Iberian Precedents

Iberian Precedents: Tracing the Development of the Ideology of Limpieza de Sangre

Period: 1350 to 1900

First major wave of anti-Semitic attacks

1391

A wave of anti-Semitic attacks originating in Seville produced the first major wave of Jewish conversions to Christianity, the first community of conversos.

Series of riots in Toledo target Jews and New Christians

1449

These riots represent the first struggle to establish purity-of-blood policies; Pero Sarmiento drew up decree called the Sentencia-Estatuto that made converted Jews and descendants permanently ineligible for public offices.

Marriage of Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile

1469

United the crowns of Castile and Aragon and made a "double monarchy" possible in Iberia; known as the Catholic Kings who unified Spain (31)

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition (Spanish Inquisition) established

1478

By establishing the Inquisition, the Catholic Kings increased royal authority by strongly associating the Crown of Castile with the Christian cause.

Ferdinand and Isabella start war against Granada

1482

Victory for Christians -- resuscitated a crusading spirit, bolstered the popularity of Catholic Kings, increased prestige of monarchy; coincided with Inquisition's first decade of persecutions, made Spain's rulers less tolerant of religious minorities (esp Jews).

Supreme Council of the Holy and General Inquisition (the "Suprema") founded

1483

Suprema was the only governmental agency that had jurisdiction over the entire Spanish empire; viewed by many as Spain's first proto-national institution; the crown determined the inquisitors not the pope.

Expulsion Decree for Jews

1492

Jews blamed for crypto-Judaism among conversos, decree ordered Spanish Jews to leave the region; major spike in conversions; all Jews who did not convert to Catholicism within four months had to leave Castile and Aragon; ability to claim purity of blood depended on if they converted before or after this date as it implied if they did so voluntarily or not

Expulsion Decree for Muslims in Castile

1502

Burning of millions of Islamic texts led to an uprising in Grenada

Expulsion Decree for Muslims in Aragon

1526

Expelled later in Aragon because Islamic community protected by nobility, which relied on it for a large part of income (36)

Stricter dual-descent model of limpieza de sangre classification started

1530

Statutes began to hinge as much on maternal as on paternal ancestry (break from gendered conceptions of lineage); coupled with the elimination of limits on how far back stains could be traced

First purity certification process is developed

1530

Purity certificates are required to be delivered by designated officials

1547

Demonstrates the more rigorous incorporation of procedure due to heightened fears that fraudulent documents were being submitted.

Toledo's Pope and King Philip II demand proof of purity of blood

1555

Toledo important religious center, encouraged other institutions religious and secular, to pass own requirements of limpieza de sangre (44)

Emergence of moriscos and Portuguese conversos

1559

These groups seen as a threat to unity of the faith (46); retain purity requirements due to their emergence

Tizón de la Nobelza de España (Blot of the Nobility of Spain)

1560

Antriaristocratic book published by Cardinal Francisco Mendoza y Bobadilla to Philip II claiming that all of the Spanish nobility had tainted blood

Second Rebellion of the Alpujarras

1568

Sparked by Philip II's reissuing of orders to prohibit all sorts of practices that were supposed to be associated with Islam (51)

Papal decree orders verification that all members of the Holy Office were Old Christians

1572

Nobody could bypass this process. Moreover, proof was required that ones spouse was a verified Old Christian. (64)

Suprema urges inquistorial tribunals to protect themselves from infiltration by "new money"

1602

Demonstrates the probanza process as a "social weapon" meant to protect the status of elites and control upward mobility

Real Pragmática "three positive acts" decree

1623

Philip IV declares that candidates who had direct decendents who had their purity certified on three separate occasions were not require to forgo the process themselves (70)

Last remaining purity requirements abolished in Spain

1860