Compilation of Laws in the Spanish Indies: A Historical Overview
The Process of Law Compilation in the Spanish Indies
The increasing number of legal provisions aimed at regulating the diverse situations arising in the Indies from an early age raised the problem of their accessibility, not only in America but also within the Council of the Indies itself.
The compilation efforts of the Council of the Indies began during the reign of Philip II, prompted by the visit of Juan de Ovando to the Council of the Indies. Ovando initially created an index of the provisions and, between 1569 and 1571, wrote the first two books of his collection. This work, however, was never approved and remained unfinished at his death in 1575. A year earlier, in 1574, Alonso de Zorita, a judge of the Audiencia of Mexico, submitted a draft to the European Council, but it was rejected by the Council of the Indies because it only collected the provisions Zorita had driven in Mexico and was incomplete.
The Council sought several individuals to undertake the compilation, but none accepted. Only Diego de Encinas, an officer of the Council Secretariat, decided to take on the task, creating a cedulario (The Cedulario of Encinas). Despite his lack of preparation for a comprehensive compilation, the Council printed it in 1596 due to its usefulness.
In 1603, the lawyer Diego Zorrilla was entrusted with the work, but his project was rejected by the Council. Subsequently, the commissioners were instructed to form Villagómer Aguiar and excerpts or summaries of the laws collected by Zorrilla. From 1610, Aguiar worked alone, and the project made little progress. In 1622, the Council’s compilation efforts gained new direction with the arrival of Antonio de Leon Pinelo (1590-1660), who had been working on another European project in Peru. Pinelo joined Aguiar’s project, and although he was familiar with the works of Ovando, Zorrilla, and Solorzano, he did not appear to utilize them, nor did Aguiar. An epitome of the work was created by order of the Board, which was printed in 1628 under the title Summary of the general collection of laws India, known as Summaries of Aguiar.
In April 1680, the Council presented King Charles II with the four volumes of the New Laws of the Indies. These were enacted on May 18, 1680, giving the king’s provisions the force of law, except for ballots and Ordinances of the hearing, which repealed all previous legislation not included.
During the first third of the eighteenth century, the need to reform the Laws of the Indies arose due to increasing legislative activity. Some individuals, such as Manuel José de Ayala, produced a Cedulario Indian, collecting provisions subsequent to 1680. In 1755, a companion volume of additions was ordered, while comments began to be posted, such as those by Corral de la Torre Calvo (1665-1737), later continued by Thomas de Azua.
In 1776, the Indian Council proposed to Charles III the development of a new Code of Laws of the Indies. The king appointed a commission to form the new Code and forbade the glosses or comments made at the ECR 1680. The project was assigned to John Chrysostom Ansotegui, who made little progress. In 1780, the king ordered a Board of laws to review Ansotegui’s project, which, rather than a review, produced a new project enacted in 1792 by Charles IV. However, the Board proposed to the king to suspend the implementation of this first book, and in any case, it was enacted as a single ballot. In 1799, the Board of laws was dissolved, and the King entrusted Antonio Porcel, who had been its secretary, with the revised project. This was completed in 1803 but did not pass by the Council. Even in 1818, Ferdinand ordered the formation of a new legislation Board to continue the training of the new code, without any further action.