The Real Pragmática on marriages extended to the Indies (1776, published there by cédula of 7 April 1778)

Two centuries after ordering that Indians have "entera libertad para casarse con quien quisieren", the crown required parental consent before betrothal and stripped titles, arms and succession from anyone marrying with "notable desigualdad". The cédula carrying it to the Indies names its reason: the "diversidad de clases y castas". Article I exempts mulatos, negros and coyotes, then readmits those holding militia rank; article II makes the doctrina priest an absent parent's unpaid substitute.