Eugenio Espejo - Historical Background

Historical Background

The Royal Audiencia of Quito (or Presidency of Quito) was established as part of the Spanish State by Philip II of Spain on August 29, 1563. It was a court of the Spanish Crown with jurisdiction over certain territories of the Viceroyalty of Peru (and later the Viceroyalty of New Granada) that now constitute Ecuador and parts of Peru, Colombia and Brazil. The Royal Audiencia was created to strengthen administrative control over those territories and to rule the relations between whites and the natives. Its capital was the city of Quito.

By the 18th century, the Royal Audiencia of Quito began to have economic problems; a lack of roads led to limited communications. Obrajes—a type of textile factory—had provided jobs, but now found themselves in decline, mainly due to a crackdown on smuggled European cloths and a series of natural disasters. Obrajes were replaced by haciendas, and the dominant groups continued to exploit the indigenous population.

In the Royal Audiencia, the education situation worsened after of the expulsion of the Jesuit priests; too few learned people lived in Quito to be able to fill the void. The majority of the population neither read nor wrote well. On the other hand, the few who could enter the university were given an education which was heavily theoretical and used memorization as the primary learning technique. Scholasticism, which was in decline in these times, was still taught; and the students spent their time in metaphysical discussions. As a result, the intellectual people in Quito—most of whom were clerical—had affected manners when expressing themselves, while having no new ideas. Furthermore, in 1793 only two medical doctors were available in Quito, of which one was Espejo; the majority of people who fell ill were helped by curanderos. In Quito at the time, ethnic prejudice was common, and therefore most people considered society to be divided into estates of the realm, which differed by racial origin. Because of this, a person's dignity and honor could be damaged by racial prejudices.

A slackening of social customs occurred on all social levels; extramarital relationships and illegitimate children were common. Because poverty was on the rise—especially in the lower classes—many women were forced to find lodgings quickly, for example in convents, or die of hunger. This explained the abundance of the clergy in a small city like Quito; often men were ordained not because of a vocation but because it solved their economic problems and improved their community standing.