Castile (historical Region) - Castilian Identity and Cultural Expansion

Castilian Identity and Cultural Expansion

Castilians are defined as a community with a shared culture and history. Their origin is, as well as most of other parts of the Spain, a heterogeneous mixture of Celtiberian, Roman, Basque and Germanic peoples (see also Spanish people). Thus, it is not correct to establish a strict common origin, but a common cultural identity. Over time, most Castilians have mixed with other Spaniards due to their past political dominance, and present-day cultural dominance. Castilians and their cultural influence spread throughout the entire plateau of central Spain during the Reconquista, carried out principally by the Kingdom of Toledo which was renamed New Castile. Castilian ethnicity is the product of the conquest, by a small kingdom in northern Spain, of vast tracts of sparsely populated lands (the central "mesetas"). These lands were populated, during the reconquest, by peoples from all over the peninsula, even from southern Spain (see exile of Mozarabs from Al Andalus and even the dispersal of Moriscos from Granada in the 16th century).

The Castilian language, now usually known as "Spanish", gradually became the main language of Spain; it is still frequently called "Castilian" in Spain. At present, Castilians are known as the inhabitants of those regions of Spain where there is no regional identity which conflicts with that of Castilians. The Castilian territories roughly coincide with the plateaus of north-central Spain, historically sparsely populated harsh highlands.

Castilian identity is ambiguous: since Castilian nationalism was the first to have been suppressed by the Spanish Crown during the revolt and war of the Castilian War of the Communities against the Spanish Monarchy, between 1520 and 1521, a strong sense of identity cannot be found in Castilians and there are differences about what can be considered Castile.

Castilian identity is thus excluded from the historical nationalities of Spain such as Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country, but also other autonomous communities of Spain which due to historical reasons have their own strong identities, such as Andalusia, Asturias, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and the Valencian Community. Both Andalusia and the Canary Islands experienced an early Castilian colonisation and subsequent immigration, but the survival and absorption of by the large local populations allowed for characteristics and separate identities particular to those regions to survive. Certain regions are not considered Castilian, such as Valencia and the Balearic Islands because historically they belong to the Crown of Aragon and because their local languages are Catalan dialects. Galicians are not considered to be Castilian, although the former Kingdom of Galicia was annexed by the Crown of Castile. Their language, Galician, is akin to Portuguese, and they possess a local culture and identity. Navarre, a historical kingdom in its own right, has a culture that is mainly Basque in the north and closer to that of Old Castile in the south, especially in La Rioja and Aragon, in the south. Extremadura, a region in western Spain, is usually not considered to be Castilian; it has a strong link to neighbouring Andalusia. Murcia has always been a region of its own. The Leonese region was a separate region before democracy in the 1970s, and had its own language, Leonese, which is moribund. However, Castile and León (Spanish: Castilla y León) had the Spanish conjunction y ('and') inserted as the León region is not considered to be in Castile (the north half) but joint with it in this autonomous community. Some Leonese want Castile and León to be dissolved and become an autonomous community in its own right as the Leonese Country. Cantabria used to be considered a part of Old Castile, but they have their own identity and had achieved independence from Castile in the 1970s and are now a comunidad autonoma in their own right. Madrid had been in New Castile until the 1970s and has traditionally been considered Castilian. However, its status as the capital of Spain, meant that it gained its own autonomous community. Also, its people are not all Castilian as there have been immigration from other regions in Spain and indeed the world. In terms of cultural identity, there is a divide and controversy. Older Madrid people as well as Castilians nationalist in the region consider their city to be in Castile (cultural identity). Younger Madrid people, look at the modern reality of the administration, and do not consider it to be in Castile, as there is no reference to it in the name or the symbols of the autonomous community. However, the folk culture in the Madrid region is Castilian, even though the city itself has its own folklore, the chotis. As for La Mancha, they are still in Castile as their autonomous community is called Castile–La Mancha. However, their cultural identity focuses on the La Mancha rather than on the Castile. They have their own identity even though they are recognised as fully Castilian, for example, they had no language of their own, unlike, León.