The
Real Audiencia , or simply
Audiencia , was an
appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as
Royal Audience. The additional designation
chancillería (or
cancillería, Catalan:
cancelleria, English:
chancellery) was applied to the
appellate courts in early modern Spain. Each
audiencia had
oidores (Spanish: judges, literally, "hearers").