Maginoo

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Maginoo couple, represented in the Boxer Codex, around 1595

Maginoo was called a social class in the pre-colonial feudal Tagalog society , on the island of Luzon , Philippines . They represented the upper class in the Tagalog society, in the European sense this corresponds to the social class of the aristocracy . They recruited their followers from both the Timawa class and the Maharlika warrior caste . They represented the political leadership of the Tagalog society and from among their ranks were the Datus , Rajas or Lakans. The social model of the Tagalog Society was, in contrast to European society, more permeable, so members of the Timawa, the Maharlikas as well as the unfree Alipin could rise to the class of the Maginoo.

The Maginoos were addressed with the respectful name of a Ginoo , individual salutations were Gat , meaning gentleman , or Dayang , meaning lady . A lady Angkatan, Dayang Angkatan , is mentioned in the Laguna copper plate inscription as early as 900 AD, so that it is assumed that this Tagalog social system was already established at this time.

A Datu was always a member of the aristocracy who ruled a barangay . A Raja or Lakan was a ruler who had a lot of power and influence and presumably ruled over several barangays or larger areas. When the Spaniards reached Manila Bay in 1570 , they met the Banaw Lakan Dula in Tondo , the center of the Luzon Empire , the Raja (Ladyang) Matanda (Raja Matanda of Sapa) and Raja Suleyman III. in today's Manila .

Another member of the Maginoo class were the panginoons , they were referred to as poon . The address Aba poon meant: My Lord , and the saying Oo, poon meant: Yes, my Lord . This term survived the colonial days in today's Filipino society with the respectful designation: Po , which today means as much as Mr. or Madame.

Already at the end of the 16th century, the Manigoos social class disappeared from the Tagalog society, as in the course of the colonization of the Philippines by Spain, society was flattened into a purely dependent peasant society, which only paid tributes to the Spanish monastic orders and the colonial officials had.

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