Consejo de Indias

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The Consejo de Indias ("Council of the Indies"), in full the Real y Supremo Consejo de Indias ("Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies") was the most important administrative organ of the Spanish Empire, both in the Americas and in the Philippines, combining legislative, executive and judicial functions. The Crown of Castile incorporated the new territories into its domains when Queen Isabella withdrew the authority granted Columbus and the first conquistadors and established direct royal control.

The evolving structure of colonial government was not fully formed until the third quarter of the 16th century. The Consejo de Indias functioned as early as 1524, however, their Catholic Majesties designating Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca to study the problems attendant on the colonization process with Christopher Columbus. Rodríguez de Fonseca effectively became minister for the Indies and laid the foundations for the creation of a colonial bureaucracy. He presided over the Council, which contained a number of members of the Council of Castile (Consejo de Castilla) and formed a Junta de Indias of about eight counsellors that began to be called the Council of the Indies by 1524. The king was informed weekly of decisions reached by the Council, which came to exercise supreme authority over the Indies at the local level and over the Casa de Contratación at Seville. Civil suits of sufficient importance could be appealed from an audiencia in the New World to the Consejo, functioning as a court of last resort.

The terms of trade between the far-flung colonies and Seville, the port through which all trade flowed, was controlled by the existing Casa de la Contratación at Seville, which was authorized (1503) to control colonial commerce, emigration, and maritime enterprise.

Decisions by the Council and legislation for the Indies promulgated by the crown were formally codified in 1680. The Bourbon reforms enacted from 1714, with the creation of a Minister of the Indies and a Secretaría de Guerra, Marina e Indias superseded the administrative functions of the Consejo de Indias which was not definitively abolished until 1834. A separate secretariat, the Secretaria de Indias was established by Charles III

The archives of the Council, the Archivo General de Indias one of the major centers of documentation for European history, is housed in Seville.