Council of the Indies

History

Isabella I initially gave Christopher Columbus broad powers, but revoked them in 1493, placing Indies affairs under her chaplain, Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, and establishing direct royal control. The Catholic Monarchs tasked Rodríguez de Fonseca with examining colonization issues stemming from Columbus’s tyrannical governance and mistreatment of indigenous peoples and settlers. He became the de facto minister for the Indies, building the foundations of a colonial bureaucracy. He led a committee including members of the Council of Castile, forming a Junta de Indias of about eight advisors. By 1519, Charles V was already using the name “Council of the Indies.”

The Council was officially created on August 1, 1524. The king received weekly, sometimes daily, reports on its decisions. It held supreme authority over the Indies locally and over the Casa de Contratación, founded in 1503 in Seville as a customs house. Important civil cases could be appealed from New World audiencias to the Council, which acted as the final court. Two secretaries served: one for the Viceroyalty of New Spain (including Mexico, Nueva Galicia, Guatemala, Hispaniola, Martinica, and Spanish East Indies dependencies), and one for Peru, Chile, Tierra Firme, and the New Kingdom of Granada. The Council’s name remained unchanged when the Spanish East Indies and other Pacific territories were added to the original western Indies.