Spanish Colonial Vocabulary

Royal governor for Spain

• Viceroy

• King

• Conquistador

• Hacienda

A class of Spanish-born citizens, such as bishops, general, or local governors, who help the highest positions in colonial government, church, and military and were rewarded for their loyalty to the king.    

• Peninsulares

• Criollos

• Mestizos

• Mulattoes

Upper-middle class, born in the New World to Spanish parents, and often owned land or held administrative-level jobs

• Peninsulares

• Criollos

• Mestizos

• Mulattoes

A person of mixed ancestry, descent of Native Americans and Spanish.

• Peninsulares

• Criollos

• Mestizos

• Mulattoes

Governing body communicating between the kind and his governors - located in Spain

• Council of the

  Indies

• Spanish Inquisition

• Flota System

• Presidio

High Court (judges)

• Council of the Indies

• Audiencia

• Viceroy

• Hacienda

Land grant which permitted a Spanish landowner to control and receive regular income from forced labor on farms, ranches, or mines for as long as the grant was held.

• Encomienda

• El Quinto

• Hacienda

• Mercantilism

Indians paid tribute to the Spanish through forced labor in gold and silver mines rather than goods or currency

• Encomienda

• Repartimiento

• Hacienda

• Chattel Slavery

One-fifth or royal fifth of all gold and silver mined from the New World

• El Qunito

• Cinco

• cincuenta y cinco

• Trade monopoly

A campaign started by the Pope in 1478 and carried out by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to punish those who were accused of secretly practicing the Jewish faith. The accused were presented before crowds and burned at the stake. Later, in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella ordered the expulsion or conversion (to Catholicism) of remaining Jews and Muslims

• Spanish Inquisistion

• Council of the Indies

• Export Economy

• Jesuits