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FOUNDATION OF THE AUDIENCIA
OF MANILA

Don Phelipe, by the grace of God, king of Castile, of Leon, of Aragon, of the two Sicilias, of Ihm, of Portugal, of Navarra, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mallorcas, of Sevilla, of Çerdeña, of Cordoba, of Corcega, of Murcia, of Jaen, of the Algarves, of Algeçira, of Gibraltar, of the islands of Canaria, of the eastern and western Yndias islands, and the Tierra Firme of the great ocean; archduke of Austria; duke of Borgoña, of Brabante, and Milan; count of Absburg, of Flandes, of Tirol, and of Barcelona; lord of Vizcaya and of Molina; etc. Whereas, in the interests of good government and the administration of our justice, we have accorded the establishment in the city of Manila of the island of Luçon of one of our royal audiencias and chancillerias,[1] in which there shall be a president, three auditors, a fiscal, and the necessary officials; and whereas we have granted that this Audiencia shall have the same authority and preëminence as each

  1. There were only two chancillerias in Spain—those at Valladolid and Granada; they were originally one tribunal, which followed the royal court. They had cognizance of cases on appeal, cases of nobility, and cases regarding the inheritance of entailed property. These courts were abolished by the Constitution of 1812 and subsequent legislative enactments.—A. P. Cushing.