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Ahidalgo (/hɪˈdælɡoʊ/;[1]Spanish:[iˈðalɣo]) or afidalgo (Portuguese:[fiˈðalɣu],Galician:[fiˈðalɣʊ]) is a member of theSpanish orPortuguese nobility; the feminine forms of the terms arehidalga, inSpanish, andfidalga, inPortuguese andGalician. Legally, ahidalgo is a nobleman by blood who can pass his noble condition to his children, as opposed to someone who acquired his nobility by royal grace. In practice,hidalgos enjoyed important privileges, such as being exempt from payingtaxes, having the right to bear arms, having a coat of arms, having a separate legal and court system whereby they could only be judged by their peers, not being subject to the death sentence unless it was authorized by the king, etc.
Contrary to popular belief, hidalguía (i.e. the condition of being a hidalgo) is not a nobility rank, but rather a type of nobility. Not all hidalgos lacked nobility titles, and not all members of the titled nobility were hidalgos. For example, theKings of Spain are hidalgos, because their nobility was acquired by blood from time immemorial. In modern times, hidalgos are represented through various organizations, such as the Real Asociación de Hidalgos, the Real Cuerpo de la Nobleza de Madrid, and the orders of chivalry.
From the twelfth century, the phrasefijo d'algo (lit. son of something[2]) and its contraction,fidalgo,[3] were used in theKingdom of Castile and in theKingdom of Portugal to identify a type ofnobility. In Portugal, thecognate remainedfidalgo, which identified nobles of a similar status to ahidalgo in Spain. In theKingdom of Aragón, theinfanzón was the noble counterpart of the Castilianhidalgo. The pronunciation changes in Spanish occurred during the lateMiddle Ages, the f- sound in the word-initial position developed into a h-sound, leading to the spelling ofhidalgo[4] (seeHistory of the Spanish language) or “hijo-dalgo” in some formal contexts, etc.
In time, the term included the lower-rankinggentry, the untitled, lower stratum of the nobility who were still exempted from taxation. TheSiete Partidas (Leyes de Partidas), suggests that the wordhidalgo derives fromitálico ("italic"), a man with full Roman citizenship.[citation needed]
In the previousVisigoth monarchies, the condition of thehidalgo was that of a freeman without land wealth, but with the nobleman's rights to bear arms and to be exempt from taxation, in compensation for military service; the military obligation and the social condition remained in force by theFuero Juzgo law.[citation needed]
Thehidalguía has its origins in fighting men of theReconquista. By the tenth century the terminfanzón appears inAsturian-Leonese documents as a synonym for theSpanish andMedieval Latin termscaballero andmiles (both, "knight"). Theseinfanzones werevassals of the greatmagnates andprelates and ran their estates for them aspetty nobility. In these first centuries it was still possible to become amiles simply by being able to provide, and afford the costs of, mounted military service.[5]
Only by the mid-twelfth century did the ranks of the knights begin to be—in theory—closed by lineage. In the frontier towns that were created as the Christian kingdoms pushed into Muslim land, thecaballeros, and not the magnates who often were far away, came to dominate politics, society and cultural patronage. From their ranks were also drawn the representatives of the towns and cities when thecortes were convened by kings. It was in the twelfth century that this class, along with the upper nobility, began to be referred to ashidalgos.[5]
Hidalgos de sangre (by virtue oflineage) are "those for whom there is no memory of its origin and there is no knowledge of any document mentioning a royal grant, which obscurity is universally praised even more than those noblemen who know otherwise their origin", or in other words, animmemorial noble.[6] When challenged, ahidalgo de sangre may obtain a judicial sentence validating his nobility from theRoyal Chancillería of Valladolid or Granada, if he can prove that it has been accepted by local society and custom. In this case, the resulting legal document that verifies his nobility is called acarta ejecutoria de hidalguia (letters patent of nobility).[7][8]
To qualify as ahidalgo solariego ("ancestral hidalgo"), one had to prove that all four of one's grandparents werehidalgos.Hidalgos solariegos were regarded as the most noble and treated with the most respect.
Hidalgos de privilegio (by virtue of royal privilege) andhidalgos de Real Provision (by virtue of meritorious acts) entail a grant of nobility from His Majesty the King of Spain in his position as monarch, or from his position as protector of a militaryconfraternity orhermandad.
Hidalgo de bragueta[9] ("fly-of-the-trousers hidalgo") obtained tax exemption for having seven sons in lawful wedlock.
InAsturias,Cantabria and other regions of Spain every seven years the King ordered the creation ofpadrones ("registers") where the population was classified either ashidalgos nobles, and therefore, exempt from taxation due to their military status orpecheros (from anarchaic verb,pechar, "to pay")[10] who comprised theestado llano ("lower ranks") and were excluded from military service and had to pay taxes. Thesepadrones constitute nowadays a source of information about population genealogy and distribution as well as proof of nobility in certain cases.
On March 22, 1697,Charles II of Spain issued a royal cedula that, among other matters, extended to the indigenous nobles of the Philippines, theprincipalía, as well as to their descendants, the preeminence and honors customarily attributed to the hidalgos of Castile.[11]: 234–235 [a]
Over the years the title lost its significance, especially in Spain. Kings routinely awarded the title in exchange for personal favors. By the time of the reign of theHouse of Bourbon, over half a million people enjoyed tax exemptions, putting tremendous strain on the royal state which wasn't calling their services to arms but relied more on professional armies and costly mercenaries.
Attempts were made to reform the title and by the early nineteenth century with the forced levies to military service of all citizens byconscription without any minimum requirements of nobility or pay or loyalty by honour but bycoercion ondesertion, it had entirely disappeared, along with the social class it had originally signified and most of its centuries-old developedcode of honour in the nation's social culture.
Influenced by policies in France,hidalgos all becamepecheros (taxpayers), without the privileges of the former title, and along with all citizens were also subject to conscription. Bothestates of the realm (social classes) became combined, compulsorily contributing to the nation in service and taxes without exemption, while thetitled nobility and royalty kept their former privileges and exemptions.[12][13]
The prototypical fictionalhidalgo isDon Quixote, who was given thesobriquet 'the Ingenious Hidalgo' by his creator,Miguel de Cervantes. In the novel Cervantes has Don Quixote satirically present himself as ahidalgo de sangre and aspire to live the life of aknight-errant despite the fact that his economic position does not allow him to truly do so.[14] Don Quixote's possessions allowed to him a meager life devoted to his reading obsession, yet his concept of honour led him to emulate the knights-errant.
Thepicaresque novelLazarillo features ahidalgo so poor that he spreads breadcrumbs on his clothes, to simulate having eaten a meal.Hishidalgohonour forbids him manual work but does not provide him with subsistence.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow'sTales of a Wayside Inn includes "The Theologian's Tale" which recounts the tragedy ofHidalgo who betrays his two daughters to the Grand Inquisitor.Hidalgo himself lights the fires, then from a tower casts himself into the depths of despair.
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