Purity of blood laws served to exclude converts and elevate Old Christians

Evidence

Originally, according to the Convention of 1593, all Christians of Jewish descent were excluded. A decree of 1608 stipulated reinvestigations back to the fifth generation; the last provision of 1923 reduced this to four generations. These requirements can be waived by the chief of the order in individual cases. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2131 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Iberian blood-purity laws served a political project of class elevation and exclusion; Spain’s blood purity laws constitute an early biological racism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 728; Blood purity laws elevated poor Christians while excluding converts from power. (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• The Jesuit order excluded Jewish converts and their descendants for centuries via blood laws #exemplifies (0.93) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2131