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Old Christian (, , ) was a social and law-effective category used in the Iberian Peninsula from the late 15th and early 16th century onwards, to distinguish Portugal and Spain people attested as having cleanliness of blood, known as Limpieza de sangre, from the populations categorized as New Christian. 'New Christian' refer to mainly persons of partial or full Jewish descent who converted to Christianity, and their descendants. (2025). 9780226307220, University Of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226307220
After the Alhambra Decree in 1492, and Portugal in 1497, all the Jewish population in Iberia became officially Christian. The New Christians were always under suspicion of apostasy. The creation of the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 and the Portuguese Inquisition in 1536 was justified by the need to fight heresy. It was believed that many New Christians were practicing their original religion in secret and large numbers were . The term was thus introduced in order for "Old Christians" to distinguish themselves from the converts ( ), and their descendants, who were seen as potential heretics and threats to Catholicism orthodoxy. (2025). 9780826339782, University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 9780826339782 New Christians of Muslim heritage were referred to pejoratively as moriscos, meaning Moor-like. Those of Jewish heritage were termed marranos (swine, pigs).
The system and ideology of cleanliness of blood ostracized New Christian minorities from society, regardless of their actual degree of sincerity as converts, giving far more privileges to Old Christians, the majority of the population.
In Portugal, the legal distinction between New and Old Christian was ended through a legal decree issued by the Marquis of Pombal in 1772.
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