Sine Labe. Immaculatism in 15th to 17th-Century Spain: The Social Projection of a Religious Imaginary

Abstract

Immaculatism, the devotion to the Virgin Mary, is an area of research of especial relevance for the history of social and religious mentalities. In Spain, it became a Matter of State from the 15th to the 17th centuries. The author aims to unravel how it was that such an abstruse and seemingly foreign-to-everyday-concerns theological subject turned into a social issue. Rooted in the theological discourse concerning human nature as “stained”, the concept of “original sin” began in the 13th century to be understood in terms of “infidelity”. In 1215, the 4th Lateran Council established a system of signs as markers for “infidels”, the first step toward an assimilation of the notions of fidelity/infidelity into those of trustworthiness/unloyalty which would later mean the association of the concept of original sin with that of the sin of the converts. In addition, the jural notions of Pactum and Fides, basis of the Feudal Contract, would inform the relationships between Man and God. Worshiping the Precious Blood of Jesus would impinge upon the so-called statutes for “Cleanliness” and “Nobility” of blood. This statutory definition of one’s blood would pass to one’s descendants, its formulation in terms of purity/impurity determining one’s social integration or exclusion.