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"Purity of Blood" in Early Modern Spain
| Because of the conversions to Christianity of a large majority of Sephardic Jews, Spanish society defined the judeo-conversos as “impure”. Based on this argument, during the 15th century, the concept of “purity of blood” (limpieza de sangre) was developed, and diverse institutions adopted “Statutes of Purity of Blood”. According to these norms, the access to clerical and secular positions was forbidden for those Christians whom, through genealogical investigations, were found to be of Jewish or Muslim ancestry. In my paper I will discuss the impact of blood imaginaries considering the social, the theological, and the proto-scientific spheres. Further I will make a comparison between early modern mechanisms of segregation and modern forms of exclusion.
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