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In its strict
sense, Heraldry is the science that studies and dictates the
norms for the correct interpretation of Coat of Arms. The
Spanish word ," Heraldry" (Heraldria) comes from
"Heraldo": An official agent in charge of the registry
of Nobiliary titles.
In the X
Century A.D., in the kingdoms of Navarra, Leon and Castilla
(Spain), the tradition was to use the patronimic: adding to a
son's first name, the name of his father - Thus was born the
suffix "ez" which means "of", the
short form of "son of": Ex. - Juan Sanchez
(Jose, son of Sancho); Jose Perez (Jose, son of Pedro). Other regions used
the prefix "de", as in Pedro de Nicolas
(Pedro of Nicolas, instead of "Pedro, son of
Nicolas").
With the
Medieval Guilds, profession and occupation became hereditary,
passing from fathers to sons, therefore it was also common to
use it as surname: Ex. - Pedro Zapatero, Juan Barbero, Miguel
Arroyo, etc. |
With the
passage of time, the "apellido became legally
hereditary, passing from sons and daughters to their own
descendants. Later on, the "apellido' became
hereditary and legally obligatory.
In the XV
Century, Cisneros makes the law of obligatory inscription or
registry of births and deaths in the parish churches using
first names plus the surnames ("apellido") and the
General Civil Registry of Spain was created to regulate it.
All these new
developments were brought to the Philippines by the Spanish
and most Filipinos were christened with a Spanish "apellido".
And each of these apellidos has its own origin, genealogy,
history and additionally it determines de exact location in
Spain where a specific apellido was first used.
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