Viceroys and Archbishops of Lima....Viceroyalty, Extent....Viceroy's Titles and Privileges....Royal Audience....Cabildo....Forms of Law....Military....Religion....Inquisition....Sessions and Processes....Archbishop....Royal Patronage....Ecclesiastical Tribunals....Chapter, Cabildo Ecclesiastico....Curates....Asylum of Immunity....Minor Tribunals....Consulado....Crusade....Treasury, Accompts....Temporalidades, Protomedicato.
Lima is the metropolitan, and the richest city of South America. Under the Spanish regime it has been the residence of forty-three Viceroys, counting from Don Francisco Pizarro to the present Don Jose de la Serna, who abandoned the capital in 1821, when the patriot army entered. It also enumerates nineteen archbishops, from Don Fray Geronimo de Loaisa, who arrived in 1540, to Don Bartolome Maria de las Heras, who was compelled by General San Martin to retire in 1821.
In the list of Viceroys we find four grandees of Spain, two titled princes, one archbishop, one bishop, and three licentiates; the rest were military officers, but none of them Americans. Among the archbishops is Saint Thoribio de Mogroviejo, who was presented in 1578, and in the exercise of his ecclesiastical duties was so unremitting, that he visited his extensive diocese three times, and confirmed upwards of a million of persons, one of whom was Saint Rose of Lima. He died in 1606, and was canonized by Benedict XIII. in 1727.
The Viceroyalty of Peru formerly extended from the south confines of Mexico to those of Chile, including all the Spanish possessions in South America, and what the Spaniards call meridional America. The Viceroyalty of Santa Fe de Bogotá was separated from Peru, and established in 1718; that of Buenos Ayres in 1777.
The titles of the Viceroy of Peru were His Excellency Don ——, Viceroy and Captain-general of Peru, President of the Royal Audience, Superintendent Subdelegate of the Royal Finances, Posts and Temporalities, Director-general of the Mining Tribunal, Governor of Callao, Royal Vice-patron, &c.
As Viceroy he was the immediate representative of the King, and answerable to him alone as President of the Council of Indies, Consejo de Indias: to which tribunal all complaints and appeals were directed, as well as the residential reports. Petitions of every description were presented directed or addressed to him, for the despatch of which he was assisted by a legal adviser, called asesor general, whose written report was generally confirmed by the sub-signature of the Viceroy, but from these there was an appeal to the Royal Audience. It has been the custom of the Viceroys to appoint an hour in the morning, and another in the afternoon, for receiving personally from the hands of the petitioners papers addressed to them; but the secretary's office was always open for such documents.
In his quality of Captain-general he was charged with all political affairs, those relating to fortification, and the defence of the country by land and sea, for which purpose the whole of the military and naval departments were subject to his immediate orders; but in cases of emergency he usually called a junta de guerra, council of war. All courts martial were held by his orders, and their sentences required his confirmation before they were put in execution, but if he chose he could refer the whole to the revision of the consejo de guerra permanente, in Spain.
In the capacity of President of the Royal Audience the Viceroy assisted at the sittings whenever he pleased, and entered at any hour which he thought proper during a session. When he proposed to assist in state, he announced his intention, and a deputation of the judges attended him from his palace to the hall; on his arrival at the door the porter called aloud, the president! when all the attorneys, advocates and others met and conducted him to his chair; the judges continued standing until he was seated and nodded permission for them to resume their seats. The session being finished, all the members of the audience, regent, judges, oidores, and fiscal, accompanied him to the door of his apartment in the palace, the regent walking on his left, and the other members preceding him two and two. The presidency of the audience was merely honorary, as the president had neither a deliberative nor a consulting voice, but all sentences of the tribunal must have had his signature, which may be called the veto, before they could be put in execution. On the arrival of any new laws, royal ordinances, or schedules, the Viceroy was summoned by the tribunal to the hall of accords, sala de acuerda, where they were presented to him, and the ceremony of obedience to them performed by his kissing the King's signature and then laying the paper on his head, which act was recorded by the escribano de camara.
The Viceroy, as President of the Royal Audience made a private report annually to the King, through the Council of Indies, of the public and even of the private characters of the members of the tribunal. He could also direct secret inquiries respecting any member whose conduct might have excited suspicion.
All presidents of audiences, as well as the members, were forbidden to marry within the boundaries of their jurisdiction without the express permission of the King; they were likewise prohibited all commercial concerns, possession of personal property, becoming godfathers to infants, and even visiting any private family. The Marquis of Aviles, Viceroy of Lima, was, before his appointment, married to a native of Lima, but he was never known to visit any of her relatives; however, Abascal, Marquis de la Concordia, judging it to be a prudent and conciliatory measure to break through this restriction during the unquiet times of his government, visited different families, and attended at several public feasts, giving others in return.