Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/479

451 REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION. 451 tration. Laws maj be received as indicating the chapter XXVI dispositions of the ruler, whether for good or for '— evil ; but it is in the conduct of the tribunals, that we are to read the true character of his govern- ment. It was the upright and vigilant administra- tion of these, which constituted the best claim of Ferdinand and Isabella to the gratitude of their country. To facilitate the despatch of business, it was distributed among a number of bureaus or councils, at the head of which stood the " royal council," whose authority and functions I have already noticed. ^^ In order to leave this body more leisure for its executive duties, a new audi- ence, or chancery, as it was called, was established at Vail ad olid, in 1480, whose judges were drawn from the members of the king's council. A similar tribunal was instituted, after the Moorish con- quests, in the southern division of the monarchy ; and both had supreme jurisdiction over all civil causes, which were carried up to them from the inferior audiences throughout the kingdom. ^^ The " council of the supreme " was placed over the Inquisition with a special view to the interests of the crown; an end, however, which it very imperfectly answered, as appears from its frequent collision with the royal and secular jurisdictions. ** The " council of the orders " had charge, as the 52 Ante, Part I., Chapter 6. The southern chancery, first 53 Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. opened at Ciudad Real, in 1494, 24,-20,39. — Recop. de las Leyes, was subsequently transferred by (ed. 1640,) torn. i. lib. 2, tit. 5, the sovereigns to Granada. leyes I, 2,3, 11, 12,20; tit. 7, ley 54 Ante, Parti., Chapter 7, note 1. — OrdenanQas Reales, lib. 2. 39. tit. 4.