremo Consejo de las Indias, pronounced [reˈal i suˈpɾemo konˈsexo ðe las ˈindjas]), was the most important administrative organ of the Spanish Empire for the Americas and those territories it governed, such as the Spanish East Indies. The crown held absolute power over the Indies and the Council of the Indies was the administrative and advisory body for those overseas realms. It was established in 1524 by Charles V to administer "the Indies", Spain's name for its territories. Such an administrative entity, on the conciliar model of the Council of Castile, was created following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire in 1521, which demonstrated the importance of the Americas. Originally an itinerary council that followed Charles V, it was subsequently established as an autonomous body with legislative, executive and judicial functions by Philip II of Spain and placed in Madrid in 1561.[2]

Map of the Spanish Empire in 1598.
  Territories administered by the Council of Castile
  Territories administered by the Council of Aragon
  Territories administered by the Council of Portugal
  Territories administered by the Council of Italy
  Territories administered by the Council of the Indies
  Territories appointed to the Council of Flanders
(Spanish) Council of the Indies from Carte du Gouvernement civil de l´Espagne et de tous les Conseils Souverains, in 1719.

The Council of the Indies was abolished in 1812 by the Cortes of Cádiz, briefly restored in 1814 by Ferdinand VII, and definitively abolished in 1834 by the regency, acting on behalf of the four-year-old Isabella II.[3][4]

  1. ^ "LAS INDIAS - Spanish Indies". Hubert Herald.
  2. ^ Scott, Hamish M. (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern European History, 1350-1750: Cultures and power. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-959726-0.
  3. ^ Fernando Cervantes, "Council of the Indies" in Encyclopedia of Mexico, vol. 1, p. 36163. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997.
  4. ^ El Consejo Real de Castilla y la Ley