Which city enacted the first blood-purity statute in 1449? The answer is Toledo.
Toledo enacted the Sentencia-Estatuto during an anti-converso revolt in 1449. The measure restricted people of Jewish-convert ancestry, known as conversos or New Christians, from holding certain public and civic offices. It is generally identified as the first statute of limpieza de sangre, or “purity of blood.”
The policy reflected growing suspicion that baptism had not erased a person’s Jewish ancestry or alleged religious disloyalty. That principle marked a shift from judging people primarily by professed faith toward excluding them because of lineage. The statute was controversial: churchmen and other critics argued that it conflicted with Christian ideas about baptism and the unity of the Church.
Toledo’s example later influenced institutions across Spain, including cathedral chapters, colleges, military orders, and religious bodies. The statutes were not themselves the creation of the Inquisition, although they formed part of the wider climate of discrimination against conversos. Zaragoza, Granada, and Seville adopted later measures or became important centers of related policies.