Discurso echo por fray Agustin de Saluçio, maestro en sancta theoloxia dela horden de S[an]to Domingo açerca dela justiçia y buen gobierno de España enlos estatutos de limpieça de sangre y si conbiene o no alguna limitaçion en ellos.

Abstract:

17th-century copy of a political treatise written by Dominican friar Agustin de Salucio, probably in 1599 or 1600, in favor of reforming the statutes on bloodlines, referred to in the text as "los estatutos de limpieça de sangre." These statutes, initiated in earnest in 15th-century Spain, at first excluded individuals from holding public office or receiving ecclesiastical benefices if they were descendants of either Jewish or Muslim converts to Christianity or of individuals convicted of crimes by the Inquisition. However, by the end of the 16th century, Spanish society, government, and especially the Catholic Church were obsessed with proving "cleanliness of blood," which was to say tracing ancestry back to the "old Christians" who had never been Muslims or Jews. Such proof of pure Christian lineage became the means by which previously poor Christians laid claim to the lowest rung of the Spanish nobility, the hidalguía. This had always been an especially divisive and polemic issue in Spain, but by the end of the 16th century its excessive dissemination and implementation had convinced many that reform was needed. Thus, despite an official ban by the Inquisition on any writings against the statutes, several authors, including Salucio, published works advocating change. Chapters 1-3 lay out the main arguments of those against the statutes and chapters 4-8 give pro-statute responses. The remainder of the treatise, chapters 9-25, illustrate the author's middle path, which advocates imposing a time limitation on the statutes. In these latter chapters there is some interesting discussion related to the status of the "new Christians" converted to Christianity from Judaism or Islam.

Creator:

Salucio, Agustín, 1523-1601.

Timespan:

Spain.

Date:

1600

Identifier:

9944669613503681; (OCoLC)ocn315888269; (OCoLC)315888269; (PU)4466961-penndb-Voyager

Language:

Spanish; Castilian

Provenance:

Purchased, 1966.; Formerly owned by Sir William Stirling Maxwell (bookplate inside upper cover).

Publisher:

[Spain], [between 1600 and 1699]

Subject:

Crypto-Jews -- Iberian Peninsula -- Spain.; Nobility -- Spain -- Early works to 1800.; Jews -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Spain.; Christian converts from Islam -- Spain -- History.; Christian converts from Judaism -- Spain -- History.; Inquisition -- Spain -- Early works to 1800.; Moriscos -- Early works to 1800.; Moriscos.; Christian converts from Judaism.; History.; Christian converts from Islam.; Inquisition.; Nobility.; Jews -- Legal status, laws, etc.; Polemics.; Treatises.; Codices.; Manuscripts, Spanish.; Manuscripts, European.

Form/Genre:

Manuscripts

Physical Description:

76 leaves : paper; 208 x 148 (180 x 120) mm bound to 216 x 158 mm

Personal Name:

Stirling Maxwell, William, 1818-1878, former owner.

Rights:

https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?

Notes:

Ms. codex.; Origin: Probably written in Spain in the 17th century.; Title from title page (f.i recto).; Foliation: Paper, ii + 76 + ii leaves; [i], 1-73, [i], 74; contemporary foliation in ink, modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto.; Layout: Written in 21 long lines.; Script: Written in a cursive script.; Binding: Calf (Zacour-Hirsch).; Watermark: Unidentified watermark consisting of a cross inside a circle with a crown above and possibly two unidentified initials underneath.; Decoration: Some ornamentation in ink on title page (f.i recto).; Spanish.

Physical Location:

Ms. Codex 1447