Origin and historical sources of the formulas of courtesy and habitual treatments in the Spanish society in the social and official life

Abstract

To offer one's own house, to invite the table, to salute with special respect and courtesy, to grant a certain treatment spontaneously in the social relations of the Spaniards, beyond the guidelines of the official world, have been constants of good education and courtesy, Commonly known as "urbanity". One of the earliest scholars of this phenomenon was Professor Américo Castro, who found in the prolonged Arab stay in Spain the trail and the origin of certain social forms, installed in the common of the population, and particularly rooted in the rural area.

Many of those treatments and formulas of courtesy, unfortunately abandoned in Spain persist in Portugal and what Bolivar called the former Spanish America, where expressions such as "I am" or "Prohombre", "Perinclito", "Ciudadano Mayor" or " Honored man "(today apparently scarce in certain spaces) to qualify a personage especially recognized for his works and made by society. In Spain it would sound strange what is common in Spanish America, where it is common to put the name of professional status, especially in certain professions or rank.

This paper is a historical tour of the hand of the most authoritative "prohombres" that have dealt with this phenomenon, to conclude with the hope that when recovering the knowledge of this heritage we return, as far as possible to introduce its use.