2026/05/01 by Ana L. Méndez-Oliver · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Animal Law and Welfare #Medieval and Classical Philosophy #Sephardic Jews and Inquisition Studies
paper · doi:10.1215/10829636-12354374
openalex publication_date 2026/05/01 · openalex created_date 2026/05/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/28
Circulating in Castile during the fifteenth century, the poem Coplas del perro de Alva describes its protagonist, a dog, as a faithful Christian and guardian of the town of Alba de Tormes. According to the poem, the dog vigilantly safeguards the town so that neither Jew nor converso (Jewish convert) can enter. This article examines how the poem contributes to a larger debate taking place in the Iberian Peninsula on how to identify, classify, and locate the different groups — Christians, Jews, and conversos — inhabiting the Kingdom of Castile, while exemplifying the anxiety that accompanied the promulgation of the Statutes of Purity of Blood (1449). Furthermore, in line with recent scholarship in animal studies, the article analyzes how the dog, as a nonhuman protagonist, can illuminate the story's historical context by exposing the racial and political tensions and violent intolerance against Jews and conversos in Castile during this period.