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HOW DO THE CONCEPTUAL NOTIONS REGARDING HEREDITY
UNDERPINNING THE POLICY OF LIMPIEZA DE SANGRE IN LATE
MEDIEVAL/EARLY MODERN SPAIN COMPARE TO POST-
ENLIGHTENMENT CONCEPTS OF HEREDITY AND RACE?
Student Number: 13098668
In the following essay, I will attempt to make a comparison between the ideas underlying the
statutes of Limpieza de Sangre and later ideas of heredity and race, as well as identifying the
common points that lead to the existence of the statutes of Limpieza de Sangre and the anti-
Semitic and racist ideas of the 19
th
century and onwards.
Limpieza de Sangre (Cleanliness of Blood) was a concept that originated in late medieval
Spain to differentiate Old Christians from New Christians, be them of Jewish, Muslim or
(later) Native American origin. What makes it particularly interesting is the fact that it didnt
only apply to individuals that had converted, but to their descendants as well. It was justified
on the belief that Conversos, especially those ones forced to convert, kept practicing their old
faith in secrecy (Crypto-Jews in the case of Jews) and that according to Torres they still
somehow carried the habits and traits of their ancestors (Hering Torres 2011).
However, this discrimination is by no means something new or particular of that period, it can
be tracked back quite a while. Anti-Judaism was very common in medieval Spain and
elsewhere with events like pogroms, anti-Jewish riots, mass forceful conversions and other
hostilities happening every now and then (Nesse n.d.). What makes discrimination against
New Christians new is that it is a discrimination against people of a certain heritage and not
of a certain religion. Jews and other minorities were becoming Christians and were no longer
recognizable for open discrimination. This process of acculturation, according to Torres
(Hering Torres 2011) provoked suspicion, jealousy and deep fear in society, so a concept was
created to make visible what was invisible, their past. Seen this way, it could be said that
somehow this is an early form of racism.
Although the concepts Old Christian, New Christian and Limpieza de Sangre were well
known and used in everyday life in late medieval and early modern Spain (a notable example
being Sancho Panza from Don Quixote stating that although poor, at least he was debtless and
an old Christian ) official discrimination on the basis of Limpieza de Sangre was rather rare,
highly criticized and in many places unpopular (Kamen 1998). It was used by some
institutions for some periods of time, which sometimes limited the social possibilities of some
New Christians, but it was mostly a matter of dishonor (honor being a very important concept
in Spain in the period of study (Kamen 1998)).
There were many arguments against discrimination on the basis of Limpieza de Sangre, even
back in the day. Some notable examples are Ignatius of Loyola and Pope Nicholas V (Kamen
1998). Nevertheless some statutes of Limpieza de Sangre remained active until as late as 1870
(Ministerio de Gracia y Justicia 1870).
It is difficult to define the Post Enlightenment concepts of Heredity and Race, mainly because
there were many different concepts from many different thinkers (from Darwins doubt on
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the existence of race (Darwin 1871)to the many different classifications by many different
authors (Darwin 1871)), but also because its difficult to define when Post Enlightenment
thinking begins. However, something that underlies most of them is their attempt at being
secular, scientific and fact-based. Even ideas that seem derisory nowadays, such as Galtons
comparative degrees were well grounded (Galton 1869) under something we would now
call pseudo-science (the argument on if it actually was science, or even what is the definition
of science is a lot longer and is not of particular importance to this essay).
From here, concepts such as scientific racism rose, since the only way of rebutting a scientific
claim was using scientific discourse, minorities saw themselves in great disadvantage (Leys
Stepan and Gilman 1991). Jews were somehow in a better position than most minorities (Leys
Stepan and Gilman 1991); however that didnt stop authors such as Georges Vacher de
Lapouge from characterizing the Semitic race as inferior in opposition to the Arian and thus
greatly influencing Nazi thinking (Hecht 2000).
Where the statutes of Limpieza de Sangre an early form of racism? If we define racism as
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based
on the belief that ones own race is superior (Oxford Dictionary) then it depends heavily on
the meaning of the word race. By the time the Limpieza de Sangre statutes where in effect,
the Spanish word for race: raza was already in use, however, it meant something completely
different, as can be seen in the following quote:
"[...] se propuso un estatuto por nos Arzobispo de Toledo en esta Santa Iglesia en el
cual se contena desde aquel da en adelante todos los Benefiziados de aquella Santa Iglesia a
Dignidades como Canonigos Razioneros Capellanes y clerizones fuesen xristianos Viejos sin
raza de Judio ni de Moro ni hereges" (Hering Torres 2011)
It is clear here that raza means more than lineage, but impurity of lineage. A person could
have Jewish or Moorish raza, but there was no such thing as a Spanish raza never mind a
Caucasian or white one. So it is somehow an anachronism to call a doctrine racist if race
meant something else.
Also at first glance, the arguments underlying the statutes of Limpieza de Sangre were
(however twisted and criticized) religious; Jews and people of Jewish origins were persecuted
for reasons like being prone to heresy or because they were believed to keep practicing their
old faith (Kamen 1998). Post-Enlightenment ideas on race on the other hand tried to be as
scientific and secular as possible, involving anthropometry, craniometry (Ulijasek y Komlos
2009), statistics (Galton 1869) and countless other disciplines. Consequently, other than both
being used for discrimination of determined groups of people, few similarities should be
found between the ideas underlying the statutes of Limpieza de Sangre and Post-
Enlightenment ideas of heredity and race.
Nevertheless some interesting parallels exist between both historical trends. If we look at
heredity, the concept of Hypodescency, under which multiracial individuals are categorized
according to their most socially subordinate group membership (Krosch, et al. 2013) was
common in the 19
th
and 20
th
centuries and was used in legislation in the early 20
th
century
(DSouza 1996). Hypodescency has strong influence even today (Halberstadt, Sherman and
Sherman 2011). The Limpieza de Sangre statutes are very close to this concept, after all, if a
person wanted to access a position for which Limpieza de Sangre was required, many times
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the person had to pay for a genealogical investigation to prove he had no drop of New
Christian blood (Hering Torres 2011), reminiscent of the One drop rule in America.
There is some sort of notion of heredity in medieval Spain justified in Biblical scripture. Fr.
Francisco de Torrejoncillo writes in his book Centinela contra Judos that people of Jewish
origin would always be enemies of Christians, among other reasons because As is the mother
so is the daughter (Ezekiel, 16: 44) (de Torrejoncillo 1720). It is not clear why or how certain
characteristics are passed on from one generation to the other, but it seems that at least it
happens.
Also within heredity, Diego Castejn Fonseca in his Primaca de la Santa Iglesia de Toledo, said
that characteristics like Jewish perfidy and the boisterous character inclined to negotiation
could be inherited through the humours of the progenitors (Castejn Fonseca 1645), a lot like
Lamarcks theory of heredity based on a notion of varying balances of certain bodily fluids
(Corsi 2011). Here we can see an idea of heredity that seems to go beyond religious issues.
However this may not be so, the idea that Jews carried some characteristics (especially
negative ones) that were passed on to their children could also be taken as a curse from God.
This notion takes more strength when its taken into account that dirtiness of blood could be
acquired through other means such as breast feeding (Hering Torres 2011). This makes race
less something that can be inherited and more like an infectious disease under an early form
of contagianism.
Another parallel that can be done has to do with the subject of race. There are a lot of
similarities that can be found between early modern Spain and 19
th
century Germany (Roth
1940). Although, as we have seen the concept of race changed a lot in the centuries in
between, the way groups of humans were treated and perceived seem to be very similar when
comparing early modern Spain with 19
th
and early 20
th
century Germany.
After forced conversions in Spain took place, Conversos became more and more like all other
Christians, they werent visibly different anymore, they were no longer a separated and
isolated group within a larger society. Many of the New Christians prospered quickly, which
gave rise to jealousy (Roth 1940). Changing some words this could perfectly be a description
of 19
th
century Germany.
There is one essential difference; in Spain, segregation was broken by the universal adoption
of Christianity, in the 19
th
century by the age of liberalism, accompanied by a diminution of
religious sentiment on either side which rendered the previous prejudices untenable (Roth
1940). This difference, however, corresponds with the difference of nature of the arguments
for discrimination on both situations.
Christine Achinger works thoroughly on this point when analyzing the 19
th
century German
novel Debit and Credit. Just as in 15
th
century Spain the Jews become more dangerous the
more assimilated and invisible they become (Achinger 2012) . The Jews represent an enemy
from within. Seen this way, the Limpieza de Sangre statutes can be perceived as an early way
of anti-Semitism the way Achinger defines it
1
.

1
What Christine Achinger calls anti-Semitism is the stereotype directed to the wealthy, assimilated Jew
who does not live in the ghetto, but has blended into the fabric of the nation where he is pulling the
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So what becomes evident is that while the theoretical justifications for treating a certain
group of people differently, in one case theological, and in the other practical (in order to
avoid the use of the word scientific) are very different, the sentiments underlying these
policies of difference are probably very similar if not the same.
And it makes perfect sense, while the innermost sentiment of rejection towards a group can
perfectly transcend human communities, the reasons used to justify behavior against said
group need to be valid within the set of rules and authorities of the given context.
In late medieval Spain, the highest authority was God, the Christian God, and so, religious
arguments and Bible quotes were used to justify and even making institutionalized
discrimination the morally correct thing to do. And it served its purpose wonderfully, in this
period of time if something is required to be accepted by everyone; there was no better way of
funding it than in the inalienable truth of the bible, this way it couldnt be argued against it,
especially under the rule of the Spanish Inquisition.
In the 19
th
century on the other hand, with the process of secularization going as strong as
ever, religious arguments could no longer fit. The authority of science is then used. In this
period of time, science is the nonpolitical, unbiased arena of knowledge (Leys Stepan and
Gilman 1991), and therefore, if something is required to be accepted by everyone, there was
no better way of funding it than in a scientific text. The only way of arguing against it would be
using scientific discourse, since most minorities didnt have access to the tools needed to
accomplish this (Leys Stepan and Gilman 1991) the ideas of scientific racism could prosper.
So what we have here is two moments of history in which minorities were quickly absorbed
into society, they became invisible, no longer distinguishable from other individuals. Their
sudden progress through the elimination of boundaries placed upon them created suspicion
and resentment, so the highest authority was summoned to put the minorities back in its
place. The only thing thats different is who that authority is, interestingly its not a
government figure, not even an ecclesiastical figure, but something abstract, God or religion in
Spain, and science or reason in the post-Enlightenment era.
In both cases, government units have to answer to these abstract figures. If something is
definitely Gods will in medieval or early modern Spain then the government had to act upon
it. If something is a scientific fact, then modern governments have to act upon it too, there is
no way around it.
In conclusion, very few similarities can be found when looking at the concepts of heredity and
race by themselves. However, the process of racialism that took place on both periods is
very similar. The negative sentiment triggered by the over adaptation of certain groups seems
shared, and so does the need for finding a justification of those feelings in something bigger
than oneself. The similarities dont lie on the concept of race but on the way of perceiving
what we would call a different race and the way of reacting towards it.


strings of modern economy and politics as part of a secret conspiracy as opposed to anti-Jewish
racism, that targets unassimilated recent Jewish immigrants [] for their self-segregation, cultural
maladaptation, poverty and backwardness. (Achinger 2012)
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Castejn Fonseca, Diego. Primaca de la Santa Iglesia de Toledo, vol. II. Madrid, 1645.
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Ulijasek, Stanley, and John Komlos. "From a History of Anthropometry to Anthropometric
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