“Poner rremedio porque la tierra no se acabe de perder y destruyr”. Justicia, gobierno y cultura política en la provincia del Chocó, 1591-1592

Objective: To analyze the ideas, values and attitudes about government and justice expressed by the residents of the Chocó governorate at the end of the 16th century, thus contributing to studies on political sovereignty and the functioning of royal justice in a territory apparently far from the main centers of the Hispanic Monarchy. Methodology: To investigate these political practices, we will use the residence trial that the Audiencia Court of Santafé ordered the governor Melchor Velásquez de Valdenebro to undergo between 1591 and 1592, in addition to a series of documents (letters, merit reports and criminal trials) that allow us to reveal the different confrontations between the Spaniards living in the city of Toro and the governor. Originality: Traditionally, the historiography that studies the Chocó has focused mainly on the warlike relations between the Indios and the Spanish conquerors or on the exploitation of the gold-bearing minerals. However, the political history of this region has not received sufficient attention. Conclusions: The residence trial of Melchor Velásquez de Valdenebro was an instrument of government that allowed the construction of a territory and the strengthening of royal sovereignty. That is to say, a procedure that was articulated between the gathering of information and the application of justice. Its analysis reveals the emergence of factions or partialities among the neighbors of the cities, the corrupt practices of the magistrates, the idea of good government or the moral and sexual behaviors of the inhabitants, all of which must be studied in detail to understand the conformation of a common political culture.