Imagining China in a Golden Age Spanish Epic

This chapter examines the unique experience of several people who appealed to Spanish courts for their freedom, and based their defense on the argument that native vassals (vasallos) of the Spanish Crown were naturally free and could not be enslaved. In every case, the Asian plaintiffs identified themselves as Indios, a term that generally denoted the indigenous people of Spain's overseas empire. These individuals availed themselves of a legal tradition that had evolved to uphold Spanish colonialism, which held that Spain had claim to the Indies because it was responsible for Christianizing and protecting those inhabitants who accepted Spanish sovereignty and paid tribute to the Crown. The chapter concludes indigenous identity in Early Modern Spain proved to be flexible and inclusive. The decrees outlawing Indians from entering the Iberian Peninsula did not specifically prohibit Chinos, and port officials were not required to monitor their comings and goings

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · China · EPIC · Geography · Literature · History · Latin American history and culture · Philippine History and Culture

• Worshipping Ancestors

  Open Access•Angélica Cabrera Torrecilla•East Asia, Latin America, and the…•2022

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