Old Christian (, , ) was a social and law-effective category used in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

from the late 15th and early 16th century onwards, to distinguish Portuguese and Spanish people attested as having cleanliness of blood, known as Limpieza de sangre, from the populations categorized as

New Christian New Christian (; ; ; ; ; ) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction referring to the population of former Jews, Jewish and Muslims, Muslim Conversion to Christianity, converts to Christianity in the Spanish Empire, Spanish and Po ...

. 'New Christian' refer to mainly persons of partial or full

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent who converted to Christianity, and their descendants. After the expulsion of the Jewish population from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497, all the Jewish population in Iberia became officially Christian. The New Christians were always under suspicion of

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

. The creation of the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...

in 1478 and the

Portuguese Inquisition The Portuguese Inquisition (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal in 15 ...

in 1536 was justified by the need to fight heresy. It was believed that many New Christians were practicing their original religion in secret and large numbers were Crypto-Jews. The term was thus introduced in order for "Old Christians" to distinguish themselves from the converts (''

converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert" (), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian popula ...

s'') and their descendants, who were seen as potential heretics and threats to

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

orthodoxy. New Christians of Muslim heritage were referred to pejoratively as ''

moriscos ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; " Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable M ...

'', meaning ''Moor-like''. Those of Jewish heritage were termed '' marranos'' (swine, pigs). The system and ideology of cleanliness of blood ostracized New Christian minorities from society, regardless of their actual degree of sincerity as converts, giving far more privileges to Old Christians, the majority of the population. In Portugal, the legal distinction between New and Old Christian was ended through a legal decree issued by the Marquis of Pombal in 1772.

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References

Bibliography

* * History of the conversos 14th-century Catholicism 15th-century Catholicism Moriscos Racism in Portugal Racism in Spain {{Jewish-hist-stub