Cristianos nuevos portugueses en Écija: integración y dificultades (finales siglo XVI- comienzos siglo XVII)

Abstract

During 1597, an “Auto de Fe” [Public penance of heretics by the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal] was celebrated in the city of Córdoba, with considerable presence of Portuguese penitents. While there were some isolated prisoners, unrelated to the rest of the accused, it is possible to find some examples of Lusitanian families (for instance, the Andradas lineage) having strong social and economic ties among the prosecuted by the Holy Office. These groups had acquired properties, prominent magistracies (such as jurors or public notaries) and wealth, which made them members of the local power of the city. Their marriage strategies combined an inbreeding that strengthened their ties of kindship with marital unions destined to connect prominent “astigitanas” families, starring a gradual process of assimilation and a notorious eminent upward mobility. The significant number of Portuguese New Christians found in this community reveals an arrival of this social group to Castilla earlier to what it has been traditionally thought, as well as an integration affected, under the religious problem, by ethnic and social conflicts.