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| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Spain (Castile and Leon,Castile–La Mancha,Community of Madrid) | |
| Languages | |
| Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyLatin Catholicism[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherSpaniards (Leonese,Extremadurans,Andalusians) Cagots |
Castilians (Spanish:castellanos) are the inhabitants of the historical region ofCastile in centralSpain. However, the boundaries of the region are disputed.
Not all people in the regions of the medievalKingdom of Castile orCrown of Castile think of themselves as Castilian. For that reason, the exact limits of what isCastilian today are disputed. The western parts ofCastile and León (that is, theRegion of León) andCantabria,La Rioja, theCommunity of Madrid andLa Mancha are often also included in the definition, but that is controversial for historical reasons and for the strong sense of unique cultural identity of those regions. TheProvince of Albacete andCiudad Real are also often included. As an ethnicity, Castilians are most commonly associated with the sparsely-populated innerplateau of the Iberian peninsula, which is split into two by theSistema Central mountain range in northern or 'Old Castile' and southern or 'New Castile'.
During theReconquista and other conquests in the Middle Ages, the Kingdom of Castile (laterCrown of Castile) spread over a large part of the Iberian Peninsula, especially towards the southernSpanish regions. Starting from the late 15th century, theSpanish colonization of the Americas led to the spread of Castilians over theNew World, and they brought not only their language but also elements of their culture and traditions.
Castilian (castellano), that is,Spanish, is the native language of the Castilians. Its origin is traditionally ascribed to an area south of theCordillera Cantábrica, including the upperEbro valley, in northern Spain, around the 8th and 9th centuries; however, the first written standard was developed in the 13th century in the southern city ofToledo. It is descended from theVulgar Latin of theRoman Empire, withArabic influences, and perhapsBasque as well. During theReconquista in the Middle Ages, it was brought to the south of Spain where it replaced the languages that were spoken in the formerMoorish controlled zones, such as the local form of relatedLatin dialects now referred to asMozarabic, and theArabic that had been introduced by the Muslims. In this process Castilian absorbed many traits from these languages, some of which continue to be used today. Outside of Spain and a few Latin American countries, Castilian is now usually referred to asSpanish.
The language was brought to theNew World by CastilianConquistadors during theSpanish colonization of the Americas. Due to this gradual process, theHispanophone world was created. As Castilian was the language of the Crown, it became the official language of all of Spain, used side by side with other languages in their regions for centuries. During the years of theFrancoist State (1939 to 1975), there was an attempt to suppress the regional languages in favour of Castilian as the sole official language, causing a backlash against the use of Castilian in some regions after his death.
In Spanish, the wordcastellano (Castilian) is often used to refer to the Spanish language, alongsideespañol (Spanish). (SeeNames given to the Spanish language.)
Castilian identity and culture is strongly connected toRoman Catholicism. It is the religion of the overwhelming majority of Castilians as a result of the settlement of Christian populations and forced assimilation of religious minorities (particularly Judaism and Islam) prior and during theSpanish Inquisition. The presence in the region of minority religions such as Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, Islam or Judaism are the result of recent conversions or immigration.
