Leiva, Santa María, and Gutiérrez Lineages

Origins of the Surnames

These families are connected to the Leiva, Santamaría, and Gutiérrez lineages through both maternal and paternal ancestors. These same families descend from the Sephardic Jewish ha-Levi family, who likely adopted their name to reference the Israelite Tribe of Levi—one of the twelve tribes of Israel, named for the third son of Jacob (Israel)—who were responsible for the work and ordinances of the Tabernacle and, later, the Temple.

According to historian Miguel Sanvicente, the surname Gutiérrez is a patronymic derived from the given name Gutiérre. Inquisition records show that it was a common surname chosen by new converts, particularly among families who eventually settled in the American colonies, appearing in Inquisitorial lists from Spain, Colombia, Peru, and New Spain. While a single common origin of the surname cannot be precisely determined, the number of individuals prosecuted by the Holy Office of the Inquisition demonstrates its common use among crypto-Jews or new converts. Records from the Inquisition tribunal of Toledo include autos de fe proceedings against several individuals bearing the Gutiérrez surname.

The Leiva / Santa María Families

First, consider the lineages of the Leiva and Santa María families. Historian and professor Francisco Cantera Burgos of the Real Academia de la Historia explains in his biography of Alvar García de Santa María and his converso family how the descendants of the ha-Levi lineage adopted various surnames, among them Leiva. Cantera noted that among the descendants of the ha-Levi were the Guzmán, Benavides, Villalobos, Luxan, Ulloa, Puerto Carrero, Sarmiento, Acuña, Bazán, Porres, Bargas, Medrano, Saravia, Baldivieso, Ávila, Bonifaz, Águila Tassis, Carrillo, Avellaneda, Castro, Bolea, Mausino, Castiblanco, and, of course, the Leiva (or Leyva) families.

The most prominent figure to bear the ha-Levi name was Rabbi Solomon ha-Levi. In 1390, Rabbi Solomon ha-Levi converted to Catholicism, adopting the name Pablo de Santa María. Pablo was a descendant of Samuel ha-Levi, treasurer to King Pedro I, son of King Alfonso XI of Castile. Samuel founded the Synagogue of El Tránsito in Toledo. The family’s mark can still be seen in the synagogue under the royal seal of Castile-León—a castle bannered with the fleur-de-lis (see Figure 1). Samuel was executed by Pedro, which served as a catalyst for the ha-Levi family to abandon their allegiance to Pedro and subsequently support his brother, Enrique II of Trastámara, claimant and eventual heir to the throne of Castile-León.

Figure 1: Commemorative plaque marking the foundation of the Synagogue of El Tránsito (Toledo, Spain). Source: David Bláquez.

The conversion of Solomon ha-Levi/Pablo de Santa María to Christianity caused waves of criticism among his contemporaries and into the modern era. Historian Henry Charles Lea assessed his motives:

The most prominent among the new converts was Selemoh Ha-Levi, a rabbi who had been a fearless defender of the faith and the rights of his people. On the eve of the massacres, which he possibly foresaw, and influenced by a timely vision of the Virgin, in 1390 he professed his conversion, taking the name Pablo de Santa María, followed by his two brothers and five children, founding a family of commanding influence… He wrote his Scrutinium Scripturarum against his former co-religionists… It is much more moderate than was usual in controversial writings [of the time] and appears to have been composed rather as a justification of his decision.

As Lea explains, Pablo’s conversion was the result of extreme political and ideological pressures—yet it allowed him and his family to survive persecution and exhumation.

Pablo was not the only family member to convert and achieve prominence in Castile. His brother, Alvar García de Santa María, born around 1370 in Burgos, converted as well and served as a historian and bureaucrat in the Castilian courts. As royal chronicler, Alvar compiled the Crónica de Juan II, recording the deeds of the king. King Enrique III even judged that forced conversions were neither beneficial for the realm nor for new converts, and ordered Alvar to implement a policy allowing recently converted Jews to return to Judaism if they wished. He declared: “Many [Jews] have converted and now wish to return [to their faith]… No one shall harass them, and if any portion wishes to return [to Judaism], none shall persecute them.”

A couple of centuries later, members of the Leiva family faced Inquisition prosecution. In an auto de fe held in Granada on November 30, 1721, in the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo, Diego de Leiva, his wife Blanca María Rodríguez, his mother-in-law María Alejandra Rodríguez, and his sister-in-law Inés Francisca Rodríguez were executed by burning for practicing Judaism in secret.

The Leiva family had prospered in Iberia before the Inquisition. Cantera Burgos cites examples such as Doña Isabel de Ossorio Leiba and Doña Constanza de Leiba y Guevara. Enrique II relied on such Jewish and converso families for financial support during the rebuilding of Castile-León after civil war—a relationship that continued into the late 16th century. Documents in the Archivo General de Simancas record a payment of 161,994 maravedís to Diego Leiva for a juro with the Crown. Other records mention Andrés Díaz de Venero y Leiva, Luis Venero y Leiva, and Diego Leiba y Venero, as well as Juana [García] de Leyva, wife of Diego López de Zúñiga, Lord of Béjar.

In 1493, Juan de Ribera received a commission to release Jewish property to Juan de Leiva (see Figure 2). This same Juan de Leiva was identified as Jewish at the time of the 1492 expulsion under the Catholic Monarchs.

Figure 2: Juan de Leiva, Manuscript, Archivo General de Simancas, RGS Legajo 149303, Doc. 196.

The Gutiérrez Family

Members of the Gutiérrez family sought to conceal their status as new converts by marrying into Old Christian families, such as the Carvajals. The Gutiérrez integrated with the Lords of Grimaldo in the 12th century, and eventually with the Carvajal family. The Santa María family arrived in Plasencia before 1406, and church records confirm connections between Gil Gutiérrez and Gonzalo García de Santa María. Gil was the first of the Santa María line to hold a leadership position in the Plasencia Cathedral, and Gonzalo Gutiérrez de la Calleja served as squire to the bishop and as a church attorney.

These alliances consolidated land and power while masking Jewish heritage. Juan de Carvajal “the elder” married Mariana Gutiérrez de Álvarez, a significant heiress. Cathedral archives show no other local family using the Gutiérrez surname except this converso branch.

Jewish and converso endogamy—marrying within the same extended family—helped preserve identity. Fifteenth-century manuscripts document several Carvajal–Gutiérrez marriages. In 1497, property records name Diego González de Carvajal as a contributor to a chapel in memory of his brother Juan de Carvajal “the elder” and Mariana Gutiérrez de Álvarez. Elvira Gutiérrez de Trejo, a relative of Mariana, married the same Diego González de Carvajal.

Miguel de Carvajal, a Golden Age writer from Plasencia, referenced his Jewish ancestry in his controversial play Tragedia Josefina, which allegorized the biblical Joseph story as a metaphor for converso suffering. He descended paternally from Diego González de Carvajal and maternally from Fulana López and Diego Gutiérrez de la Calleja—described as “renowned New Christians.”

Among those prosecuted by the Inquisition was Inés Gutiérrez of Almagro, wife of notary Gonzalo de Herrera, accused of judaizing. Historian Enrique Soria Mesa documents the Sephardic origins of the Herrera family and their repeated persecution.

Figure 3: Trial record of Inés Gutiérrez.

Figure 4: Trial record of Inés Gutiérrez.

Persecution extended to individuals not bearing the Gutiérrez surname, such as Ana Gómez de Espinoza, widow of Pedro García Gutiérrez, identified as Portuguese (a common synonym for Jewish at the time). While imprisoned, Ana named others with common Sephardic surnames such as Gómez, García, Enríquez, Fernández, and Gutiérrez.

Figure 5: Listing in the auto de fe of Ana Gómez de Espinoza, widow of Gutiérrez.

In Toledo, accused individuals included Elvira González, Isabel de Montalbán Gutiérrez, Leonor Gutiérrez, Leonor Núñez de Paz, Mendo Gutiérrez de Bonilla, Pedro Gutiérrez, Teresa de Castro, Felipe Díaz Gutiérrez, Francisco Gutiérrez de Mazalquivir, and Isabel Gutiérrez de Paz, among many others.

Figure 6: Trial record of Felipe Díaz Gutiérrez.

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