The Audiencia in the Spanish Colonies as Illustrated by the Audiencia of Manilla Open Access

Written over fifty years ago, Cunningham’s book is still a good institutional study of the Manilla audiencia. The author depends heavily on laws, official correspondence, and memorials, but is cognizant, nevertheless, of the social connections of the oidores and the strictly paper nature of some of their laws. His history of the court, its troubled beginnings, duties, and relations with the church governors is highly readable.

Literature on the audiencia in Spain’s colonies is meagre. Some work has been done recently, but is, as yet, generally unpublished. This reprint can serve well as a stopgap until the newer works are printed.