AFRO-SPANISH MARRIAGES IN THE PARISH OF SANTA VERACRUZ, 
                           MEXICO CITY 1646-1747 

                             by Edgar F. Love

(originally published in "Journal of the Afro-American Historical and 
Genealogical Society")

The parish marriage records of colonial Mexico provide the genealogist with 
an extremely valuable source of information about the blacks of Mexico.  In 
the parish of Santa Veracruz, located in the heart of downtown Mexico City, 
marriage records, for example, date back to 1568.  Many Americans are 
unaware of the fact that there was a black population in colonial Mexico.  
It is estimated that more thqan 200,000 slaves were legally brought into 
Mexico during the period of Spanish rule (1).  It is impossible to estimate 
the number of slaves that were illegally brought into Mexico.

The Catholic church encouraged Afgrican slaves to marry.  It was 
expectd,however, that blacks would marry blacks. (2).  Spanish law did not 
prohibit blacks from marrying non-blacks.  Churches were required to record 
marriages in two separate registries, one for Spaniards and the other for 
non-whites.  Spanish marriages were kept in the "Casamientos de Espanoles" 
and non-Spanish marriages were contained in the "Casamientos de Castas".  
There is some evidence that the priests of Santa Veracruz did not strictly 
adhere to the above requirements.  In the parish of Santa Veracruz some 
marriages involving persons of African descent were recorded in the 
Casamientos de Espanoles. (3).  Likewise, some marriages, where both spouses 
were white, are to be found in the Casamientos de Castas. (4).

The term "espanol," or white, did not necessarily imply purity of blood.  
Spanish officials made a distinction between peninsular and American-born 
Spaniards.  The latter were looked down upon because of the possibility of 
their having bad blood -- Indian, Jewish, or black.  Mexican inquisition 
records, for example, are replete with efforts of Spaniards to prove 
purity of blood.(5).  Angel Rosenblat, noted authority of "mestizaje", has 
pointed out:

     A mestizo crossed with a Spaniard was called "castizo"; the castizo 
     with a Spaniard was known as an "espanol"; that is to say, one was 
     white who had one-eighth Indian blood.  In a similar manner, the 
     crossing of the mulatto with white, produced a "cuarteron"; the 
     cuarteron with white a "quinteron"; the quinteron with white produced 
     a white; that is to say that one was white who had one sixteenth Negro 
     blood. (6).

The marriage records of Santa Veracruz contain a gold mine of information 
for genealogists.  The priests were required to list the ethnic status, free 
or slave, the "casta" record indicated the African-born blacks.  The 
following racial classifications were used to designate persons of African 
descent in the marraige records of the parish of Santa Veracruz: (7)

     Negro (tended to denote a pure Negro)
     Mulato (Spanish and Negro)
     Mulato blanco (Spanish and Negro, usually called a mulato)
     Mulato lobo (Pardo and Indian, commonly called a lobo)
     Morisco (Spanish and mulato)
     Mestizo (Spanish and Indian)
     Castizo (Spanish and Indian)
     Indio (an Indian)
     Indio ladino (an Indian who had adopted Spanish customs and spoke the 
          Spanish language.)
     Lobo (same as mulato lobo)
     Coyote (usually used to denote a mestizo)
     Chino (Negro and Indian, or a person born in the Philippines)
     Pardo (Negro and Indian)
     Moreno (euphemistic term for a person of African descent)
     Espanol (white)

Notwithstanding the fact that persons of color were badly treated in 
colonial Mexico, some seventy-six whites in the parish of Santa Veracruz 
elected to marry persons of African descent.  In colonial Mexico:

     Persons of color were subject to numerous restrictions regarding 
     dress, marriage, education, labor, and almost all other details of 
     their lives.  Individuals classified as Negros or mulattoes were 
     required to pay tribute, prohibited from carrying arms or sharp 
     pointed weapons, not accepted in the ecclesiatical orders, not allowed 
     to wear gold, pearls, or silk, forbidden to go out after dark, denied 
     the privilege of riding horses, not permitted to live in Indian 
     villages. (8)

Afro-Spanish marriages, taken from the Casamientos de Castas of the parish 
of Santa Veracruz, are listed in the following table.  Each marriage is 
recorded in terms of the date of marriage, name of the Spanish spouse, and 
name and "casta" status (free or slave) of the Afro-spouse.  Under Spanish 
law, all whites had free status.

---  then follows a list of 77 marriages indicating the date, Spanish 
spouse and Afro-spouse and status.  If you would like me to check a name 
for you, leave a message to sysop.  ---

REFERENCES:
1. Gonzalo Aguirre Beltran, "Esbozo etnografico de un pueblo negro" 
(Mexico, 1958), p.8.
2. "Recopilacion de leyes de los reynos de las Indias" (4th ed., 3 vols., 
Madrid, 1943), libro VII, titulo V, ley VII.
3. An example of such a marriage is that of Carlos de Vayesteros, espanol, 
to Anna Maria de Chavez y Rodriquez, mulata, on 21 March 1730. (Archivo de 
la Parraquia de la Santa Veracruz, "Casamientos de Espanoles", vol 9, fol 
101).
4. See, for example, the marriage of Raphael Napara, espanol, to Rosalia 
Romero, espanola, on 1 December 1750.  (Archivo de la Parroquia de la Santa 
Veracuz, "Casamientos de Castas", vol 8, fols 4v-5).
5. See, for example, "informacion de Velasco de la orden de San FRancisco 
de esta ciudad oara calificador, Archivo General de la Nacion", Mexico, 
Inquisicion, vol 341, exp. 6, fs 333-612.
6. Angel Rosenblat, "La Polacion Indegena v el Mestizaje en America" ( 2 
vols., Buenos Aires, 1954), II, p 137.
7. Edgar F. Love, "Marriage Patterns of Persons of African Descent in a 
Colonial Mexico City Parish," The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 
51, no 1, p. 81.
8. Edgar F. Love, "Negro Resistance to Spanish Rule in Colonial Mexico," 
The Journal of Negro History, vol LII, no. 2, pp 90-91.
9. Archivo Parroquia de la Santa Veracruz, "Casamientos de Castas", vols 1-
7.  During this period, the priests of the parish married 1,662 couples, 
of whom one or both parties of the marriage were of AFrican descent.  See 
the author's article "Marriage Patterns of Persons of African Descent in a 
Colonial Mexico City Parish."

Mr. Love is a member of the Political Science Department, El Camino 
College, Torrance, California.



                                   ****

*************************************************************************
***  This information has been provided by ROOTS-BBS (415)-584-0697.  ***
***  For more public domain genealogical software, data, and queries, ***
***  set your modem to 8/N/1 300 or 1200 and call ROOTS-BBS!          ***
*************************************************************************
This information is posted on Dynasty BBS with the permission of
Brian Mavrogeorge, the System Operator of Roots Bulletin Board