What is meant by the following word "el Bachiller"

Question

I have seen two translations of the word "bachiller": bachelor and high school graduate. Here are examples of how it was used:

1) el Bachiller don Alonso, bautizado en Teocaltiche el 23de marzo de 1642.

and -

2) el Bachiller Presbítero don Alonso Martín del Campo, licenciado en Teología y Bachiller en Artes, nacido en Revilla de Campos.

In the second example "bachelor" seems redundant since he is a Priest but then it is also redundant since it is mentioned that he is a college graduate. (Of course one translation is for a high-school graduate.)

I am lost in a linguistic fog.

Esteban

Answer 1

Your second example, I think, means a Batchelor of Arts, same as in English.

The first one is so long ago,i don't know what it may have meant then. I expect somebody will know in a minute.

Answer 2

In the first example, it is possible that bachiller means the English "bachelor", which in Spanish is also "un soltero", or even "un bachelor".

In the second example, the second occurrence of bachiller is the same as "Bachelor of Arts". The first occurrence seems also to refer to a Presbyterian title, not a a martital status, but I'm not sure about that.

• It was exactly the refernec to when he was baptized that unnerved me..It makes it more likely to be theological. - annierats Feb 10, 2012