Philip the Fourth, May 8, 1633, after reference to the evil lives
and want of religion of the Gypsies, and the complaints made
against them by prelates and others, declares 'that the laws
hitherto adopted since the year 1499, have been inefficient to
restrain their excesses; that they are not Gypsies by origin or
nature, but have adopted this form of life'; and then, after
forbidding them, according to custom, the dress and language of
Gypsies, under the usual severe penalties, he ordains:-
'1st. That under the same penalties, the aforesaid people shall,
within two months, leave the quarters (barrios) where they now live
with the denomination of Gitanos, and that they shall separate from
each other, and mingle with the other inhabitants, and that they
shall hold no more meetings, neither in public nor in secret; that
the ministers of justice are to observe, with particular diligence,
how they fulfil these commands, and whether they hold communication
with each other, or marry amongst themselves; and how they fulfil
the obligations of Christians by assisting at sacred worship in the
churches; upon which latter point they are to procure information
with all possible secrecy from the curates and clergy of the
parishes where the Gitanos reside.
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