People of blue blood. Do they exist?

This stable word combination - "a man of blue blood" - is perceived today only as an allegory, singling out people of aristocratic origin from ordinary people. But why from the entire spectrum is the blue color chosen as the noblest? There is an opinion that the whole thing is in the thin light skin of aristocrats, through which bluish veins are shining through. According to another statement, people of noble birth never had any relatives with representatives of the lower classes and were extremely proud of this, guarding the purity of their blood. Although this is by no means the only explanation of the surprising concept - blue blood. Expression was born in the early Middle Ages, and maybe even earlier.

What does the story say?

The medieval historian Aldinar (12th century) in his chronicles mentions noble English knights who fought against the Saracens, fell to the ground wounded, but not a drop of blood poured from their wounds! In the same chronicles, the notion of "blue blood" is mentioned. Later, in the 18th century, the expression was very popular in Spain. Noble hidalgo found confirmation of the purity of blood in only one: the wrist should have a thin, light skin with translucent bluish veins. Otherwise, the person was suspected of mixing blood with Moorish or Arabic.

In a more recent history, the concept was actively exploited to promote racism, the superiority of some nations over others. It is enough to recall German fascism and its dominant idea of the blue Aryan blood.

Is there blue blood in nature?

Yes, there are creatures of blue blood in nature. They live mostly in the ocean - these are horseshoe, squid, octopus and other cormorants. There is no substance in their blood that gives a liquid a reddish shade - iron. This is the key word in questions of the color of blood, but more about this later.

People of blue blood. Who are they?

No matter how fantastic it sounds, such people on the planet Earth live. According to different data, their number varies from one to seven thousand. The blue of the liquid flowing through their veins, does not affect their "routine": blood flows in the same way through their veins and carries oxygen. But here's the color of her really bluish. There is an explanation for this. As already mentioned above, red blood is given to the blood cells by iron. In people "blue blood" the role of iron in the blood performs another element - copper, which, reacting with the small amount of iron (which is present), stains the blood in a bluish-lilac shade. It would seem, no fiction. But a man of the usual inevitably raises the question: where are they, these people? Who saw them? Or are they mystical beings? And maybe even aliens? By the way, this is one of the versions.

What does science say?

Science says that in this phenomenon the great wisdom of nature is expressed. Blue blood color or variations with the main pigmenting element - copper instead of iron - is nothing more than a safety net in case of disappearance of one species of living beings. By the way, medieval legends could testify that copper in the blood contributes to the disinfection of wounds, their rapid healing due to the rapid coagulation of blood. Therefore, the blood of the knights did not flow.

In the meantime, all this is only a hypothesis - humanity prefers to use this expression allegorically, giving people of noble origin all sorts of flattering epithets: prince blue blood, aristocrat white bone ...