Dr. Martin A. Cohen Professor of Jewish History Luis de
Santángel was one of the most distinguished statesmen in the
history of the Iberian Peninsula. Santángel, whose grandfather
had converted from Judaism, served as confidant and Comptroller
General for the Catholic monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand and
Isabel. Santángel supported Christopher Columbus's application
for money for his westward journey to the Indies. Even during
Santángel's royal service, however, many of his relatives,
themselves "New Christians" or conversos, were murdered or
harassed by the Inquisition. During his keynote address, Dr.
Martin A. Cohen explored the enigma of converso identity and the
paradox of the Marrano Myth. Most simply stated, this myth held
that conversos, by virtue of having been Jews or having had
Jewish ancestry, suffered from a congenital taint. That taint
was the contamination of their blood by their Jewish component.
This component prevented them from having the ideal cleanness of
blood (the terms for blood cleanness a