colony · South America
Royal Audiencia of Quito
Origins
After the Spanish conquest of Quito in 1534, the region was governed from Lima. In 1563 Philip II created the Royal Audiencia of Quito, a high court with governing powers, covering the territory of modern Ecuador and parts of southern Colombia and northern Peru, within the Viceroyalty of Peru.
Rule and society
The Audiencia was headed by a president. Its economy rested on textile workshops called obrajes, which used indigenous labour to produce woollen cloth sold across the Andes, and on haciendas. Guayaquil was the main port and shipbuilding centre. Quito became renowned for the Quito School of painting and sculpture and for churches such as La Compañía. The Rebellion of the Barrios in 1765 protested new taxes.
Decline and legacy
Quito was attached to the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1739. A junta in Quito on 10 August 1809 was one of the first in Spanish America, followed by the State of Quito. Sucre's victory at Pichincha in 1822 brought Quito into Gran Colombia.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (5)
- Royal Audiencia of Quito was a colony of Spanish Empire1563 CE – 1822 CE
- Royal Audiencia of Quito was part of Viceroyalty of Peru1563 CE – 1717 CE
- Royal Audiencia of Quito was part of Viceroyalty of New Granada1739 CE – 1822 CE
- State of Quito split from Royal Audiencia of Quito1811 CE
- Free Province of Guayaquil split from Royal Audiencia of Quito1820 CE
More states of South America →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Royal Audiencia of Quito. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/royal-audiencia-of-quito
- MLA
- “Royal Audiencia of Quito.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/royal-audiencia-of-quito. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Royal Audiencia of Quito.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/royal-audiencia-of-quito.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Royal Audiencia of Quito’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/royal-audiencia-of-quito (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻