Escogidas Plantas: Glossary 4/24/03 6:59 PM
Glossary
alcalde: holder of one of the major offices in the urban government; magistrate
alférez: ensign; member of the municipal government whose duty was to carry the standard on ceremonial occasions; a highly coveted office
alguacil mayor: senior municipal constable
audiencia: high court; highest resident royal governing body of Spanish America, functioning as administrative body and court of appeal; also the territory governed by the high court
auto de fe: ceremony in which the Holy Office of the Inquisition announced and/or carried out its sentences, generally though not always public
ayuntamiento: municipal government; synonymous with CABILDO
Aztec: popular name for the empire centred on the city-state TENOCHTITLAN, whose people called themselves the MEXICA
barrio: neighborhood
beata: woman who wore a religious habit, lived a religious life, and may have taken formal or informal vows, particularly concerning chastity; in English, beguine
beaterio: house in which one or more BEATAs lived, generally uncloistered; beguinage
caballería: unit of land measurement, approximately 105 acres
cabildo (or cabildo secular): municipal government; synonymous with AYUNTAMIENTO
cabildo eclesiástico: cathedral chapter or governing council of a cathedral, assisting the bishop in his duties
cacique: native leader, generally a noble or notable
capellana: nun who served a CAPELLANIA
capellanía: chaplaincy; an endowment that provided a certain yearly income in return for spiritual services
capitalinos: inhabitants of Mexico City (modern usage)
Casa de Contratación: the body established in Seville in 1503 to oversee trade and travel between Spain and America http://www.gutenberg-e.org/hoj01/print/hoj11.html Page 1 of 6 Escogidas Plantas: Glossary 4/24/03 6:59 PM
castas: Africans and those of mixed race
cédula: decree or authorization, generally royal (real cédula)
censo: lien or encumbrance on property, generally to yield annual income
clausura: cloistering
cofradía: religious brotherhood or sodality made up of laymen (and sometimes laywomen), usually to support a particular cult or festival
cofrade: member of a COFRADíA
colegialas: scholarship or charity recipients
colegio: school, generally a secondary school
comisario general (commissary general): high authority of the Franciscan order, with power over the provincials and subordinate to the superior general
costumbrismo: writing about local customs and manners; in a historian, devotion to such details; hence costumbrista
Council of the Indies: the body that governed Spanish America, resident in Seville, Spain; next to the King, the highest authority in matters American
Council of Trent: the council (1545-1563) that drafted the series of measures for the reform and rejuvenation of the Catholic Church generally known as the Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation
criada/criado: generally, dependent (from criar, "to raise,"), usually a servant
criolla/criollo: creole; that is, American-born Spaniard
crypto-Jew: individual who practices Judaism (illegal in New Spain)
de levi: lightly; a lesser abjuration than de vehementi, which connoted serious wrongdoing
depositada: a woman "deposited" for safekeeping
doctrina: (a) religious doctrine; (b) an Indian parish administered by friars
donada/donado: lay sister/brother
dowry: money or property granted to woman (usually by parents) for her support upon entering marriage or religious life
ejemplo: "example"; (a) modeling good (particularly Christian) behavior; (b) a teaching play used (especially by the Franciscans) to dramatize the importance http://www.gutenberg-e.org/hoj01/print/hoj11.html Page 2 of 6 Escogidas Plantas: Glossary 4/24/03 6:59 PM
of such behavior and promote "proper" conduct
emparedimiento: RECOGIMIENTO or BEATERIO, usually cloistered
encerramiento: enclosure or confinement; (a) the ritual of closing a newly established convent; (b) RECOGIMIENTO or BEATERIO, usually informal
encomienda: grant to Spanish settler of authority over Indians for the purpose of tribute collection and (in the early colony) labor extraction; obliged the holder to Christianize and protect the Indians
encomendero: holder of an ENCOMIENDA
escribano: scribe, notary
fiscal: adviser or legal counsel
flamenco: Flemish
flota: the regularly scheduled fleet that sailed from Spain to Vera Cruz
friar: member of a Mendicant (begging) religious order
Friars Minor: Franciscans
gachupín/gachupina: Spaniard (born in Spain); also peninsular
gente de razón: "people of reason"; generally, Spaniards
hidalgo: gentleman, petty nobleman
indígena: indigenous person (modern usage); a term acceptable in modern usage
indio: Indian, one bearing a special legal status under Spanish colonial law; generally a pejorative term in modern usage
internado: boarder
limpieza de sangre: "purity of blood"; generally, the absence of Jewish ancestry
maestra: teacher
maestrescuela: member of the CABILDO ECLESIASTICO in charge of cathedral school
mayorazgo: an entailed estate, created to prevent fragmentation of family wealth
mayordomo: majordomo or administrator, particularly in financial matters http://www.gutenberg-e.org/hoj01/print/hoj11.html Page 3 of 6 Escogidas Plantas: Glossary 4/24/03 6:59 PM
merced: "mercy"; royal grant or gift
mestizaje: race mixture; miscegenation
mestiza/mestizo: person of mixed race, generally describing a Spanish/Indian mixture
Mexica: the name used by the people who inhabited TENOCHTITLAN and ruled the "AZTEC" empire; the people known popularly as Aztecs
Moctezuma (also Motecuhzoma): tlatoani or "emperor" of the MEXICA during the conquest, known as Montezuma in English
morisca/morisco: "Moor"; person of Muslim ancestry
mulata/mulato: person of mixed African/Spanish ancestry
naturales: "natives"; when used this way, usually meaning Indians, though it was customary for Spaniards to describe themselves as "natural" of a city or region
New Spain: the Spanish colony (viceroyalty) corresponding roughly to the territory of modern Mexico, though its jurisdiction included the Philippines and parts of Central America, the Caribbean, and the modern United States of America; Mexico City was its capital
Old Christians: those without Jewish or Muslim ancestry (see LIMPIEZA DE SANGRE)
oidor: judge of the AUDIENCIA
Peru: the Spanish colony (viceroyalty) encompassing (until 1739) the entirety of Spanish South America and modern Panama
peso: monetary unit used within New Spain, though (confusingly) of different varieties
petate: straw mat
plaza mayor: the main plaza of a city
principal: native noble or notable, member of the Indian elite
procurador mayor: senior solicitor of the urban government
protomédico:in this period, offical appointed by the cabildo to oversee matters medical
provincial: governor of a religious order's province
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provisor: chief judge (in church matters) of a diocese, and assistant to the bishop
pupilas: boarding school students
recogimiento: (a) "house of penitence": a place where women were collected and enclosed to "remedy" their defects
regidor: alderman or councillor of the CABILDO
regular clergy: members of religious orders, who live according to a rule (regula)
relación: narrative; official account
religiosa: roughly, nun, but could also mean more generally "religious woman"
república de españoles: "republic of Spaniards": all non-Indians; Spaniards, Africans, and those of mixed race
república de indios: "Indian republic": Indians, particularly those living in villages and native communities
secular clergy: diocesan priests, subject to the authority of the bishop
solar: city lot
Tenochtitlan: the Mexica (Aztec) city-state that dominated Central Mexico at the time of Spanish conquest; the city that became Mexico City and was called México-Tenochtitlan for much of the sixteenth century
traza: city center, laid out on the gridiron pattern typical of Spanish America (and decreed by law)
tridentine: influenced by the decrees and/or spirit of the COUNCIL OF TRENT
vecino: citizen or resident of a city; formally, someone granted this status by the municipal council, thus generally propertied and Spanish
viceroy: the supreme representative of royal authority; an appointee resident within a viceroyalty and exercising royal power
vida: "life"; a formal biography or resumé of an individual's life
vida común: the communal life of convents in the early colonial period, in contrast to the later vida particular or private life
visita: (a) pastoral visit or inspection carried out by bishop or someone acting on his behalf; (b) royal inspection by appointed inspector, generally to investigate a specific problem; (c) church or community with a non-resident pastor http://www.gutenberg-e.org/hoj01/print/hoj11.html Page 5 of 6 Escogidas Plantas: Glossary 4/24/03 6:59 PM
visitador: inspector; one appointed to conduct a VISITA
zócalo: Mexico's plaza mayor
Escogidas Plantas: Nuns and Beatas in Mexico City, 1531-1601
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