“Because his mother was a Saracen” Pope Alexander III and the Case of Miguel de San Nicolás of Toledo (with two new letters from the Archivo Catedralicio de Toledo)

Abstract

Summary This short note edits and studies (briefly) the contents of two previously unpublished letters from the Archivo Catedralicio de Toledo. The two letters describe the case of a young sub-deacon in the archdiocesan parish of San Nicolas, whose mother was born a Muslim but converted prior to the young cleric’s conception. The conflict over his status required a visit to Rome, and resulted in a clarification of a gray area in canon law.