Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Castas in Nueva España c. 17th Century
Click image or caption
The terminology below is intended to explain the
painting with the sixteen sub-panels. Terminological
differences existed, thus several equivalent terms
existed with spelling variants. In addition to these
variants, totally different terms also existed for
the same castas. Thus the reader should be aware
that differences will be found, depending upon the
date, author, region, etc.
1
Given the times and the fact that it was not always possible
to be certain in the New World if a person's parentage was
based on 'converso' lineage, certain prejudices often emerged.
Thus, it was often felt that "Indio" was a transcription error,
possibly deliberate, for "Judio". This was especially likely
insofar as Indians were viewed as 'idolators'. (Idolators were
frequently confused with heretics, and Jews were regarded as
both idolators as well as heretics anyway.)
.
2
"Morisco/Morisca" was used in the Iberian peninsula to
designate a Muslim, forced to convert to Catholicism (raza).
Hence, when used to designate complexion (skin color, or casta),
an ambiguity was created. "A royal decree in 1700 prohibited the use
of this term [morisco] to avoid confusion with the identical Spanish
word for 'converted Moor'." See Magnus Mörner,
"Race Mixture in the History of Latin America", Little,
Brown and Company, Boston, p. 58, footnote 21.
Click for more information.
.
3
While "Chino" was often used as a simple casta label,
since Nueva España included the Phillipines, it was
sometimes also used for people who had derived from
the Phillipines or even China, especially when Chinese
were brought in to create the beginnings of a silk
industry using the support of the Jesuit galleon
trade between Manila and San Blás and Acapulco.
Also, see María Elena Martínez,
"Genealogical Fictions: Limpieza de Sangre, Religion,
and Gender in Colonial Mexico", Stanford U. P., 2008,
p. 342, footnote 97.
.
4
"Salta atrás" means a "jump backward", away from
from Spanish "blood". See Pedro Alonso O'Crouley (Sean
Galvin, trans.), "A Description of The Kingdom of New
Spain, 1774", John Howell, 1972, p. 19, footnote 2.
.
5
"Tente en el aire" means "very much in the air" or of
dubious standing. See Pedro Alonso O'Crouley (Sean
Galvin, trans.), "A Description of The Kingdom of New
Spain, 1774", John Howell, 1972, p. 19, footnote 3.
.
6
The ideology of "race" and "racism" was first developed
on the Iberian peninsula. Race was based upon two views:
"Raza" and "caste". Raza was
developed in Spain, caste was developed in Portugal.
Raza identifies biologically factors associated
with people of religions different than Christianity
(Judaism and Islam) in the blood (hence "limpieza de
sangre" or "purity of blood"): "Whereas the first
[raza] became strongly identified with descent from Jews
and Muslims ..." See María Elena Martínez,
"Genealogical Fictions Limpieza de Sangre, Religion,
and Gender in Colonial Mexico, Stanford Univ. Press,
Stanford, Calif., 2008, p. 161. Caste was
based upon skin pigmentation or "complexion". "When the
Portuguese became acquainted with the peculiar social
system of Hindu India, they used the word [caste] to
describe it and the name stuck. The semantics did not,
of course, remain the same when the word was used in the
New World." In India, a caste designated an estate or
class, while in the new World, it designated what became
a "pigmentocracy": a system of social stratification
based upon skin color. See Magnus Mörner, "Race
Mixture in the History of Latin America", Little, Brown
and Company, Boston, 1967, pp. 53-54. Also note:
"...it
apparently makes for a much more satisfying narrative
when race and racism can be given a single starting
point and a linear trajectory. Thanks to its
contribution to racism via the purity states [limpieza
de sangre] and Inquisition, early modern Spain can
finally make a claim to modernity. It was ahead of its
time in something."
See María Elena Martínez,
"Genealogical Fictions Limpieza de Sangre, Religion,
and Gender in Colonial Mexico, Stanford Univ. Press,
Stanford, Calif., 2008, p. 9.
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