Vecino

In the Spanish Empire, a {{lang|es|vecino}} was a person who had a house and home in a town or city and contributed to its expenses, not necessarily living nearby; or a local figure of some worth but not an aristocrat, often the encomendero holding land in the surrounding countryside with a house within a nearby city. A person with a house in a place that he contributes to can be a {{lang|es|vecino}} without living there.[http://dle.rae.es/?id=bQ7H09A Royal Spanish Academy Dictionary], "vecino", 2 and 3 {{in lang|es}}{{cite book|author=Viviana L. Grieco|title=The Politics of Giving in the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata: Donors, Lenders, Subjects, and Citizens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gg6pAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA50|date=15 March 2014|publisher=UNM Press|isbn=978-0-8263-5447-1|pages=50–51}} "[In America] vecindad became a social construction ... that granted rights. The gap between Spanish vecinos and ... outsiders widened." In the Empire the term implied a certain social status, with a meaning similar to "freeman" or "freeholder".

In 17th century Seville, a {{lang|es|vecino}} was a person who had received citizenship ({{lang|es|naturaleza de vecindad}}) from the city, and had clearly defined rights and financial obligations. A residente (resident) had permanent residence, but did not have the rights and obligations of a {{lang|es|vecino}}.{{Cite book|url=https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/137694/3/The%20spanish%20connection.pdf|title=The Spanish Connection - French and Flemish Networks in Seville (1570-1650) |last=Grailsheim|first=Eberhard|year=2016|publisher=BÖHLAU VERLAG KÖLN WEIMAR WIEN|isbn=978-3-412-22536-0|pages=74–75}}

In the American colonies a vecino was sometimes a person of relatively high status, more than just free. In the "Indies" (Indias)—the American colonies such as the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata—a {{lang|es|vecino}} had to be married, living in the location, a property-owner, and of good public reputation.[http://fundadoresdelapatria.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/aqui-reproducimos-algunas-imagenes-de.html Fundadores de la patria - BUENOS AIRES, CAPITAL DEL VIRREINATO Y LA REVOLUCION DE MAYO DE 1810] {{in lang|es}} There were military formations of {{lang|es|vecinos}}, and only {{lang|es|vecinos}} were summoned to an open cabildo (an extraordinary open meeting of the administrative council). Although many laws referred to {{lang|es|vecinos}}, and others specified qualifications of residence, property, and respectability, the term {{lang|es|vecino}} as such was in general use and not explicitly defined.

In the Viceroyalty, the status of vecino was important enough that the sons and daughters of {{lang|es|vecinos}} who did not themselves qualify were referred to as hijo de vecino (son or daughter of a {{lang|es|vecino}}), and qualified for some privileges. According to the relevant laws, the Leyes de Indias, IV, V, 8: "the sons [and daughtersIn Spanish "hijos", which translates as "sons", also includes daughters] and legitimate descendants of the residents are honoured with the title well-born sons [or daughters] from a known location [hijosdalgos de solar conocido] so that the population of that place (according to law 6 of book IV) and others of the Indies [i.e., Americas] should know them as such and as people of noble lineage, granting them all honours and privileges due to the well-born and gentlemen of Castile."Original: A los hijos y descendientes legitimos de los pobladores se los honraba con el titulo de HIJOSDALGOS DE SOLAR CONOCIDO, para que en aquella poblacion (dice la Ley 6, del Libro IV) y otras de las Indias, sean tenidas por tales y como personas de noble linaje, concediendoseles todas las honras y preminencias que deben haber y gozar los HIJOSDALGOS y CABALLEROS de Castilla.

• Medieval household

• {{Cite book|url=http://www.iberconceptos.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/DPSMI-I-bloque-CIUDADANO-VECINO.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924182653/http://www.iberconceptos.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/DPSMI-I-bloque-CIUDADANO-VECINO.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=24 September 2020|title=Diccionario político y social del mundo iberoamericano - La era de las revoluciones, 1750-1850 [Iberconceptos-I]|chapter=2: Ciudadano/vecino|author=Cristóbal Aljovin de Losada|pages=177–304 |publisher=Fundación Carolina - Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales - Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales|location=Madrid|year=2009|language=es|isbn=978-84-259-1462-1}} A detailed article about the dual relationship "ciudadano" ("citizen", i.e., "of a city" at that time)/"vecino" in Spanish America.

Category:Spanish colonization of the Americas