TheReal Audiencia of Cusco was the highest court of the Spanish Crown in theCusco region of theViceroyalty of Peru between 1787 and 1825. Prior to the creation of this Real Audiencia, jurisdiction over this territory was divided between theAudiencias of Charcas andLima.
Requests suggesting the creation of a Royal Audiencia for the Peruvian highlands dated back to the 17th century, and were requested to the King and theCouncil of the Indies by Jesuit clergymen and local authorities, as it had become difficult to appeal to the authorities in Lima or Charcas.
Its creation, far from being an initiative of the Spanish authorities, was a consequence of the bloodyRebellion of Túpac Amaru II (1780-1783), which led Secretary of State for the Indies,José de Gálvez, to convince King Charles III to implement its creation in order to improve the government of Peru.[1][2][3]
On 26 February 1787, by Royal Decree, King Charles III of Spain ordered the establishment of the Royal Audiencia and Chancery of Cusco.
The districts of Carabaya, Lampa, and Azángaro, belonging to theIntendancy of Puno, which had been created in 1784 within theViceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, were included within its territory. On 1 February 1796, the Intendency of Puno also came under the jurisdiction of theViceroyalty of Peru, and the districts of Paucarcolla and Chucuito, which until then had belonged to theReal Audiencia of Charcas, also came under the jurisdiction of the Audiencia of Cusco.[4]
In 1821, because GeneralJosé de San Martín had seized Lima and abolished theReal Audiencia of Lima, the unoccupiedIntendancy of Arequipa was added to the jurisdiction of the Royal Audiencia of Cuzco, remaining so until the end of the viceroyalty in 1825. After theCapitulation of Ayacucho, the members of the Royal Audiencia of Cusco, the last bastion of Cusco Royalism, appointed Marshal DonPío de Tristán as the new Viceroy of Peru. The Audiencia was definitively dissolved in 1825 after the final fall of the viceroyalty system.