Colección: INTERAMER
Número: 59
Año: 1999
Autor: José Luis Romero
Título: Latin America: Its Cities and Ideas

NOTES

1. The tianguis was, originally, the trading in Indian textiles; by extension, the term came to designate the open market where such trading took place.

2. Cajón—literally “box”—refers here to little booths made of wood with room enough for one person and some merchandise.

3. Hidalguia refers to the essential condition that distinguishes noblemen —hidalgos—from the common people: honorable ancestry, manly virtues, social high rank, wealth, and the exemption from the taxes owed to the Crown by peasants and townspeople.

4. The noun indiano was coined to refer to the Spaniard who had lived in the Indies, where—proverbially—he had amassed a large fortune. With time, the indiano became the stereotype of the lesser hidalgos with great ambitions and dubious ancestry.

5. Chapetón designated during the colonial period the Spaniard newly arrived in America.

6. Criado is not the exact equivalent of servant. It designates a person who has been brought up, cared for and educated by some patron and is considered a member of his household.

7. Estancia is a Spanish American term that designates a large extension of farmland mostly devoted to cattle raising.

8. Caballero—literally, “knight”—was the term used to refer to hidalgos of well-known ancestry and considerable rank.

9. Vecino—literally, “neighbor”—is the term that designated a permanent resident of a village, town or city, that is a “citizen.”