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A cabildo ((:kaˈβildo)) or ayuntamiento () was a Spanish colonial, and early post-colonial, administrative council which governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected; but they were considered to be representative of all land-owning heads of household (''vecinos''). The colonial cabildo was essentially the same as the one developed in medieval Castile. The cabildo was the legal representative of the municipality—and its ''vecinos''—before the Crown, therefore it was among the first institutions established by the conquistadors themselves after, or even before, taking over an area. For example, Hernán Cortés established La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz to free himself from the authority of the Governor of Cuba. The word ''cabildo'' has the same Latin root (''capitulum'') as the English word chapter, and in fact, is also the Spanish word for a cathedral chapter. Historically the term ''ayuntamiento'' was often preceded by the word ''excelentísimo'' (English: "most excellent") as a style of office, when referring to the council. This phrase is often abbreviated ''Exc.mo Ay.to'' ==Evolution of the cabildo== The Castilian cabildo has some similarities to the ancient Roman ''municipium'' and ''civitas''—especially in the use of plural administrative officers and its control of the surrounding countryside, the ''territorium''—but its evolution is a uniquely medieval development. With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the establishment of the Visigothic Kingdom, the ancient municipal government disappeared. In many areas, seeking to escape from the political instability around them, people entrusted themselves to large landholders, exchanging their service for the landholder's protection, in a process that ultimately led to feudalism. (See also, Manorialism.) In areas where the old ''territoria'' survived, the Visigothic kings appointed a single officer, called either a ''comes'' or a ''iudice'' to replace the defunct ''municipia'' or ''civitates''. After the Muslim conquest, the new rulers also appointed various judicial officers to manage the affairs of the cities. Qadis heard any cases that fell under the purview of Sharia law and ''sahibs'' oversaw the administration of the various other areas of urban life, such as the markets and the public order.〔O'Callaghan, ''A History of Medieval Spain'', 30, 61-62, 142-143.〕 The cabildo proper began its slow evolution in the process of the Reconquista. As fortified areas grew into urban centers or older cities were incorporated into the expanding Christian kingdoms of Portugal, León and Castile, kings (and sometimes local lords) granted the cities various levels of self-rule and unique sets of laws (the ''fueros'') and made them the administrative center of a large ''teminus'' or ''alfoz'', which was analogous to the ancient ''territorium''. In general, municipal governments often consisted of a council (''consejo'') open to all the property-owning adult males of the city and a nobleman appointed to represent the king and organize the defense of the city and ''terminus''. By the 13th century, these open councils proved unwieldy and were replaced by a smaller body, the cabildo or ''ayuntamiento'' consisting of set number of ''regidores'' (usually twenty-four in the largest cities) elected by the property owners in the city. These new bodies took their permanent form by the end of the 14th century. As part of the same process, a municipal council (the ''consell'') with different attributes and composition also evolved in the neighboring Kingdom of Aragon during this period.〔O'Callaghan, ''A History of Medieval Spain'', 269-271, 447, 593-596.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cabildo (council)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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