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

Abstract

espanolDurante el ano de 1597, la ciudad de Cordoba celebro un Auto de Fe con una gran presencia de reos portugueses. Si bien hubo condenados aislados y sin conexiones con el resto de procesados, encontramos varios casos de familias lusitanas (por ejemplo, el linaje de los Andrada) poseedoras de fuertes vinculos de parentesco y economicos dentro de los condenados por el Tribunal Inquisitorial. Grupos que adquirieron propiedades, cargos municipales preeminentes (como jurados o escribanos publicos) y riqueza que les convirtieron en integrantes del poder local. Sus estrategias matrimoniales combinaron una endogamia consanguinea, que reforzaba sus vinculos de parentesco, con uniones conyugales destinadas a enlazar con familias astigitanas, protagonizando un gradual proceso de asimilacion y un destacado ascenso social. El significativo numero de cristianos nuevos que encontramos en esta comunidad nos revela una llegada a Castilla anterior a la que tradicionalmente se habia pensado, junto a una integracion que se ve afectada, bajo el problema religioso, por conflictos de tipo etnico y social. EnglishDuring 1597, an “Auto de Fe” [Public penance of heretics by the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal] was celebrated in the city of Cordoba, 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.