kingdom. Finally, he was frequently designated for special service as adelantado mayor from a higher tribunal of which he was a magistrate, and this tribunal was called the curia, or cort del rey, which was the forerunner of the royal audiencia. Cases appealed from the provincial adelantados were tried by the adelantado mayor, and from him they could be carried still higher to the tribunal just mentioned, at the head of which sat the king. The position of the adelantado mayor was that of an intermediary between the provincial and municipal judges and the king. As long as the latter had to give his personal attention to the hearing of appeals, it was imperative that some limitation should be placed on the number of cases coming before him. This was the function of the adelantado mayor. This magistrate was in reality a judge of the first royal audiencia of Castile, and his designation to try cases in the provinces was identical in character with the subsequent designation of magistrates of colonial audiencias to try cases and conduct special investigations.
This tribunal was called an audiencia because the king gave audience therein, and from it and around it developed the centralized system which was later to administer justice in Spain and in the colonies. It first exercised jurisdiction in Castile and Leon, and later in Audalucia. The king gave three days a week of his personal attention to this tribunal at first. It was the royal audiencia. The time soon arrived, however, when he could not devote so much of his time to matters of individual justice, and in proportion as this was the case did the powers and importance of the judges who composed this court increase. Ferdinand VI. and Alfonso XI. were only able to give one day a week to the audiencia, in 1307 and 1329 respectively.
The creation and growth of judicial and administrative institutions in Catalonia were parallel with those of Castile. The eleventh century saw audiencias, municipalities, and above all, a powerful nobility, but this province was independent of Castile during a period of four centuries. The audiencias of Catalonia were composed of ecclesiastical and secular judges appointed by the counts of Barcelona, and authorized by them to render sentence. Without going into further detail with regard to matters
