The
criollos (singular:
criollo) were a social class in the caste system of the
overseas colonies established by SpainThe Spanish colonization of the Americas was the settlement and political rule over much of the western hemisphere which was initiated by the Spanish conquistadors and fought mostly by their native allies...
in the 16th century, especially in
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, comprising the locally born people of pure
SpanishSpanish people or Spaniards constitute the nationality and ethnic group of natives of Spain, a European country in the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. The Spanish nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the complex history of Spain...
ancestry.
The
criollo class ranked below that of the
peninsularesIn the colonial caste system of Spanish America, a peninsular was a Spanish-born Spaniard or mainland Spaniard residing in the New World, as opposed to a person of full Spanish descent born in the Americas ....
, the colonists born in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, but above the other castes — Amerindians,
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
n slaves, and people of mixed descent. Although, according to the Casta system, a criollo could legally have some Amerindian ancestry.
The
criollos (singular:
criollo) were a social class in the caste system of the
overseas colonies established by SpainThe Spanish colonization of the Americas was the settlement and political rule over much of the western hemisphere which was initiated by the Spanish conquistadors and fought mostly by their native allies...
in the 16th century, especially in
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, comprising the locally born people of pure
SpanishSpanish people or Spaniards constitute the nationality and ethnic group of natives of Spain, a European country in the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. The Spanish nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the complex history of Spain...
ancestry.
The
criollo class ranked below that of the
peninsularesIn the colonial caste system of Spanish America, a peninsular was a Spanish-born Spaniard or mainland Spaniard residing in the New World, as opposed to a person of full Spanish descent born in the Americas ....
, the colonists born in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, but above the other castes — Amerindians,
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
n slaves, and people of mixed descent. Although, according to the Casta system, a criollo could legally have some Amerindian ancestry. In the 18th century, changes in Spanish policies towards the colonies led to tensions between the
criollos and the
peninsulares. Criollo nationalists were among the main supporters of the
Hispanic American wars of independenceThe Spanish American wars of independence were the numerous wars against Spanish rule in Spanish America that took place during the early 19th century, from 1808 until 1829. The conflict started in 1808, with juntas established in Mexico and Montevideo in reaction to the events of the Peninsular War...
.
The term
criollo is often translated into
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
as
Creole. However, the word "creole" is also applied to many ethnic groups around the world that have no historic connection to Spain or to any colonial system. Indeed, many of those
creole peoplesThe term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kriulo, kriol, krio, kreol, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
were never a distinct socal caste, and/or were never defined by purity of descent.
Origin of the term
The word
criollo and its portuguese cognate
crioulo are believed to come from the Spanish/Portuguese verb
criar, meaning "to breed" or "to raise". The term apparently came into use in the settlements established by the Portuguese along the West African coast, and was originally meant to distinguish the members of any foreign ethnic group that were born and "raised" locally, to distingush them from those born in the group's homeland and from persons of mixed ethnic ancestry. Thus, in the Portuguese colonies of Africa,
português crioulo was a locally born person of Portuguese descent; in the Americas,
negro criollo or
negro crioulo was a locally born person of pure Black (i.e. African) ancestry; and, in Spanish colonies, an
español criollo was an ethnic Spaniard who had been on the colonies, as opposed to an
español peninsular born in Spain.
The English word "Creole" was a loan from French
créole, which in turn is believed to come from Spanish
criollo or Portuguese
crioulo.
The Spanish colonial caste system
Most Spanish colonies started with a sizable population of indigenous Amerindians, which was soon augmented by a large contingento of people with mixed Spanish-Amerindian ancestry. In the 17th or 18th century, some colonies also received large numbers of African slaves, which eventually contributed to the
racial mixMiscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups, that is, marrying, cohabiting, having sexual relations and having children with a partner from outside one's racially or ethnically defined group....
of the population.
The status
criollo, could also be legally and automatically attained by people of mixed origin with 1/8th or less of Amerindian ancestry, such as the offspring of one
castizo parent and one
peninsular or
criollo parent. This 1/8 rule however did not apply to African admixture. However, people sometimes got around these rules by bribing officials to falsify genealogical records (
probanzas de sangre, lit. "blood comprobation").
To preserve Spanish crown's power in the colonies, the Spanish colonial society was based on an elaborate
system of castes (castas)Casta is a Portuguese and Spanish term used in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mainly in Spanish America to describe as a whole the mixed-race people which appeared in the post-Conquest period...
, the degree of descent from Spanish nationals. The highest-ranking castes were the
españoles, Spaniards by birth or descent. The
penisulares comprised the persons born in Spain, while the
criollo comprised locally born people of proven unmixed Spanish ancestry, that is, the Americas-born child of two Spanish-born Spaniards or mainland Spaniards (
peninsulares), of two
criollos, or a Spaniard and a
criollo. People of mixed ancestry were classified in other castes — such as
castizoCastizo is a Spanish word with a general meaning of "pure" or "genuine". The feminine form is castiza. From this meaning it evolved other meanings, such as "typical of an area" and it was also used for one of the colonial Spanish race categories, the castas, that evolved in the seventeenth...
s,
mestizoMestizo is a Spanish and Portuguese term that was used in the Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire to refer to Latin people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in the Americas....
s,
choloCholo is a term that has been applied to individuals of mixed American Indian ancestry, or other racially mixed origin; its precise usage has varied widely in different times and places.-Historical usage:...
s,
mulatoMulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person who has both black ancestry and white ancestry. The term may be perceived as pejorative in some cultures and situations. Its current usage varies greatly.-Etymology:...
s,
indios,
zamboZambo is a Spanish term used in the Spanish Empire and today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry . The word originated from the Romance and Latin language...
s, and ultimately
black slavesThe term black people usually refers to a racial group of humans with skin colors that range from light brown to nearly black. It also has been used to categorize a number of diverse populations into a common group. Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub Saharan...
.
While the
castaCasta is a Portuguese and Spanish term used in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mainly in Spanish America to describe as a whole the mixed-race people which appeared in the post-Conquest period...
system was in force, the top ecclesiastical, military and administrative positions were reserved for crown-appointed
peninsulares, who were also favoured the
CádizCádiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Cádiz Province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
monopoly. The
criollo included most of the local land-owning elite.
Criollos and the wars of independence
Until 1760, the Spanish colonies had been ruled under laws designed by the Spanish
HabsburgThe House of Habsburg or Hapsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian and Spanish Empire and several other countries...
s, which granted the American provinces great autonomy. That situation changed by the
Bourbon ReformsThe Bourbon Reforms were a set of economic and political legislation introduced by the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon throughout the 18th century. The reforms were intended to stimulate manufacturing and technology in order to modernize Spain...
during the reign of
Charles IIICharles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to his death in 1788.Eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, Princess Elisabeth of Parma, he became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza under the name of Charles I ; later on in 1734 while Duke of Parma he conquered...
. Spain needed to extract increasing wealth from its colonies in order to support the European and global wars needed to maintain the
Spanish EmpireThe Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in world history, and one of the first global empires. It included territories and colonies in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, from the 15th century through—in the case of its African holdings—the latter portion of the 20th century...
. The crown expanded the privileges of the
penisulares, who took over many administrative offices that had been filled by
criollos. At the same time, reforms by the Catholic Church reduced the roles and privileges of the lower ranks of the clergy, who were mostly
criollos.
By the 19th century, this discriminatory policy of the Spanish crown and the example of the
American war for independenceThe American Revolution is the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America at first rejected the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and later the British monarchy itself, to become the sovereign United States of...
eventually led the
criollo to rebel against the
peninsulares. With the eventual support of the other castes, they engaged Spain in the
Mexican War of IndependenceThe Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The Mexican War of Independence movement was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought independence from Spain...
(1810–1821) and the
South American Wars of IndependenceThe Latin American Wars of Independence were the various revolutions that took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that resulted in the creation of a number of independent countries in the Latin American region. These revolutions followed the American and French Revolutions, which...
(1810–1826), which ended with the break-up of the former Spanish Empire in America into a number of independent republics.
Modern colloquial uses
The word
criollo retains its original meaning in most
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
-speaking countries in the
AmericasThe Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America...
. In some countries, however, the word
criollo has over time come to have additional meanings, such as "local" or "home grown". For instance,
comida criolla in Spanish-speaking countries refers to "local cuisine", not "cuisine of the criollos".
In some Latin American countries, the term is also used to describe people from particular regions, such as the countryside or mountain areas:
- In Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
, natives of the town of CaguasCaguas is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey....
are usually referred to as criollos; professional sports teams from that town are also usually nicknamed criollos de Caguas ("Caguas Creoles"). Caguas is located near Puerto Rico's part of the Cordillera Central mountain area.
- In Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
, locals of Argentina's interior northern and northwestern provinces are called criollos by their porteñoPorteño in Spanish is used to refer to a person who is from or lives in a port city, but it can also be used as an adjective for anything related to those port cities...
counterparts from Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital, and largest city, of Argentina, currently the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the eastern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. They are typically seen as more traditionally HispanicHispanic is a term that historically denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania . During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain....
in culture and ancestry than the melting potThe melting pot is an analogy for the way in which heterogeneous societies become more homogeneous, in which the ingredients in the pot are combined so as to develop a multi-ethnic society...
of non-Hispanic European influences that define the people and culture of Buenos Aires.
- In Perú
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
, criollo is associated with the syncretic culture of the Pacific coast, a mixture of Spanish, African, Indigenous, and even GitanoThe term gypsy was a common term used to describe Romani people or Travelers.-Etymology:The Oxford English Dictionary states that a gypsy is a...
elements. Its meaning is therefore more similar to that of "French Creole" than to the criollo of colonial times.
See also
- Latin America population
- limpieza de sangre
Limpieza de sangre , Limpeza de sangue , both meaning "cleanliness of blood" played an important role in modern Iberian history....
(literally, "cleanliness of blood")
- White Argentine
White Argentines make up 86.4% to 97% of Argentina's population. Whites are found in all areas of the country. White Argentines are mostly descendants of immigrants who came mainly from Italy and Spain in the late 19th century.-History:...
- White Brazilian
White Brazilians make up 49.7% of Brazil's population, or around 93 million people, according to the IBGE's 2006 PNAD . Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country...
- White Cuban
- White Mexican
A White Mexican is a Mexican citizen of European or Middle Eastern descent. Although Mexico does not have a racial census, some international organizations believe that Mexican people of European descent make nearly one-fifth of the country's population, or about 20 million people, thus making...
- White Hispanic
- White Latin American
White Latin Americans are the white population of Latin America. They are the descendants of 15th–to–19th century colonial-era settlers and of post-independence immigrants. Original settlers were mostly Spanish and Portuguese, but post-independence immigrants were more diverse, among them many...
- Emancipados
Emancipado was a term used for an African descended social-political demographic within the population of Spanish Guinea that existed in the early to mid 1900's...
- Fernandinos