| This dissertation explores the institutionalization of discrimination based on "purity of blood," or limpieza de sangre, in sixteenth-century Spain. I utilize the local example of Toledo to demonstrate the enduring power of limpieza discourses and their translation into practice at the hands of an unusually committed proponent. Juan Martinez Siliceo, archbishop of Toledo and former teacher to Philip II, articulated a racist doctrine supported by long-lived discourses vilifying Jews and conversos. He ultimately won both papal and royal approval for his purity of blood statute, which marginalized conversos at the Cathedral of Toledo.;However, while Siliceo's statute is notorious, his broader efforts to privilege limpieza are not. Thus I argue that while Siliceo sought to impose limpieza standards from above, he also worked at a more grassroots level to tie limpieza de sangre to social status. The centerpiece of his efforts was the Colegio de Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, an institution designed to prepare and dower "demonstrably" pure-blooded girls from the archbishopric for marriage to equally pure-blooded husbands. I analyze the school's Constitutions to illustrate the cultural-political implications of its unique (and eugenic) form and function; in the process I shed much-needed light on women's education in early modern Spain more generally. I also draw upon the Colegio's archives to demonstrate Siliceo's use of female education to equate limpieza with status, as well as toledanos' participation in this endeavor.;Siliceo did not live to see his project achieve its goals. But from his deathbed he secured Philip II's patronage, and I argue that Philip's intervention, even more than Siliceo's initial efforts, enabled the school's long-term survival. Indeed, Philip's loyalty to his former teacher---often downplayed by historians---was strong, and crucial to the school's success. Examples from the Colegio's archives demonstrate Philip's impact there and reveal his commitment to Siliceo's limpieza requirements. Thanks to his patronage, by the end of the sixteenth century Siliceo's institution thrived and parents clamored to place their daughters in what had become a prestigious and widely recognized bastion of limpieza de sangre. |
