Alcalde
Encyclopedia
Alcalde or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative
functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor
, the presiding officer of the Castilian
cabildo
(the municipal council) and judge of first instance of a town. Alcaldes were elected annually, without the right to reelection for two or three years, by the regidores (council members) of the municipal council. The office of the alcalde was signified by a staff of office
, which they were to take with them when doing their business.
as new lands were settled by the expanding kingdoms of León
and Castile
. As fortified settlements in the area between the Duero
and Tagus
rivers became true urban centers, they gained, from their feudal lords
or the kings of Leon and Castile, the right to have councils. Among the rights that these councils had was to elect a municipal judge (iudex in Latin
and juez in Spanish). These judges were assisted in their duties by various assistant judges, called alcaldes, whose number depended on the number of parishes the town had. The title alcalde was borrowed
from the Arabic
al-qaḍi
( قاضي,), meaning "the judge." The word alcalde originally was used for simple judges, as in Andalusian Arabic. Only later was it applied to the presiding municipal magistrate. This early use continued to be reflected in its other uses—such as in alcaldes del crimen, the judges in the audiencias; Alcaldes de la Casa y Corte de Su Majestad, who formed the highest tribunal in Castile and also managed the royal court; alcaldes mayores (a synonym
for corregidor
); and alcaldes de barrio, who were roughly the equivalent of the British parish constable
s. Because of this, the municipal alcalde was often referred to as an alcalde ordinario.
, had been established. The council was limited to a maximum of twenty-four members (regidores), who may be appointed for life by the crown, hold the office as an inherited possession or be elected by the citizens (vecino
s) of the municipality. (Many cabildos had a mix of these different types of regidores.) The number of magistrates, now definitely called alcaldes, was limited to one or two, depending on the size of the city and who were elected annually by the regidores. To ensure control over cabildos, the Castilian monarchs often appointed a corregidor, who took over the role of the presiding officer of the council. The cabildo was taken to the Americas and Philippines by the Spanish conquistador
s. Towns and villages in the Americas with the right to a council (villas and lugares in the Recompilación de las Leyes de Indias
, 1680) had one alcalde. Cities (ciudades) had two, which was the maximum number anywhere. Early in the conquest, adelantado
s had the right to appoint the alcaldes in the districts they settled, if they could attract the legally specified number of settlers to the area. This right could be inherited for one generation, after which the right of election returned to the municipal council.
, and is used to mean the local, executive officer in municipalities
throughout Spain and Latin America. In the autonomous Spanish cities of Ceuta
and Melilla
, however, their alcaldes-presidentes
have greater powers than their peninsular colleagues.
Because the United States
incorporated parts of the former Viceroyalty of New Spain, the office has had some influence in the local political and legal developments of those areas and is mentioned in judicial cases. This title continued to be in use in the Southwest United States after the Mexican American War until a permanent political and judicial system could be established. In nineteenth-century California, Stephen Johnson Field
, later an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, once served as the only alcalde of Marysville, California
, a town established in 1850 during the Gold Rush
by immigrants, who temporarily used the Spanish and Mexican form of municipal government. In Texas, the position of county judge
was based on that of the alcalde which had existed in the state prior to the Texas Revolution
. Like the alcaldes before them, county judges under the Texas Constitution wield both judicial and chief executive functions. Although in larger counties today the county judge usually functions solely as county chief executive, in smaller counties, the role of the county judge continues to have many of the combined judicial and administrative functions of the alcalde.
Administration (government)
The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "Barack Obama administration." It can also mean an executive branch agency...
functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor
Corregidor (position)
A corregidor was a local, administrative and judicial position in Spain and its empire. He was the highest authority of a Corregimiento. In the Americas a corregidor was often called an alcalde mayor. They began to be appointed in fourteenth century Castile and the institution was definitively...
, the presiding officer of the Castilian
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
cabildo
Cabildo (council)
For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...
(the municipal council) and judge of first instance of a town. Alcaldes were elected annually, without the right to reelection for two or three years, by the regidores (council members) of the municipal council. The office of the alcalde was signified by a staff of office
Staff of office
A staff of office is a staff, the carrying of which often denotes an official's position, a social rank or a degree of social prestige.Apart from the ecclesiastical and ceremonial usages mentioned below, there are less formal usages. A gold- or silver-topped cane can express social standing...
, which they were to take with them when doing their business.
Medieval origins
The office of the alcalde evolved during the ReconquistaReconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
as new lands were settled by the expanding kingdoms of León
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...
and Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
. As fortified settlements in the area between the Duero
Douro
The Douro or Duero is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto...
and Tagus
Tagus
The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...
rivers became true urban centers, they gained, from their feudal lords
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
or the kings of Leon and Castile, the right to have councils. Among the rights that these councils had was to elect a municipal judge (iudex in Latin
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...
and juez in Spanish). These judges were assisted in their duties by various assistant judges, called alcaldes, whose number depended on the number of parishes the town had. The title alcalde was borrowed
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
from the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
al-qaḍi
Qadi
Qadi is a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law appointed by the ruler of a Muslim country. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
( قاضي,), meaning "the judge." The word alcalde originally was used for simple judges, as in Andalusian Arabic. Only later was it applied to the presiding municipal magistrate. This early use continued to be reflected in its other uses—such as in alcaldes del crimen, the judges in the audiencias; Alcaldes de la Casa y Corte de Su Majestad, who formed the highest tribunal in Castile and also managed the royal court; alcaldes mayores (a synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
for corregidor
Corregidor (position)
A corregidor was a local, administrative and judicial position in Spain and its empire. He was the highest authority of a Corregimiento. In the Americas a corregidor was often called an alcalde mayor. They began to be appointed in fourteenth century Castile and the institution was definitively...
); and alcaldes de barrio, who were roughly the equivalent of the British parish constable
Parish constable
Parish constable was a law enforcement officer, usually unpaid and part-time, serving a parish. In some parishes, the position was known as "high constable", e.g. the High Constable of Holborn....
s. Because of this, the municipal alcalde was often referred to as an alcalde ordinario.
The classic cabildo, fifteenth to nineteenth centuries
By the end of the fourteenth century the definite form of the Castilian municipal council, the ayuntamiento or cabildoCabildo (council)
For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...
, had been established. The council was limited to a maximum of twenty-four members (regidores), who may be appointed for life by the crown, hold the office as an inherited possession or be elected by the citizens (vecino
Vecino
In Spanish-speaking areas, a vecino is nowadays a neighbor, or a resident of a place.In older times throughout the Spanish Empire, a person who has a house and home in a town or city and contributes to its expenses, not necessarily living near to the person referring to him; a local figure of some...
s) of the municipality. (Many cabildos had a mix of these different types of regidores.) The number of magistrates, now definitely called alcaldes, was limited to one or two, depending on the size of the city and who were elected annually by the regidores. To ensure control over cabildos, the Castilian monarchs often appointed a corregidor, who took over the role of the presiding officer of the council. The cabildo was taken to the Americas and Philippines by the Spanish conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
s. Towns and villages in the Americas with the right to a council (villas and lugares in the Recompilación de las Leyes de Indias
Laws of the Indies
The Laws of the Indies are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown for its American and Philippine possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political and economic life in these areas...
, 1680) had one alcalde. Cities (ciudades) had two, which was the maximum number anywhere. Early in the conquest, adelantado
Adelantado
Adelantado was a military title held by some Spanish conquistadores of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.Adelantados were granted directly by the Monarch the right to become governors and justices of a specific region, which they charged with conquering, in exchange for funding and organizing the...
s had the right to appoint the alcaldes in the districts they settled, if they could attract the legally specified number of settlers to the area. This right could be inherited for one generation, after which the right of election returned to the municipal council.
Modern usage
In modern Spanish, it is just the equivalent to a mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
, and is used to mean the local, executive officer in municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
throughout Spain and Latin America. In the autonomous Spanish cities of Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
and Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...
, however, their alcaldes-presidentes
Alcalde-Presidente
An Alcalde-Presidente is an Alcalde who also functions as President of a higher administrative level.Cases include:*colonial San Juan on Puerto Rico, 1879–1902; the last one succeeded himself as first 'normal' Alcalde...
have greater powers than their peninsular colleagues.
Because the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
incorporated parts of the former Viceroyalty of New Spain, the office has had some influence in the local political and legal developments of those areas and is mentioned in judicial cases. This title continued to be in use in the Southwest United States after the Mexican American War until a permanent political and judicial system could be established. In nineteenth-century California, Stephen Johnson Field
Stephen Johnson Field
Stephen Johnson Field was an American jurist. He was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court of the United States Supreme Court from May 20, 1863, to December 1, 1897...
, later an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, once served as the only alcalde of Marysville, California
Marysville, California
Marysville is the county seat of Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 12,072 at the 2010 census, down from 12,268 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, often referred to as the Yuba-Sutter Area after the two counties, Yuba and...
, a town established in 1850 during the Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
by immigrants, who temporarily used the Spanish and Mexican form of municipal government. In Texas, the position of county judge
Commissioners' Court
Commissioners' Court is the governing body of county government in several US states, including Texas and Missouri. It is similar in function to a board of county commissioners....
was based on that of the alcalde which had existed in the state prior to the Texas Revolution
Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...
. Like the alcaldes before them, county judges under the Texas Constitution wield both judicial and chief executive functions. Although in larger counties today the county judge usually functions solely as county chief executive, in smaller counties, the role of the county judge continues to have many of the combined judicial and administrative functions of the alcalde.
See also
- Presidente municipal
- MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
- Cabildo (council)Cabildo (council)For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...
- Corregidor (position)Corregidor (position)A corregidor was a local, administrative and judicial position in Spain and its empire. He was the highest authority of a Corregimiento. In the Americas a corregidor was often called an alcalde mayor. They began to be appointed in fourteenth century Castile and the institution was definitively...
Sources
- Alcalde in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.
- Corominas, Joan and José A Pascual. Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 7 vols. Madrid, Editorial Gredos, 1981. ISBN 84-249-1362-0
- Harding, C. H., The Spanish Empire in America. New York, Oxford University Press, 1947.
- O'Callaghan, Joseph F. A History of Medieval Spain. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1975. ISBN 0-8014-0880-6