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A ''hidalgo'' (; ) or a ''fidalgo'' (, ) is a member of the Spanish or Portuguese nobility; the feminine forms of the terms are ''hidalga'', in Spanish, and ''fidalga'', in Portuguese and Galician. In popular usage, the term ''hidalgo'' identifies a nobleman without a hereditary title. In practice, ''hidalgos'' were exempted from paying taxes, yet owned little real property. ==Etymology== Since the twelfth century, the phrase ''fijo d'algo'' ("son of something") and its contraction, ''fidalgo'', were used in the Kingdom of Castile and in the Kingdom of Portugal to identify a type of nobility. In Portugal, the cognate remained ''fidalgo'', which identified nobles of a similar status to a ''hidalgo'' in Spain. In the Kingdom of Aragón, the ''infanzón'' was the noble counterpart of the Castilian hidalgo. The pronunciation changes in Spanish occurred during the late Middle Ages, the letter-F sounding was lost, and replaced with the letter-H spelling and pronunciation of ''hidalgo''.〔Corominas, Joan and José A Pascual (1981). "Hijo" in ''Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico'', Vol. G-Ma (3). Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 359-360. ISBN 84-249-1362-0〕 (see ''History of the Spanish language'') In the Spanish language of that period, in the phrase ''Hijo de algo'', the word ''algo'' ("something") denotes "riches"; therefore, ''hidalgo'' was synonymous with "noble" and with ''ricohombre'' ("rich man"). In time, the term included the lower-ranking gentry, the untitled, lower stratum of the nobility who were exempted from taxation. The ''Siete Partidas'' (Leyes de Partidas), suggests that the word ''hidalgo'' derives from ''itálico'' ("italic"), a man with full Roman citizenship. There is no evidence for another popular false etymology (folk etymology) that ''hidalgo'' is a corruption for ''hijo de godo'' ("son of the goth").〔Corominas, "''Hijo''", 359-360; MacKay, ''Spain in the Middle Ages'', 48〕〔For a discussion of the Visigothic nobility see E. A. Thompson, ''The Goths in Spain'', 252-257, and Dietrich Claude, "Freedmen in the Visigothic Kingdom", 159-188〕 Every noble was called ''Godo'' (Goths) in the Kingdoms of Leon, Galicia, Portugal and Castile, as descendants of those from the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo.〔(books.google.com )〕 The ''godo'' usage became common in the 11th century, when titles of nobility became common;〔 and it remains a common and pejorative usage in rural regions of Iberia.〔 In the previous Visigoth monarchies, the condition of the ''hidalgo'' was that of a freeman without land wealth, but with the nobleman's rights to wear arms and to be exempt from taxation, in compensation for military service; the military obligation and the social condition remained in force by the ''Fuero Juzgo'' law. The Goths used the terms ''hidalgo'' and ''Vesi'' to mean the "good men". In Old Castile, the byname ''hidalgo'' ("son of the good one") was used alternatively with the toponymical term ''Vesi'' ("sons of the mountain"). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hidalgo (nobility)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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