Essay:
Racism a Short History
DOCUMENT 2 of 2
The Sentencia-Estatuto, Toledo (1449)
… Among the privileges and liberties granted by the kings
to the city of Toledo is that given by King Alfonso of Castile of
glorious memory, in which following canon law he orders and rules
that no convert of Jewish lineage may possess or hold any office
or benefice in the city of Toledo or its lands and jurisdiction,
being suspect in their Christian faith…
We, Pedro Sarmiento, royal governor and commander of the most noble
and loyal city of Toledo, and all the councilors and officers, nobles,
citizens and people of the city, order and declare that inasmuch
as it is notorious by canon law as by civil law, that the converses
[converts to Christianity from Judaism] of Jewish lineage, being
suspect in their Christian faith which they frequently abuse and
make light of by their Judaizing, may hold neither public or private
offices nor benefices in which they may do injury, harm and other
abuses to Old Christians of pure blood [lindos], nor may they bear
witness against them. This by reason of the said privileges granted
to the city by King Alfonso. And against the very great majority
of converts in this city, descendents of the lineage of Jews, it
is proven that they be persons very suspect in the holy Catholic
faith who hold and commit the greatest errors against its articles,
for they preserve the rites and ceremonies of their former law,
describing our Redeemer Christ as a hanged man whom the Christians
adore as God, and asserting that we believe there are a God and
Goddess in heaven. And on Good Friday when the holy oil was consecrated
in the Holy Church of Toledo and the body of the Redeemer held up
on the alter, the converses slaughtered lambs and made other sacrifices
in Judaizing fashion… Therefore, we hold and decree as follows:
That we must decree and order, that all the said converses, descendents
of the perverse lineage of the Jews, in whichever guise they may
be, by virtue of both canon and civil law, and the aforesaid Privileges
of King Alfonso as also by reason of the heresies and other crimes,
insults and seditions in which they are entrenched… are held
to be incapable and unsuitable and unworthy to hold any office or
benefice, public or private, whereby they may exercise power over
Old Christians… And we name as converses of Jewish lineage
the following: Lopez Fernandez Cota – Gonzalo Rodriguez de
San Pedro… [twelve other names follow].
And we prohibit the said converses from acting as notaries and witnesses
under pain of death and confiscation of all their property…
These are descendents of the lineage and race [linaje y ralea] of
the Jews… And this sentence against the converses in favour
of the Old Christians of pure stock is to apply and extend against
past conversos, and present conversos, and future conversos…
By authority of Perp Sarmiento