TheXunta,Xunta General,Xuntas, orCortes of the Kingdom of Galicia[1] was therepresentative assembly of theKingdom of Galicia[2] from the 1528 —when it originated as a general assembly of all the powers of the Kingdom aimed at the constitution ofhermandades (brotherhood)[3]— and until 1834, when the Kingdom and its General Assembly were officially disbanded by a Royal decree. It declared itself the supreme authority of the Kingdom from June 18, 1808, during thePeninsular War and due to the abdication of the King, and until Galicia was conquered by theNapoleonic troops in 1809.[4]
Initially theXuntas Generales del Reino de Galicia was an assembly where representatives of the three states of the Kingdom (noblemen, churchmen, and the commoners) met. But soon it followed the evolution prompted by theKing of Spain in other representative institutions, such as theCortes of Castile, so becoming monopolized by thebourgeoisie and lesser nobility (fidalgos), who controlled most of thelocal councils of the cities and towns of the Kingdom, and at the expenses of Church and nobility.[5] From 1599 the composition of the assembly became fixed and reduced to just seven deputies, each one representing one of the Kingdom provinces, and appointed by the council of the province's capital —Santiago de Compostela,A Coruña,Betanzos,Lugo,Mondoñedo,Ourense, andTui[6]— from among its members. Other towns, namelyViveiro andPontevedra, tried during the 17th and 18th century to regain a direct representative in the assembly, to no effect.[7]
TheXunta, whilst having little direct intervention in law making,[8] and not much control over the Royal administration,[9] could nevertheless raise armies, ships and taxes, conceding or denying the King's petitions on behalf of all the local powers of the Kingdom; the assembly could also petition the King himself, this being the usual mean it used for modifying or approving laws, or for promoting the interests of the Kingdom. TheXunta was also recognized as the voice and representative of the Kingdom, and the depositary of its will,[10] traditions and rights (foros).
Notwithstanding, theKing never consented on the petition of the assembly to meet at will, and from 1637 he decreed that the meetings of the assembly can only take place when in presence of one representative of the monarch, with voice, usually theGovernor-Captain General of the Kingdom, so trying to maintain a tighter grip on the institution and its agreements.[11] From the 18th century, with the advent of theabsolutistsBourbon monarchs, theXunta was gradually deprived of its powers.