Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo, the "third king" under Ferdinand and
Isabella, stubbornly refused to allow convents to be founded in his
province, saying that there were already many that were injurious to the
people obliged to sustain them, but this ceased with his death in 1495.
His biographer, Doctor Pedro de Salazar, penitentiary of the cathedral,
tells us that the city of Toledo held a privilege from Alfonso X
prohibiting the erection of convents there. At that time there were six,
but in 1625, when he wrote, these had been enlarged and numerous others
had been founded, so that they then occupied more than fifty royal and
noble houses and more than six hundred smaller ones. The disastrous
influence of this on the prosperity of the place is self-evident and
Salazar regards this portentous development of ecclesiasticism as the
chief cause of the decline in the population of Spain, which he
estimates at twenty-five per cent.[1076]
[Sidenote: _THE BURDEN Of THE CHURCH_]
The consulta of the Council of Castile, in 1619, naturally included in
its enumeration of the causes of national distress the foundation of so
many religious houses, which were filled with those attracted, not by
vocation but by a life of idleness, while their lands were exempt from
taxation.[1077] In a similar mood, the Córtes, assembled by Philip IV on
his accession, made a forcible and somewhat rhetorical representation,
asking for measures to restrain the multiplication of foundations and
the purchases of land, which not only diminished the alcavalas but, in a
few years, would exempt all real estate from the royal jurisdiction and
accumulate all taxation on the miserable poor, thus destroying the
population of the provinces, for it was evident that, if the clergy
continued to increase as it was doing, the villages would be without
inhabitants, the fields without laborers, the sea without mariners and
the arts without craftsmen; commerce would be extinct and, marriage
being despised, the world would not last for a century.[1078]
At the earnest request of the kingdom, which represented that it could
not support these idle multitudes or furnish soldiers for war, Urban
VIII, in 1634, granted a bull reforming the religious Orders and
suppressing some of the Barefooted ones, but the opposing influences
were too strong and it was ineffective.[1079] In 1677 the matter was
again debated, including the excessive numbers of the secular clergy,
but action was postponed until there was a better prospect of results.
The recognized evils were too serious to remain thus pigeon-holed, and
an attempt was again made in 1691, the feebleness of which demonstrates
how completely the Church dominated the State and could not be reformed
without its own consent. The king deplored the multiplication of
convents, and the consequent relaxation of discipline, and the pope was
to be asked for authority to appoint visitors with full powers. The
excessive increase of the secular priesthood, he said, was the cause of
numerous disorders, to cure which the pope was to be applied to for
faculties enabling bishops and abbots to reduce their numbers, so that
all incumbents could live decently. The clergy in minor orders were so
numerous that their exemption from the royal jurisdiction and the public
burdens was a grievous injury to the laity and the bishops were asked to
limit their ordination. The absorption of lands by the Church was an
evil which had puzzled the wisest heads in all ages; many states had
adopted laws regulating this, but he hesitated to have recourse to such
measures until statistics could be gathered, and it could be decided how
to reduce the numbers of the secular clergy.[1080] In short, the Church
was an Old Man of the Sea, strangling the State, which lacked power to
rid itself of its oppressor.
With the advent of the Bourbons there was less tendency to this
hopelessness and, in 1713, the plain-spoken Macanaz, in a report to the
king, presented a terrible picture of the misery and impoverishment
resulting from the overgrown numbers and wealth of the clergy.[1081]
Yet, short of revolution, effective remedy was impossible, and Philip V
contented himself with a decree expressing regret that, without papal
assent or a concordat, he could not afford general relief to his
vassals. While awaiting this, however, he severely characterized the
frauds of confessors in inducing the dying to impoverish their heirs.
Such testators were declared not to be of free will, their bequests were
invalid and scriveners drawing them were threatened with condign
punishment.[1082]
Much of this evil would have been averted had the salutary reforms
prescribed by the Council of Trent been enforced,[1083] but they had
been a dead letter, at least in Spain. In 1723, however, Philip induced
the Spanish bishops to supplicate Innocent XIII on the subject,
resulting in a constitution in which he embodied at great length the
Tridentine decrees as to restricting ordinations and the number of
religious in convents.[1084] It was a tribute to the capacious learning
rather than to the consistency of Macanaz that the Regular Orders
employed him to draw up a memorial to the king, protesting against the
enforcement of the papal decree, in which he lavished praises on them,
and argued vigorously against any restriction on numbers beyond the
capacity of support.[1085] This, however, was but a lawyer's argument
for a client and did not prevent him, in memorials to Philip V, about
1740 and to Fernando VI, in 1746, from expressing his true opinions as
to the evils which were a main cause of Spanish distress--more than half
the land held in mortmain and exempt from public burdens, and the
immense number of those who, in place of being good laborers were bad
priests, wandering around as beggars to the scandal of religion, while
the overgrown religious Orders were useless consumers, living on the
rest of the nation.[1086]
[Sidenote: _THE BURDEN OF THE CHURCH_]
In negotiating the Concordat of 1737, Philip obtained with difficulty a
concession subjecting to taxation future acquisitions, but it was
impossible of enforcement and repeated decrees by him, in 1745, by
Fernando VII in 1756 and by Carlos III in 1760 and 1763, only attest the
powerlessness of the State when dealing with the Church. In 1795 Godoy
dallied with a project of secularizing Church property to meet the
expenses of the disastrous war with France, but was obliged to abandon
the project and only imposed a tax of fifteen per cent, on new
acquisitions.[1087] It was inevitable that the Córtes of Cádiz and the
constitutional Government of 1820-3 should partially carry out what
Spanish publicists for centuries had demanded, and should earn the
bitterest clerical hostility.
As a matter of course the wealth of so numerous, powerful and worldly a
Church was enormous. As early as 1563 Paolo Tiepolo states that the
clergy possessed little less than one half the total revenues of Spain.
He rates the income of the Archbishop of Toledo at 150,000 ducats, and
in addition the church of Toledo had 300,000.[1088] Exemption from
public burdens gave ample opportunity of increase and, at the end of the
eighteenth century, the archbishop was estimated as enjoying an income
of half a million dollars.[1089] Navarrete, in 1624 regards as one of
the leading causes of the hatred entertained for the Church by the
laity, the contrast between its affluence and the general poverty,[1090]
nor is this unlikely for, during the worst periods of national disaster,
the Church seems always to have enjoyed superabundant resources. As its
income, other than the produce of its lands, was largely derived from
tithes, it necessarily varied, from year to year, but was always
enormous. In 1653, we find Plasencia spoken of as one of the four most
lucrative bishoprics in Spain, with an income of 40,000 ducats, but that
there were years in which it had been worth 80,000--and this at a time
when the State was virtually bankrupt, the currency in frightful
disorder, commerce and industry prostrate, and the whole land steeped in
poverty.[1091] Against this, it is true, must be set the habit of the
monarch in calling upon the bishops, as well as on the nobles, for
contributions, as we have seen in the case of Valdés; thus Cardinal
Quiroga, when Archbishop of Toledo, from 1577 to 1594, is said to have
given to Philip II an aggregate of a million and a half of ducats.[1092]
There were also certain papal grants to the crown on the revenues of the
clergy at large, known as the _subsidio_ and the _excusado_ which, in
1573, were reckoned at 575,000 crowns a year and in 1658 at something
over two million ducats.[1093]
[Sidenote: _THE BURDEN OF THE CHURCH_]
It betrays a consciousness of overgrown wealth that all knowledge of its
amount was carefully concealed. In 1741, Benedict XIV granted to Philip
V eight per cent. of the revenues of the clergy, regular and secular,
for that year. The collection of this in Granada was delegated, with
full coercive powers, to the Archdeacon Juan Bautista Simoni who, after
Easter 1742, issued an edict requiring all incumbents, within ten days,
to render sworn statements of their property and income. This aroused
intense excitement. Under one pretext or another all, from the
archbishop down, endeavored to escape the revelation of their wealth;
there were meetings held and open threats were made of a _cessatio a
divinis_ if the measure was insisted on. A compromise was offered of
payment of a double _servicio_, which was assumed to be equivalent to
eight per cent., but they refused absolutely to make a return of
property and income. Simoni seems to have been sincerely desirous of
executing his unpleasant duty with as little friction as possible but,
in reporting this repugnance to make sworn statements, he does not
hesitate to say that its object was to prevent the king from learning
that about three fourths of all the property in Spain was in the hands
of the clergy, secular and regular, and especially of the Carthusians,
Jesuits, Geronimites and Dominicans. It proved to be impossible to
compel the archbishop to make the return, and finally it was compromised
by taking the average of a valuation made during five years of a
vacancy, 1728-32, which resulted in estimating the revenues of the see
at about 39,000 ducats--evidently an undervaluation, although Granada
was reckoned as the poorest of the five Castilian archbishoprics.[1094]
All this wealth and splendor was drawn, in its ultimate source, from the
labor of the husbandman and the administration of the sacraments,
casting a grievous burden on the industry of the land and counting for
much in the general impoverishment. When the little development of
Protestantism in 1558 excited so much dread, it was assumed as a matter
of course that the people would welcome a reform that would bring relief
from the burdens of the church establishment. Jovellanos asks what is
left of the ancient glory of Castile save the skeletons of its cities,
once populous and full of workshops and stores, and now filled with
churches, convents and hospitals, which survive the misery that they
have caused.[1095] So, in 1820, the learned Canon Francisco Martínez
Marina, in indicating the measures necessary to restore prosperity, says
that the first one is to reduce the wealth of the clergy for the benefit
of agriculture and the poor and oppressed peasant, and to abolish
forever the unjust and insupportable tribute of the tithe, a tribute
unknown to Spain before the twelfth century, a tribute which directly
prevents the progress of agriculture and one of those which have
inflicted the greatest misery on the husbandman.[1096]
A clergy thus worldly, and so far removed from apostolic poverty, was
not apt to be devoted to its duties, or to set an example of morality to
its subjects. A project, drawn up by a Spanish bishop, of matters to be
urged on the Council of Lateran in 1512, affords a glimpse into the
deplorable condition of the Church which was so deeply concerned with
the salvation of the Marranos and Moriscos. Few among the laity observed
the prescribed fasts and feasts, and even the Easter communion was
neglected. The priests were negligent and, even in cathedrals, it was
sometimes difficult to have divine service performed. Among the clergy,
from bishops to the lower orders, concubinage was universal and
shameless, while simony ruled everywhere.[1097] The provisions of the
Council of Seville in 1512, and of Coria in 1537, indicate the vicious
and degraded character of the priesthood and the impossibility of
restraining their habitual concubinage.[1098] Alphonso de Castro argues
that if it were not for the protection of God it would be difficult to
preserve religion in view of the unworthiness of the priests and their
wickedness. It is known to all, he says, that the contempt felt for them
arises first from their excessive numbers, secondly from their ignorance
and lastly from their flagitious lives.[1099] Archbishop Carranza is
emphatic in reproving the negligence of the clerics, who were so
indifferent to their duty that they abandoned their churches and might
as well be non-existent, in addition to which were their evil and
scandalous lives and the abuse of their wealth.[1100]
[Sidenote: _CLERICAL DEMORALIZATION_]
This is confirmed by Inquisitor-general Valdés who states that when, in
1546, he assumed the archbishopric of Seville, he found the clergy and
the dignitaries of his cathedral thoroughly demoralized. They had no
shame in their children and grandchildren; their women lived with them
openly, as though married, and accompanied them to church, and many of
them kept public gaming tables in their houses, which were resorts of
disorderly characters. If we may believe him, he resolutely undertook a
reform and effected it at great labor and expense, owing to appeals and
suits in Rome and in Granada and in the Royal Council and before
apostolic judges. Then Francisco de Erasso, a favorite of Charles V,
obtained a canonry and joined those who desired to return to their
former dissolute life, against which, in 1556, he appeals to Philip II
for protection.[1101] The lower ranks of the clergy were no better, if
we may believe the synod of Orihuela, in 1600, which asserts that their
concubinage was the cause of the animosity of the people against
them,[1102] and we have seen, when treating of Solicitation, how
frequent was the advantage taken of the opportunities of the
confessional.
There were few prelates as conscientious as Valdés represents himself.
Alfonso de Castro attributes the existence of heresy to their
negligence; they were so slothful that they paid no attention to their
duties; those who did otherwise were so rare that they were like jewels
among pebbles.[1103] The Venitian envoy, Giovanni Soranzo is less
cautious in his utterance, for he describes them as living luxuriously
and squandering their revenues on splendid establishments; few of them
were without children, in whom they took no shame and for whose
advancement they employed every means.[1104] At the other end of the
scale were the clerks in the lower orders, immersed in secular affairs,
who took the tonsure in order to enjoy the protection from justice
afforded by the Church. These were the despair of those responsible for
public order. Fernando de Aragon, Viceroy of Valencia, complains, August
21, 1544, of the impossibility of enforcing justice owing to the zeal
with which the church authorities protected the tonsure, whether right
or wrong. The officials of the archbishops, he says, have been debased
and ignorant men; whose sole aim has been to save criminals from the
punishment of their crimes. He is encouraged to hope for better things
from the appointment as archbishop of San Tomas de Vilanova, and the
latter follows, September 8th, with allusions to his own sufferings in
consequence of his efforts to remedy this condition, which is an offence
to justice and to God and a great damage to the people.[1105]
[Sidenote: _FANATICAL INTOLERANCE_]
A Church composed of such elements was not fitted to exercise for good
the enormous influence which it enjoyed over public affairs, not only in
shaping the policy of the kingdom but in directing the national
tendencies. The theory was still the medieval one--that the
ecclesiastical power is the sun and the royal power the moon, which
derives its light from the sun.[1106] To its influence, as represented
by Torquemada, was due the expulsion of the Jews; by Ximenes, the
enforced conversion of the Moors; by Espinosa, the rebellion of Granada;
by Juan de Ribera and his fellows, the expulsion of the Moriscos. In the
royal councils, which formed a bureaucracy, prelates held leading and
often dominant positions, and their subordinates were largely drawn from
clerical ranks. In 1602 a proposition to increase the schools of
artillery was referred to a junta presided over by the royal confessor,
which reported that the expense could not be afforded; the schools came
to be under the charge of Jesuits and frailes and speedily dwindled to
nothing.[1107] The position of royal confessor was one of the highest
political importance. Under Charles V he participated in all
deliberations and had a preponderating influence.[1108] Under Philip II,
his confessor Fray Diego de Chaves, played a leading part in the tragedy
of Antonio Pérez. Fray Caspar de Toledo, confessor of Philip III boasted
that, whenever he told the king that a thing must be done under pain of
mortal sin or that it was sinful, he was obeyed without
discussion.[1109] The Regent María Ana of Austria was completely under
the domination of her confessor Nithard, and the letters to him of
Clement XI, on European politics, indicate that be was the real
ruler.[1110] The substitution of Froilan Díaz for Fray Pedro Matilla,
as confessor of Carlos II, was the only step necessary to effect a
revolution in the government and, when Díaz fled to Rome, he was
reclaimed as a fugitive chief minister of state. We have seen under
Philip V the power wielded by his confessors Daubenton and Robinet, and
the part played by Rábago under Fernando VI. What thus ruled the court
was perpetually at work in every parish and every family, where the
pulpit and the confessional exercised an incalculable influence. What
the Spaniard became was what the Church wished him to be. Clericalism
thus, for good or for evil, was a leading factor in controlling the
destinies of Spain, in exhausting its resources, in moulding the
character of its people, and the Inquisition was its crowning work.
Under such influences, the toleration which had been so marked a feature
of the medieval period gradually gave place to a fanaticism finding its
expression in the Inquisition and inflamed into greater fierceness by
the existence and reaction of that institution. There can be no question
as to the sincere devoutness of Charles V, according to the unanimous
testimony of the Venetian envoys, who describe his punctual discharge of
all religious observances and who state that the surest avenue to his
favor was the manifestation of earnest zeal for religion.[1111] Shortly
before his death, he expressed deep regret that he had not executed
Luther at Worms, in spite of his pledged safe-conduct, for he ought to
have forfeited his word in order to avenge the offence to God. In his
will, executed in 1554 at Brussels, he charged Philip II in the most
earnest manner to favor in all ways the Inquisition, because of the many
and great offences to God which it prevents or punishes and, in the
codicil of September 9, 1558, dictated on his death-bed, his first
thought is to repeat the injunction and to urge his son, by the
obedience due to a father, to prosecute heresy, rigorously, unsparingly
and relentlessly.[1112] Philip II needed no such exhortations. From his
earliest youth he had breathed an atmosphere surcharged by the conflict
with heresy; he had been taught that a sovereign's highest duty to God
and man was to enforce unity of faith, not only as a paramount religious
obligation, but because it was an axiom of the statesmanship of the time
that, in no other way, could the peace of a kingdom be preserved. There
is no reason to doubt his perfect sincerity when, in 1568, the Archduke
Charles came to Spain, as the representative of the German princes, to
urge an accommodation with the Netherlands, and Philip, besides his
formal reply, gave the archduke secret instructions to tell the emperor
that no human influence, or considerations of state, or all that the
whole world could say or do, would make him vary a hair's breadth from
the course which he had adopted and intended to pursue in this matter of
religion, throughout all his dominions; that he would listen to no
advice with regard to it, and would take ill any that might be offered.
At the same time he wrote to Chantonnay, his ambassador at Vienna, that
what he was doing in the Netherlands was for their advantage and the
preservation of the Catholic faith, and that he would make no change in
his policy, if it involved risking all his possessions and if the whole
world should fall upon his head. So, in 1574, the instructions to the
commissioners sent to Breda to confer with the deputies of William the
Silent, were to declare emphatically that he would suffer no one to live
under his throne who was not completely a Catholic.[1113] Philip was
merely translating into practice the teachings of the Church and won its
unstinted admiration. Cardinal Pallavicini contrasts the vacillating
persecution in France with his sanguinary rigor, which was not only
grateful to heaven but propitious to his kingdom, thus saved by salutary
blood-letting.[1114]
[Sidenote: _FANATICAL INTOLERANCE_]
It was natural that Philip, in his will, executed March 7, 1594, should
reiterate to his son and successor the injunctions which he had received
from his father. The Inquisition was to be the object of special favor,
even greater than in the past, for the times were perilous and full of
so many errors in the faith.[1115] Philip III had not energy enough to
be an active persecutor and if, under the guidance of Lerma, he expelled
the Moriscos, under the same tutelage he made peace with England in 1605
and a truce with Holland in 1609, to the disgust of the pious who could
not understand any dealings with heretics. Yet he was a most religious
prince, who spent hours every day in his devotions and in examining his
conscience, and who set a shining example by the frequency with which he
sought confession and communion.[1116]
It was a matter of course that he should, in his will, leave to his
successor the customary instructions to foster the Inquisition. As to
Philip IV, we have seen abundant instances of his subservience to it,
during his half-century of reign, and of his readiness to subordinate to
it all other interests. He showed his consistency in this when, at the
dictation of the Suprema, he incurred a war with England through his
refusal to sign a treaty forbidding the persecution of Englishmen in
Spain on account of their religion[1117] and, in his will, executed in
1665, he laid the customary injunctions on his successor to aid and
favor the Inquisition, adding an exhortation to honor and defend the
clergy in all their exemptions and immunities, and earnestly to labor
for the reformation of the religious Orders.[1118]
Carlos II was a nonentity who need not be considered and, with the
Bourbons, we enter on the dawn of a new era, in which fanaticism no
longer dominates the policy of the State. It is true that Philip V, when
abdicating, in 1724, enjoined on his son Luis the preservation of the
faith through the instrumentality of the Inquisition as fervently as any
of his predecessors and that, during the first third of the century,
there was a fierce recrudescence of inquisitorial activity, but we have
seen how the spirit of the age gradually made itself felt and, although
the duty of exterminating heresy was still admitted in theory, in
practice its enforcement was greatly mitigated.
It is difficult for us, in the indifferentism of the twentieth century,
to realize or to understand the violence of the passions excited by
questions of faith, dissociated from all temporal interests, and their
influence on a people so emotional as the Spaniards and so apt, as they
tell us themselves, to be swayed by imagination rather than by reason.
We have seen (Vol. III, p. 284) the whole kingdom of Portugal thrown
into excitement by the theft of a pyx with a consecrated host and that
only the opportune discovery of the culprit saved all the New Christians
from expulsion. It might seem to us a very trivial affair that, on the
eve of Good Friday, 1640, there was posted, in the chapter-house of
Granada, a placard ridiculing the Christian religion, praising the
Mosaic Law, and blaspheming the purity of the Virgin, but it produced
the greatest excitement throughout Spain. Special services were held in
all the churches to appease the insulted deity and to discover the
malefactor. He was detected, in the person of a hermit of the Santa
Imagen del Triunfo, who was arrested, and Inquisitor Rodezno deemed it
advisable to break the inviolable secrecy of the Inquisition in order to
calm the public agitation, by letting the people know that the culprit
had been discovered and convicted. Learned doctors improved the occasion
by printing dissertations in which it was proved that he must be burnt
alive, if no death more atrocious could be invented to suit the
crime.[1119] The fanatical hatred of heresy _per se_, thus sedulously
inculcated and engrained in the moral fibre of every Spaniard is seen in
the statutes of Limpieza, which closed the avenues to distinction to the
descendants of Conversos and of those who had been penanced by the
Inquisition, so that even arrest and imprisonment for a trivial offence
inflicted, according to popular prejudice, an indelible stigma on a
family. We have seen to what insane extent this was carried and what
evil it wrought in the social organization, but more prolific in evil
was the habit of thought by which it was engendered and which it
intensified.
[Sidenote: _SUPERFICIAL DEVOUTNESS_]
Yet practically the religion which was so sensitive as to purity of
faith was of a very superficial character. External observances were
strictly enforced, and the Inquisition was ever on the watch to punish
any irreverence in act or word, yet Alfonso de Castro tells us that, in
the mountainous provinces, such as Asturias, Galicia and elsewhere, the
word of God was so rarely preached to the people that they observed many
pagan rites and many superstitions.[1120] To labor on Sunday or
feast-day was a serious offence, involving suspicion of heresy, yet
Carranza says that more offences against God were committed on Sundays
than in all the week-days combined; those who went to mass mostly spent
the time in business or in talking or sleeping; those who did not go,
gratified their vanity or their appetites; the ancient Jews used to say
that, on their feast-days, the demons left the cities for refuge in the
mountain caves, but now it would seem that on week-days the demons
avoided the people who were busy with their labors and, on feast-days,
came trooping joyfully from the deserts, for then they find the doors
open to all kinds of vices.[1121]
Paolo Tiepolo, in 1563, observes that, in all external signs of
religion, the Spaniards are exceedingly devout, but he doubts whether
the interior corresponds; the clergy live as they choose, without any
one reprehending them, and he is scandalized by the buffooneries and
burlesques performed in the churches on feast-days.[1122] The churches,
in fact, seem to have been places for everything save devotion.
Azpilcueta describes the profane observances during divine service, the
inattention of the priests, the processions of masks and demons, the
banquets and feastings, and other disgraceful profanations, so that
there are few of the faithful who do not sin in church, and few who do
not utter idle, vain, foul, evil or profane words; in hot weather, the
coolness of the churches made them favorite lounging-places for both
sexes, including monks and nuns, and much that was indecent occurred;
they were moreover places for the transaction of business, and more
bargaining took place there than in the markets.[1123] This was not a
mere passing custom. A century later Francisco Santos pictures for us a
church crowded with so-called worshippers, where the services could
scarce be heard for the noise; beggars crying for alms and wrangling
among themselves; two men quarrelling fiercely and on the point of
drawing their swords; a group of young gallants chattering and
maltreating a poor man who had chanced to touch them in passing; people
leaving one mass that had commenced to follow a priest, who had the
reputation of greater despatch in his sacred functions; in a chapel a
bevy of fair ladies drinking chocolate, discussing fashions and waited
on by their admirers--all is worldly and the religious observance is the
merest pretext.[1124] This irreverence was shared by the priests. A
brief of Urban VIII, January 30, 1642, recites complaints from the dean
and chapter of Seville concerning the use of tobacco in the churches,
both in smoking and snuffing, even by priests while celebrating mass,
and of their profanation of the sacred cloths by using them and staining
them with tobacco, wherefore he decrees excommunication _latæ sententiæ_
for the use of the weed within the sacred precincts.[1125] It is evident
that the Inquisition, while enforcing conformity as to dogma and outward
observance, failed to inspire genuine respect for religion.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _RESULTS OF INTOLERANCE_]
It will thus be seen how little really was gained for religion by the
spirit of fierce intolerance largely responsible for the material causes
of decadence which we have passed rapidly in review. The irrational
resolve to enforce unity of faith at every cost spurred Ferdinand and
Isabella to burn and pauperize those among their subjects who were most
economically valuable, to expel those who could not be reduced to
conformity and to institute a system of confiscation of which we have
seen the destructive influence on industry and on the credit on which
commerce and industry depend, while the application of this to the
condemnation of the dead not only brought misery on innocent descendants
but unsettled titles and involved all transactions in insecurity. This
sanctified the ambition of Charles V with the halo of religion. This was
the motive which underlay the suicidal policy of Philip II, leading to
the endless wars with the Netherlands, to the rebellion of Granada and
to the wasteful support of the Ligue. This was at the bottom of the
Morisco disaffection, culminating in the expulsion of 1610, just after
Philip III had practically accepted the loss of Holland by the truce of
1609. The land was robbed of its most industrious classes, it was
drained of its bravest soldiers, its trade and productiveness were
fatally crippled, and it was reduced to the lowest term of financial
exhaustion, all for the greater glory of God, and in the belief that it
was avenging offences to God. To meet the exigencies arising from this,
and from the thoughtless extravagance of the monarchs, the labor, on
which rested the resources of the State, was crushed to earth and
subjected to burdens that defeated their own ends, for they drove the
producer in despair from the soil. Productive industry and commerce,
enfeebled by the expulsions, were so handicapped that they dwindled
almost to extinction and passed virtually into the hands of foreigners,
who dealt under the mask of _testas ferrias_--of Spaniards who lent
their names to the real principals, for the most part the very heretics
whom Spain had exhausted herself to destroy. Trade and credit were
hampered, not only through the vitiation of the currency but through the
ever-impending risk of sequestration and confiscation, and the
impediments of the censorship as developed in the _visitas de navios_.
The blindness and inefficiency of the Government intensified in every
way the evils created by its mistaken policy but, at the root of all,
lay the prolonged and relentless determination to enforce conformity, at
a time when the industrial and commericial era was opening, which was to
bring wealth and power to the nations wise enough and liberal enough to
avail themselves of its opportunities--opportunities which Spain was
invited virtually to monopolize through its control of the trade of the
Indies and the production of the precious metals. There is melancholy
truth in the boast of Doctor Pedro Peralta Barnuevo, in his relation of
the Lima auto of 1733, that the determination to enforce unity of faith
at all costs had rendered Spain rather a church than a monarchy, and her
kings protectors of the faith rather than sovereigns. She was a temple,
in which the altars were cities and the oblations were men, and she
despised the prosperity of the State in comparison with devotion to
religion.[1126]
Isabella and her Hapsburg descendants were but obeying the dictates of
conscience and executing the laws of the Church, when they sought to
suppress heresy and apostasy by force, and they might well deem it both
duty and good policy at a time when it was universally taught that unity
of faith was the surest guarantee of the happiness and prosperity of
nations. Spain, with accustomed thoroughness, carried out this theory
for three centuries to a _reductio ad absurdum_, through the
Inquisition, organized, armed and equipped to the last point of possible
perfection for its work. The elaborate arguments of its latest defender
only show that it cannot be defended without also defending the whole
policy of the House of Hapsburg, which wrought such misery and
degradation.[1127] It was the essential part of a system and, as such,
it contributed its full share to the ruin of Spain.
[Sidenote: _INFLUENCE ON THE PEOPLE_]
That occasionally even an inquisitor could have a glimmer of the truth
appears from a very remarkable memorial addressed to Philip IV by a
member of the Suprema, with regard to the Portuguese Jews. He states
that they consider the rigor of the Inquisition as a blessing, since it
drives them from Spain to other lands, where they can enjoy their
religion and acquire prosperity. He wishes to prevent this exodus, which
is depriving Spain of population and wealth and exposing it to peril,
and to win back those who have expatriated themselves, to which end he
proposes greatly to soften inquisitorial severity in regard to
confiscation, imprisonment and the wearing of the sanbenito, except in
the case of hardened impenitents. He would welcome them back and, even
if their Catholicism were merely external, he argues that their children
would become good Catholics, even as has proved to be the case with the
descendants of the Castilian Jews. Indeed, he goes so far as to urge
that foreigners in general should be encouraged to bring their capital
to Spain, to settle and be naturalized, to marry Spanish wives and thus
minister to the wealth and prosperity of the land.[1128] The worldly
wisdom of this was too oppugnant to the prejudices of the time, which
clamored, as we have seen, for extermination and isolation, and its
sagacious counsels were unheeded. The Judaizers were driven forth, to
aid in building up Holland with their wealth and intelligence, and
Spain, in ever deepening poverty, continued to cherish the ideals which
she had embodied in the Inquisition.
There was one service the performance of which it was never tired of
claiming for itself and is still claimed for it by its advocates--that
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it preserved Spain from the
religious wars which desolated France and Germany. This service may well
be called in question, for the temperament and training of the Spanish
nation render ludicrous the assumption that a couple of hundred
heretics, among whom but half a dozen had the spirit of martyrdom for
their faith, could cause such spread of dissidence as to endanger peace;
yet even should we admit this service, its method, in causing
intellectual torpor and segregating the nation from all influences from
abroad, only postponed the inevitable, while intensifying the
disturbance when the change should come from medievalism to modernism.
The nineteenth century bore, in an aggravated form, the brunt which
should have fallen on the sixteenth. When the spirit of the Revolution
broke in, it found a population sedulously trained to passive obedience
to the State and submissiveness to the Church. It had been so long
taught, by theocratic absolutism, that it must not think or reason for
itself, that it had lost the power of reasoning on the great problems of
life. It was without reverence for law, for it was accustomed to see the
arbitrary will of an absolute sovereign override the law, and it was
without experience to choose between the sober realities of responsible
government and the glittering promises of ardent idealists. Yet the
Revolution passed away leaving matters as they were before. The habit of
unquestioning submission, inherited through generations, has become so
fixed a part of the national character that, as we are told, the people
fail to recognize that they are as completely under bondage to Caciquism
as erstwhile they were to monarchy--that in fact the nation is still in
its infancy and is unfit to govern itself.[1129]
As in temporal, so it has been in the spiritual field. In the turmoil of
the Revolution the Inquisition died a natural death, but the Church
filled the vacancy. It had grown so accustomed to the acceptance, on
all hands, of its divine mission, it had so long enjoyed unassailable
wealth and power, that it could not adapt itself to the necessities of
the new situation and, when it could not rely upon the brute force of
the State, it called into play the popular passions which it had
fostered. As an irreconcileable, it provoked the attacks made on its
overgrown wealth and numbers; it was uncompromising and would listen to
no adjustment, for it claimed the full benefit of the canon law under
which it was exempted from all interference by the State; its attitude
was of immovable hostility to the new order of things, and it suffered
the rough handling that inevitably resulted, courting martyrdom rather
than tamely to permit profane hands to be laid upon the ark. It has thus
continued to be an unassimilable element in the political situation, its
policy directed from Rome and the vast influence of its perfect
organization employed to retard rather than to stimulate progress in
good government and material prosperity.[1130] What may be the outcome
of the pending struggle between Church and State, aroused by the
recognition of civil marriage, it is too early to predict.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _INDIFFERENCE TO MORALS_]
Thus the conclusion that may be drawn from our review of the causes
underlying the misfortunes of Spain is that what may fairly be
attributable to the Inquisition is its service as the official
instrument of the intolerance that led to such grave results, and its
influence on the Spanish character in intensifying that intolerance into
a national characteristic, while benumbing the Spanish intellect until
it may be said for a time to have almost ceased to think. The objects
for which it was so shrewdly and so carefully organized were effectually
attained and, in the eyes of experienced statesmen, at the time of its
fullest development, it was the bulwork of the faith. In 1573, Leonardo
Donato reflects the prevailing view in governmental circles when he
speaks of its authority and severity as absolutely necessary, for the
number of the New Christians was everywhere so great, recently baptized
with God knows what disposition, and with ancestral memories still
vivid, that, if it were not for the incessant watch kept over them by
the Inquisition, there would be great danger that Spain would lose her
religion. In 1581, Gioan Francesco Morosini declares that, although the
Spaniards were in appearance the most devout and Catholic of nations,
yet, what between the Jews, Moriscos and heretics, Spain would be more
infected than Germany or England if it were not for the fear inspired by
the severity of the Inquisition; and the same views are expressed by
Giambattista Confalonieri in 1591, and by the Lucchese envoy Damiano
Bernardini, in 1602.[1131] Yet the faith, thus sedulously preserved at
such fearful cost, was largely, as we have seen, one of exterior
observance, without corresponding internal piety, ready to burst into
flame for the maintenance of a dogma like the Immaculate Conception, and
to earn heaven by paying for masses and anniversaries and chaplaincies,
but not to labor for it by purity of life and self-abnegation, or by
obeying the divine command to earn its bread by the sweat of its brow.
The natural result of this, when brought face to face with modern
conditions, is that Cánovas del Castillo, in a debate in the Córtes of
1869, declared with sorrow that Spain, of all nations, was the one most
indifferent to religion, and a recent author asserts that there would be
no hazard in affirming the Spaniards to be the most irreligious,
indifferent, and practically atheist people in Europe.[1132]
In fact, the dissociation of religion from morals--the incongruous
connection of ardent zeal for dogma with laxity of life--was stimulated
by the Inquisition. As we have seen, it paid no attention to morals and
thus taught the lesson that they were unimportant in comparison with
accuracy of belief. No matter how dissolute was the conduct of the
confessor with his spiritual daughters, he was safe so long as he did
not commit a technical transgression inferring suspicion of misbelief as
to the sacrament, and even when he neglected these precautions we have
seen how benignant was the treatment extended to him. It is true that,
towards the end of the sixteenth century, the Inquisition showed
remarkable ardor in prosecuting those who gave utterance to the common
opinion that there was no sin in simple fornication between the
unmarried, and that in large measure it suppressed the utterance, but,
as it punished only the utterance and not the sin, this did nothing to
advance morality. The same may be said of its ignorant destruction of
works of art which it regarded as indecent and the occasional
prohibition of a book or play that evoked its disapprobation. In the
absence of more serious work a few cases may be found of its undertaking
to vindicate morals, but they are too rare for us to attribute to them
any motive save a desire to intermeddle. The advancement of morality in
fact was no part of its functions as a bulwark of the faith; rather,
indeed, it aided in disseminating corruption by its custom of reading at
the autos de fe sentences _con méritos_ of which the details were an
effective popular education in vice.[1133] The result is seen in the
seventeenth century, when the only heretics were the scattered and
persecuted Portuguese, and yet there has probably never existed a
society more abandoned to corruption--so abandoned, indeed, that even
the sense of shame was lost. Padre Corella was no rigorist but, towards
the close of the century, he draws a hideous picture of social
conditions; everywhere, he says, is vice and crime, lust and cruelty,
fraud and rapine, in the seats of trade, in the halls of justice, in the
family, in the court, in the churches, while the clergy, if possible,
are worse than the laity. Philip IV, who so religiously supported the
Inquisition, was not only notorious for his licentiousness, but amused
himself with scandalously sacrilegious comedies and farces in his palace
theatre, where the scenes and persons of Scripture were made subjects of
ridicule, and this style passed into popular literature and rhymes which
escaped the censure.[1134]
[Sidenote: _CONTEMPT FOR LAW_]
Spanish theology, which was supreme in the sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries, made only one real contribution--the invention of
Probabilism by Bartolomé de Medina in his commentaries on Aquinas in
1577. On this was founded the new science of Moral Theology, devoted to
evading the penalties of sin, and to applying to the decrees of God the
favorite Spanish device for eluding those of the king, by obeying and
not executing. Escobar, held up to an infamous immortality by Pascal,
merely compiled what he found in theologians of the highest authority
and, when the laxity of the Jesuit Moya's _Opusculum_ called forth a
papal prohibition in 1666, repeated in 1680, the Spanish Inquisition
asserted its independence by refusing to put the work on the
Index.[1135] The practical influence of all this is described in a
memorial of nine Spanish bishops, in 1717, to Clement XI, against the
_Consultas Morales_ of the Capuchin Martin de Torricella, in which they
state that Probabilism had undermined all morality and all obedience to
divine, municipal and canon law, and that multitudes lived disorderly
lives under appeal to probabilistic casuistry, for so-called probable
opinions could be had to justify whatever men desired to do.[1136]
If the power of the Inquisition thus was withheld when it might have
been exerted with benefit to society, it was actively employed, under
the later Hapsburgs, to loosen the bonds of social order and stimulate
contempt for law. To it was largely attributable the virtual anarchy of
Spain, during the seventeenth century, arising from the numerous
competing jurisdictions and the contempt felt for the royal officials.
This found its origin in the insolent audacity with which the
Inquisition enforced its claims to jurisdiction. When the royal
officials were excommunicated, arrested and imprisoned without scruple,
and the highest courts were treated with contempt and contumely, respect
for law and its ministers was fatally weakened. That the other
privileged jurisdictions--the Cruzada, the spiritual, and the
military--should follow the example was inevitable, and the social
condition of Spain became deplorable.[1137] In 1677, the Council of
Castile represented to Carlos II the evils thus inflicted on the people
by the two chief offenders, the Inquisition and the Cruzada, the most
oppressive form of which was the abuse of excommunication for matters
purely secular. The Council had endeavored to remedy this, but its
authority had been suspended and it was powerless to protect the vassals
of the crown. Carlos feebly replied that, although he could deprive
them of the royal jurisdiction which they abused, yet he deemed it
better not to do so, and he contented himself with prohibiting the use
of censures in temporal matters--a prohibition which of course was
disregarded.[1138] In the very next year Carlos was made to feel his
powerlessness in the face of the arrogant superiority asserted by the
Inquisition.
When, in 1678, the raid on the whole trading community of Majorca gave
promise of immense confiscations, Carlos prudently ordered, May 30th,
the viceroy to look after the safety of the sequestrations. The viceroy
thereupon asked for inventories or statements and, on their refusal,
made threats of taking further measures. The tribunal reported to the
Suprema which instructed the inquisitors to defend their jurisdiction by
censures and, if necessary, by a _cessatio a divinis_, when, if this did
not suffice, they were to entrust their prisoners to the bishop and sail
for Spain, reporting to the pope. After despatching this defiant and
revolutionary missive, the Suprema, on August 8th, condescended to
inform the king of it in the form of a stinging rebuke. The request of
the viceroy, it said, was an unexampled assault on religion and the Holy
See, and also a profanation of the most venerable sacredness of the
Inquisition; sequestrated property was ecclesiastical property until
confiscated, and to allow a layman to control it would be subversive of
all law, as well as a violation of the secrecy of the Inquisition.
Carlos humbly apologized; he had not meant to show distrust and would
punish the viceroy if he had exceeded his instructions, but he
complained that, without notice to him, the inquisitors should have been
ordered to leave Majorca, and thus cause irreparable evils. The Suprema,
in reply, followed up its advantage. The abandonment of Majorca by the
inquisitors would be a less evil than violating the secrecy of the
Inquisition; the viceroy should have positive orders to keep his hands
off, and the king ought to have consulted it before issuing such
instructions; this would have prevented all trouble, for the operations
of the Inquisition were so special and peculiar that even his superior
intelligence could not understand them without explanations.[1139] This
insolence accomplished its purpose; Carlos was effectually snubbed, and
we have seen how small was the share of the spoils eventually doled out
to him.
[Sidenote: _DOMINATION_]
The Inquisition, in fact, was virtually an independent power in the
state, which asserted itself after the vigorous personality of Ferdinand
had been forgotten. Its aspiration to dominate the land was revealed in
the projected Order of _Santa María de la Espada blanca_ which Philip II
was shrewd enough to crush while yet there was time, but the measure of
independence which it had already attained was seen when the Córtes of
the kingdoms of Aragon sought to get the signature of the
inquisitor-general, as well as of the king, to the concessions which
they secured, and when the Inquisition ignored the royal agreements,
even to the point of deliberately contravening them in the matter of
confiscations. It was manifested, in the affair of Antonio Pérez, when
Philip II was obliged to call it to his assistance, and it followed its
own interests in disregard of the royal policy. So, in the long struggle
with Bilbao over the _visitas de navios_, it virtually set at defiance
both the crown and all the authorities of Biscay. If it helped the
monarchy in the struggle with Rome over the regalías, when it had thus
secured its independence of the papal Inquisition it had no scruple in
turning its powers of censorship against the royal prerogative. But for
the advent of the Bourbon dynasty, it might reasonably have looked
forward to becoming eventually dominant, for it combined legislative and
executive functions, temporal and spiritual jurisdiction, and asserted,
like the Church, the right to define the limits of its own powers. Its
whole career, indeed, shows how baseless is the modern theory that it
was an instrument of the State in establishing the autocracy of the
monarch. If the fallacy of this requires further proof it is
sufficiently demonstrated, even under the first of the Bourbons, by the
fate of Macanaz, whom it dismissed from power and condemned to a life of
poverty and exile because, in the service of the king, he endeavored to
render it what Ranke and Gams fancy it to have been. It is true that, in
its period of decadence, it joined forces with the crown to withstand
the inroad of free thought, which was equally threatening to both, and
that it employed its expiring power to suppress political as well as
spiritual heresy, but in this it was fighting its own battle as much as
that of the monarchy on which it depended for existence.
* * * * *
Defenders of the Inquisition, in the controversy over its suppression
and since then, have relied largely on the assertion that, during its
existence, no voice was raised against it, that all organs of public
opinion and all writers praised it, as the protector of religion, and as
extremely careful to administer exact justice. So far from this being
the case, we have seen its own admissions (Vol. I, p. 538) of the hearty
hatred felt for it and its officials, and we have heard the complaints
of the Córtes of Valladolid in 1518 and 1523, of Coruña in 1520 and of
Madrid in 1575, besides the ceaseless struggles of Aragon and Catalonia,
whose Córtes had not been reduced to servility. What was its reputation
throughout Europe may be gauged by the fact that, in 1535, when João III
was endeavoring to have an Inquisition of his own in Portugal, and there
was talk of referring the subject to the general council then expected
shortly to assemble, his ambassador at Rome, Martinho, Archbishop of
Funchal, warned him that, if the matter was broached in the council, it
would result in abolishing the Inquisition of Spain.[1140] In Spain, its
reputation is to be gathered from the unbiased reports of the Venetian
envoys, who lauded its services in the suppression of heresy, and to
whom, as practical statesmen, it was an object of wonder and admiration,
as a machine perfectly devised to keep the people in abject subjection.
In these reports it is observable that, while all are emphatic as to its
rigor, not one hazards approval of its justice. The envoys were
profoundly impressed by the universal awe which it inspired. As early as
1525, Gasparo Contarini tells us that every one trembled before it, for
its severity and the dread entertained for it were greater even than for
the Council of Ten. In 1557, Federico Badoero speaks of the terror
caused by its pitiless procedure. In 1563, Paolo Tiepolo, after dwelling
on the secrecy and unsparing rigor of its judgements, says that every
one shudders at its very name, as it has supreme authority over the
property, life, honor and even the souls of men. Two years later
Giovanni Soranzo speaks of the great fear inspired by it, for its
authority transcends incomparably that of the king. In 1567, Antonio
Tiepolo echoes these assertions, and all agree in their comments on the
influence of the mysterious secrecy of its operation and the relentless
severity of its action.[1141]
[Sidenote: _HABITUAL SELF-RESTRAINT_]
It scarce needs this testimony to explain why no unfavorable opinion of
the Inquisition is to be expected of Spaniards during its existence,
except by those who spoke as mandatories of the people in the Córtes or
high officials in contests over competencias. Terror rendered silence
imperative, and secrecy made ignorance universal. The discharged
prisoner was sworn to reveal nothing of what he had endured and any
complaint of injustice subjected him to prosecution. Criticism was held
to be impeding its action and was a crime subject to condign punishment.
Writers had ever to keep in view its censorship, with the certainty that
any ill-judged word would ensure the suppression of a book, and any
attempt at self-justification would lead to worse consequences, as
Belando found when a petition to be heard cost him life-long
imprisonment and prohibition to use the pen. When, in the yearly Edict
of Faith, every one was required, under pain of excommunication, to
denounce any impeding, direct or indirect, of the tribunal, or any
criticism of the justice of its operation, restraint became universal
and habitual and, in the instinct of self-preservation, men would
naturally seek to teach themselves and their children not even to think
ill of the Inquisition lest, in some unguarded moment, a chance
utterance might lead to prosecution and infamy. The popular _refran, Con
el Rey y la Inquisicion, chiton_!--Silence as to the king and the
Inquisition--reveals to us better than a world of argument, the result
of this repression through generations, and its efficiency is seen in
the fact that in Toledo, from 1648 to 1794, there was but a single trial
for speaking ill of the Holy Office. Such training bore its fruits when
autocracy broke down under the Revolution and the experiment of
self-government was essayed.
The Spaniard was taught not alone to repress his opinions as to the
Inquisition but to keep a guard on his tongue under all circumstances,
not only in public but in the sacred confidence of his own family, for
the duty of denunciation applied to husband and father, to wife and
children. Even as early as 1534, the orthodox Juan Luis Vives complained
to Erasmus that in those difficult times it was dangerous either to
speak or to keep silent.[1142] The cautious Mariana tells us that the
most grievous oppression caused by the introduction of the Inquisition
was the deprivation of freedom of speech, which some persons regarded as
a servitude worse than death.[1143] We have seen how seriously were
treated even the most trivial and careless expressions, which could be
tortured into disregard of some theological tenet or disrespect for some
church observance, and it behooved every one to be on his guard at all
times and in all places. The yearly Edict of Faith kept the terror of
the Inquisition constantly before every man and was perhaps the most
efficient device ever invented to subject a population to the fear of an
ever-impending danger. No other nation ever lived through centuries
under a moral oppression so complete, so minute and so all-pervading.
That the Inquisition inspired a dread greater than that felt for the
royal authority is illustrated by a curious instance, in which it was
utilized for good in subduing a lawless community. In 1588, Lupus Martin
de Govilla, Inquisitor of Barcelona, in a visitation came to Montblanch,
where no inquisitor had been for many years. He found it a populous
town, torn by factions so bitter that men were slain in the streets,
battles were fought in the plaza, and women at their windows were shot
with arquebuses. After publishing the Edict of Faith he discovered that
witnesses were afraid to come to him through the streets and, regarding
this as a contempt of the Inquisition, he issued a proclamation
forbidding the carrying of arquebuses and cross-bows, and his order was
obeyed. He made an example of one offender by requiring him to hear mass
as a penitent, banishing him and confiscating his arquebus, which
quieted the people, so that the Inquisition could be carried on. Then a
murder occurred, and the regidors procured from the viceroy full powers
for him to pacify the town; by general agreement all placed themselves
under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, as there was no safety under
the royal, and they gave thanks to God that peace was restored, and that
men could move around without arms. Govilla went to Poblet, when news
was brought him of another murder; he returned and imprisoned and
penanced those guilty, who complained to the viceroy, but the Audiencia,
after examination dismissed the complaint, and this strange jurisdiction
of the Inquisition seems to have continued for some ten years.[1144]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _STATISTICS OF VICTIMS_]
Before dismissing the impression produced by the severity of the
Inquisition it will not be amiss to attempt some conjecture as to the
totality of its operations, especially as regards the burnings, which
naturally affected more profoundly the imagination. There is no question
that the number of these has been greatly exaggerated in popular belief,
an exaggeration to which Llorente has largely contributed by his absurd
method of computation, on an arbitrary assumption of a certain annual
average for each tribunal in successive periods. It is impossible now to
reconstruct the statistics of the Inquisition, especially during its
early activity, but some general conclusions can be formed from the
details accessible as to a few tribunals.
The burnings without doubt were numerous during the first few years,
through the unregulated ardor of inquisitors, little versed in the canon
law, who seem to have condemned right and left, on flimsy evidence, and
without allowing their victims the benefit of applying for
reconciliation, for, while there might be numerous negativos, there
certainly were few pertinacious impenitents. The discretion allowed to
them to judge as to the genuineness of conversion gave a dangerous
power, which was doubtless abused by zealots, and the principle that
imperfect confession was conclusive of impenitence added many to the
list of victims, while the wholesale reconciliations under the Edicts of
Grace afforded an abundant harvest to be garnered under the rule
condemning relapse. In the early years, moreover, the absent and the
dead contributed with their effigies largely to the terrible solemnities
of the quemadero.
Modern writers vary irreconcileably in their estimates, influenced more
largely by subjective considerations than by the imperfect statistics at
their command. Rodrigo coolly asserts as a positive fact that those who
perished in Spain at the stake for heresy did not amount to 400 and that
these were voluntary victims, who refused to retract their errors.[1145]
Father Gams reckons 2000 for the period up to the death of Isabella, in
1504, and as many more from that date up to 1758.[1146] On the other
hand, Llorente calculates that, up to the end of Torquemada's activity,
there had been condemned 105,294 persons, of whom 8800 were burnt
alive, 6500 in effigy and 90,004 exposed to public penance, while, up to
1524, the grand totals amounted to 14,344, 9372 and 195,937.[1147] Even
these figures are exceeded by Amador de los Rios, who is not usually
given to exaggeration. He assumes that, up to 1525, when the Moriscos
commenced to suffer as heretics, the number of those burnt alive
amounted to 28,540, of those burnt in effigy to 16,520 and those
penanced to 303,847, making a total of 348,907 condemnations for
Judaism.[1148] Don Melgares Marin, whose familiarity with the documents
is incontestable, tells us that, in Castile, during 1481, more than
20,000 were reconciled under Edicts of Grace, more than 3000 were
penanced with the sanbenito, and more than 4000 were burnt, but he
adduces no authorities in support of the estimate.[1149]
[Sidenote: _STATISTICS OF VICTIMS_]
The only contemporary who gives us figures for the whole of Spain is
Hernando de Pulgar, secretary of Queen Isabella. His official position
gave him facilities for obtaining information, and his scarcely veiled
dislike for the Inquisition was not likely to lead to underrating its
activity. He states at 15,000 those who had come in under Edicts of
Grace, and at 2000 those who were burnt, besides the dead whose bones
were exhumed in great quantities; the number of penitents he does not
estimate. Unluckily, he gives no date but, as his Chronicle ends in
1490, we may assume that to be the term comprised.[1150] With some
variations his figures were adopted by subsequent writers.[1151]
Bernáldez only makes the general statement that throughout Spain an
infinite number were burnt and condemned and reconciled and imprisoned,
and of those reconciled many relapsed and were burnt.[1152]
Imperfect as are the records, we may endeavor to test these various
estimates by such evidence as is at hand respecting a few of the
tribunals. In this we may commence with Seville, which was
unquestionably the most active. The Inquisition had started there, as
the centre of crypto-Judaism; it was the most populous city of Castile,
with nearly half a million of inhabitants, and its unrivalled commercial
activity rendered it peculiarly attractive to the Conversos, while
Isabella's Andalusian decree of expulsion must have largely increased
the number of pseudo-proselytes. In 1524, there was placed over the
gateway of the castle of Triana, occupied by the tribunal, an
inscription of which the purport is not entirely clear, but signifying
that, up to that time, it had caused the abjuration of more than 20,000
heretics and had burnt nearly 1000 obstinate ones.[1153] This is
probably an understatement, if we are to believe Bernáldez, who asserts
that in eight years, from the founding of the Seville tribunal up to
1488, it had burnt in person more than 700 heretics, besides many
effigies of fugitives and an infinite number of bones; those reconciled
during the same period he estimates at 5000.[1154] Still its activity
must soon have greatly diminished for, in 1502, Antoine de Lalaing,
visiting the Castle of Triana, describes it as containing more than
twenty heretic prisoners which he evidently regards as a large number,
but which would argue a very moderate amount of persecution in view of
the leisurely procedure that was becoming usual.[1155] There is
therefore an apparent tendency to exaggerate the achievements of the
Holy Office in the statement of its secretary Zurita, some half-century
or more later, that in Seville alone, up to the year 1520, there were
more than 4000 culprits burnt and more than 30,000 reconciled and
penanced, besides the numerous fugitives, and he adds that an author,
very diligent in the matter, affirms these figures to be exceedingly
defective and that, in the archbishopric of Seville alone, there were
condemned as Judaizing heretics, more than a hundred thousand persons,
including those reconciled.[1156] Cardinal Contarini, when Venetian
envoy in 1525, was evidently misled by this tendency to amplification,
when he describes the Inquisition as having made a slaughter of the New
Christians impossible to exaggerate.[1157]
[Sidenote: _STATISTICS OF VICTIMS_]
Unfortunately no authentic records have seen the light by which to test
the accuracy of these varying estimates of the activity of the most
destructive tribunal during the early period. It is otherwise with
several of those that ranked next to it in importance. For the province
of Toledo, as we have seen, the first tribunal was established at Ciudad
Real where, in its two years of existence, it relaxed in person 47 and
in effigy 98.[1158] Transferred to Toledo, in 1485, its operations at
first were energetic, but they diminished greatly towards the end of the
century until, in 1501, it had a spasmodic period of activity through
the discovery of "La Moça de Herrera" (Vol. I, p. 186) a young Jewish
prophetess, to whose numerous believers no mercy was shown, for those
who had been reconciled thus incurred the penalty of relapse. The total
operations of the Toledo tribunal, from its origin in 1485 until 1501,
amount to 250 relaxed in person, over 500 in effigy, about 200
imprisoned and 5200 reconciled under Edicts of Grace. Of the personally
relaxed, nearly half, or 117, were followers of the prophetess, leaving
only 139 ordinary Judaizers and, of those imprisoned, about 140 may be
accounted for in the same way.[1159] Saragossa was reckoned as one of
the most deadly tribunals in Spain--indeed, Llorente remarks that if he
had taken it and Toledo as the basis of his calculations, he would have
tripled the number of victims.[1160] For this we have the details of the
sixty-five autos, held from 1485 to 1502, furnished by the record
printed in the Appendix to Volume I. Summarized, this gives the totals
of 119 burnt alive, 5 quartered, beheaded or strangled prior to burning,
3 bodies burnt, 29 effigies burnt and 458 penanced, or an aggregate of
614.[1161] The _Libro Verde de Aragon_, moreover, gives us an official
list of the residents of Saragossa burnt, from 1483 to 1574, in
summarizing which it appears that, during these ninety-two years, the
total of relaxations in person was 125 and in effigy 77, including seven
witches, three sorcerers and four Protestants. Tabulation by years
emphasizes the diminution of activity after the close of the fifteenth
century.[1162]
Barcelona is another important tribunal of which we have accurate
statistics during its early years, furnished by the royal archivist,
Pere Miguel Carbonell. From its foundation to the end of Torquemada's
career, in 1498, there were thirty-one autos celebrated in Barcelona,
Tarragona, Lérida, Gerona, Perpignan, Vich, Elne and Balaguer. In these
the totals are only 10 strangled and burnt, 13 burnt alive, 15 dead and
430 burnt in effigy, 1 reconciled in effigy, 116 penanced with prison
and 304 reconciled for spontaneous confession.[1163]
Valencia, of all the tribunals, was the one which best maintained its
activity throughout the sixteenth century, owing to the dense Morisco
population. We have a list of all persons imprisoned for heresy, from
the beginning in 1485 up to 1592 inclusive, amounting in all to 3104, of
whom 530 were contributed by the last four years, 1589-92, when the
persecution of the Moriscos was particularly active. There is also an
alphabetical list of persons relaxed, from the beginning until 1593,
unfortunately imperfect and ending with the letter N, but, by adding
twenty-five per cent. we can obtain a reasonably close approximation to
the total. The list as we have it gives 515 relaxations in person and
383 in effigy, or, with the addition of twenty-five per cent., 643 of
the former and 479 of the latter, being nearly an average of six per
annum of the former and four and a half of the latter.[1164]
Valladolid had the most extensive territory of all the tribunals, but it
comprised the northern provinces, where the New Christians were
comparatively few. It was not organized for work until 1488, making its
first arrest on September 29th of that year, and holding its first auto
on June 19, 1489, when, after nine months' work on new ground, there
were but eighteen relaxations in person and four in effigy. The next
auto recorded did not occur until January 5, 1492, when the relaxations
in person numbered thirty-two and in effigy two.[1165] This, while
sufficiently cruel, indicates that the victims in the northern provinces
bore but a small proportion to those in the southern.
[Sidenote: _STATISTICS OF VICTIMS_]
At the other extremity of Spain was the little tribunal of Majorca,
which acquired a sudden and sinister reputation by the occurrences of
1678 and 1691. It started in 1488 and for some years was fairly active,
lapsing in time into virtual torpor, as far as persecution was
concerned, so that, including its autos of 1678 and 1691, the whole
aggregate of its work for over two centuries amounted to 139
relaxations in person, 482 in effigy and 637 reconciliations, in
addition to 338 reconciled under Edicts of Grace in 1488 and 1491.[1166]
In the later periods there are records which enable us to reach a fairly
accurate computation of the activity of some at least of the tribunals.
A few of these I have had the opportunity of consulting and the
researches of future students will doubtless in time compile tolerably
complete statistics for the second and third centuries of the
Inquisition, after the Suprema had compelled the tribunals to render
periodical reports.
[Sidenote: _CONSCIENTIOUS CRUELTY_]
We have those of Toledo, from 1575 to 1610, not wholly complete, for the
auto of 1595 is omitted, and the MS. breaks off at the commencement of
that of 1610. Toledo, at the time, was the most important tribunal in
Spain, for it included Madrid, yet during these thirty-five years the
relaxations amount to only eleven in person and fifteen in effigy, so
that, allowing for the omissions, there may have been one in person
every three years and one in effigy every two years, while the various
penances number in all nine hundred and four.[1167] Small as are these
results they continued to diminish. For the same tribunal we have a
record extending from 1648 to 1794 and, during this century and a half,
there were only eight relaxations in person and sixty-three in effigy,
the latest execution occurring in 1738. This gives us an average of one
of the former every eighteen years and one of the latter every two years
and a quarter. In addition, there were a thousand and ninety-four
penanced in various ways.[1168] It is true that, about 1650, a separate
tribunal was erected in Madrid, but a list of relaxations there, from
its foundation up to 1754, when relaxation had virtually become
obsolete, gives us only an aggregate of nineteen in person and sixteen
in effigy, or one in every five years of the former and in six years of
the latter.[1169] During the height of the renewed persecution of
Judaizers in the eighteenth century, in the whole of the sixty-four
autos celebrated throughout Spain from 1721 to 1727, the total number of
relaxations was seventy-seven in person and seventy-four in effigy,
making an average of about eleven a year of each class--a grim record
enough, but vastly less than has been popularly accepted.[1170] Nor
must it be forgotten that, in the vast majority of cases, the victim was
mercifully strangled before the fire was set. We have seen how very
small was the proportion of impenitents who persevered to the last and
refused to earn the garrote by professing conversion.
The material at hand as yet is evidently insufficient to justify even a
guess at the ghastly total. Yet, after all, it is not a matter of as
much moment, as seems to have been imagined, to determine how many human
beings the Inquisition consigned to the stake, how many bones it
exhumed, how many effigies it burnt, how many penitents it threw into
prison or sent to the galleys, how many orphans its confiscations cast
penniless on the world. The story is terrible enough without reducing it
to figures. Its awful significance lies in the fact that men were found
who conscientiously did this, to the utmost of their ability, in the
name of the gospel of peace and of Him who came to teach the brotherhood
of man. It is enough to know that the inquisitors used their utmost
efforts to stamp out what they deemed heresy, and the tale of their
victims is not the gauge of their cruelty but of the number of heretics
whom they could discover. Save when pride or cupidity or ambition may
have been the impelling motive, the men are not to be blamed, but the
teaching which gave them such a conception of the duty so relentlessly
performed, and framed a system of procedure which shrouded their acts in
darkness and deprived the accused of his legitimate means of defence.
The good Cura de los Palacios was evidently a kindly natured man, but he
declares that the fires lighted by the Inquisition shall burn to the
very heart of the wood, until all Judaizers are slain and not one
remains, even to their children if infected with the same leprosy.[1171]
In the hurried work of the early period there was no effort made to
induce the conversion that would save the accused from the stake, but,
in later times, the persistent labor bestowed on the condemned, during
the three days prior to the auto, is evidence that the tribunals did not
act through thirst of blood and that they were sincerely desirous to
save both the body and soul of the heretic, in the same spirit that
torture was sometimes piously administered in order to confirm the
sufferer in the faith. Still, at times, there was doubtless a certain
pride in affording to the populace the spectacle of a relaxation and
thus demonstrating the authority of the Holy Office. That the public
should relish the entertainment thus provided was natural, both from the
inherent attraction which the sight of suffering has for a certain class
of minds, and from the assiduous teaching that heresy was to be
exterminated and that the slaying of a heretic was an acceptable
offering to God. The Inquisitor Lorenzo Flores relates that, at the
great Valladolid auto of 1609, where there were seventy penitents, many
of them reconciled or sentenced to abjuration _de vehementi_, the people
murmured because the one condemned to relaxation had professed
conversion in time and had thus escaped the stake, and there were many
complaints that the auto was not worth the expense of coming to see. He
adds that, at Toledo, where there was no one relaxed, the people
declared that the auto was a failure.[1172]
[Sidenote: _PROFITABLE PERSECUTION_]
There is something terrible in the fierce exultation which fanaticism
experienced in the agonies of the misbeliever. Padre Garau, in his
account of the Mallorquin auto of May 6, 1691, gloats with an
exuberance, which he knew would be shared by his readers, on the agonies
of the three impenitents who were burnt alive. As the flames reached
them they struggled desperately to free themselves from the iron ring
which clasped them to the stake. Rafael Benito Terongi succeeded in
releasing himself but to no purpose, for he fell sideways into the fire.
His sister Cathalina, who had boasted that she would cast herself into
the flames, when they began to lick her, shrieked to be set free. Rafael
Valls, who had professed stoical insensibility, stood motionless as a
statue so long as only the smoke reached him, but, when the flames
attacked him, he bent and twisted and writhed till he could no more; he
was as fat as a sucking-pig and burnt internally, so that, after the
flames left him, he continued burning like a hot coal and, bursting
open, his entrails fell out like those of Judas. Thus burning alive they
died, to burn forever in hell.[1173] Such were the lessons which the
Church inculcated and such was the training which it gave to Spain, so
that the auto de fe came to be regarded as a spectacular religious
entertainment on the occasion of a royal visit, or in honor of the
marriage of princes. Incidental to this was the cruel perpetuation of
ancestral disgrace by the display of sanbenitos in churches, which
Philip II rightly reckoned as the severest of inflictions. It
intensified the terror inspired by the tribunal which, with a word,
could consign a whole lineage to infamy. It kept alive and vigorous the
horror of heresy and was aggravated by the statutes of Limpieza.
I hesitate to impugn the motives of those who were active in these
terrible "triumphs of the faith," as they were fondly termed and, as
stated above, the efforts to induce conversion show that there was no
absolute thirst of blood, yet it is impossible, in reviewing the career
of the Inquisition, not to recognize how powerful an adjunct to
fanaticism was the profitableness of persecution. Had the Holy Office
been a source of expense instead of income, we may reasonably doubt
whether the ardor of Ferdinand and Isabella would have sufficed for its
introduction, and it certainly would have had but a comparatively short
and inactive career. We have seen how closely Ferdinand watched its
expenditures and endeavored to keep down its cost, while enjoying the
results of its productiveness, and how grudgingly the crown ministered
to its necessities when aid was unavoidable. We have seen moreover how
eagerly the Inquisition itself grasped at all sources of gain, how it
was stimulated to convict its victims by the prospect of their
confiscations, and how fines and penances were scaled, not by the guilt
of the culprits but by its necessities; how jealously it guarded its
receipts, and how little it recked of deception and mendacity when there
was attempt to investigate its finances. After all is said, the
Inquisition was an institution with a double duty--the destruction of
heresy and the raising of money to encompass that destruction--and there
are not wanting indications that the latter tended to supersede, or at
least to obscure, the former. We may well question the purity of zeal
which provided punishments and disabilities for heresy and at the same
time chaffered over the market price of commutations and dispensations
through which those penalties could be evaded. Not only confiscation but
pecuniary penance and fines were a source of revenue provocative of
continual abuse, and the rage for Limpieza provided abundant
opportunities for extortion. The filthy odor of gain pervades all the
active period of the Inquisition, and its comparative inactivity during
its later career may perhaps be attributed as much to the absence of
wealthy heretics as to the diminishing spirit of intolerance.
* * * * *
Various ingenious theories have been framed to relieve the Inquisition
of responsibility for the remarkable eclipse of Spanish intellectual
progress after the sixteenth century.[1174] It is one of the interesting
problems in the history of literature that Spain, whose brilliant
achievements throughout the Reformation period promised to make her as
dominant in the world of letters as in military and naval enterprise,
should, within the space of a couple of generations, have become the
most uncultured land in Christendom, without a public to encourage
learning and genius, and without learning and genius to stimulate a
public. For this there must have been a cause and no other adequate one
than the Inquisition has been discovered to account for this
occultation.
[Sidenote: _INTELLECTUAL TORPIDITY_]
Indeed, but for the effort to argue it away, it would seem superfluous
to insist that a system of severe repression of thought, by all the
instrumentalities of Inquisition and State, is an ample explanation of
the decadence of Spanish learning and literature, especially when
coupled with the obstacles thrown around printing and publication by
their combined censorship. The tribulations of Luis de Leon and
Francisco Sánchez illustrate the dangers to which independent thinkers
were exposed; the great printing-house of Portonares was ruined by the
exigencies of the Inquisition in the matter of the Vatable Bible. All a
priori considerations cast the responsibility on the censorship of
thought, whether printed or expressed verbally in what were known as
"propositions," and the burden of proof is thrown upon those who deny
it. Their reliance is on the fact that Isabella stimulated the
development of Spanish culture and, at the same time, established the
Inquisition, which thus was in existence for more than a century before
the decadence became marked. This is quite easily explicable. The
Inquisition was founded to extirpate Jewish and Moorish apostasy; in
this it long had ample work without developing its evil capacity in the
direction of censorship, save in such a sporadic instance as Diego
Deza's prosecution, in 1504, of the foremost scholar of his time, Elío
Antonio de Nebrija, for venturing to correct the errors of the Vulgate
for the Complutensian Polyglot, in the service of Ximenez who protected
him and, when inquisitor-general, allowed him to resume his
labors.[1175] With the advent of Lutheranism there gradually commenced
the search for errors; crude Indexes of condemned books were compiled,
reading and investigation became restricted; the pragmática of 1559
forbade education at foreign seats of learning and an elaborate system
was gradually organized for protecting Spain from intellectual
intercourse with other lands, while at home every phrase that could be
construed in an objectionable sense was condemned. For awhile the men
whose training had been free from these trammels persisted, in spite of
persecution more or less severe, but they gradually died out and had no
successors. In 1601 Mariana explained that he translated his History
from the original Latin because there were few who understood that
language; such learning brought neither honor nor profit and he feared
the unskilfulness of those who threatened to undertake the task.[1176]
It is true, however, that Latin was widely studied as essential to
gaining place in Church or State, but to the neglect of everything else.
Fray Peñalosa y Mondragon, in 1629, while boasting of the thirty-two
universities and four thousand Latin schools and of Spanish pre-eminence
in the supreme science of theology, for which there were infinite
rewards, admits that there were none for the other sciences and arts,
which were not regarded with favor or estimated as formerly.[1177] The
intellectual energy of the nation, diverted from more serious channels,
continued through another period to exhibit itself in the lighter fields
of literature, where the names of Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Tirso de
Molina, Calderon de la Barca, Quevedo de Villegas and others show of
what Spanish intellect was still capable if it were allowed free play.
Even these however passed away and had no successors in the growing
intellectual torpor created by obscurantist censorship, and a dreary
blank followed which even the stimulation attempted by Philip V could
not relieve.
[Sidenote: _INFLUENCE FOR EVIL_]
To produce and preserve this torpor, by repressing all dangerous
intellectuality, Spain was carefully kept out of the current of
European progress. In other lands the debates of the Reformation forced
Catholics as well as Protestants to investigations and speculations
shocking to Spanish conservatism. The human mind was enabled to cast off
the shackles of the Dark Ages, and was led to investigate the laws of
nature and the relations of man to the universe and to God. From all
this bustling intellectual movement Spain was carefully secluded.
Short-sighted opportunism, seeing the turmoil which agitated France and
England and Germany, might bless the institution which preserved the
Peninsula in peaceful stagnation, but the price paid for torpidity was
fearfully extravagant, for Spain became an intellectual nonentity. Even
the great theologians and mystics disappeared from the field which they
had made their own, and were succeeded by a race of probabilistic
casuists, who sought only to promote and to justify self-indulgence. How
intellectual progress fared under these influences may be estimated by a
single instance. When, in England, Halley was investigating the
periodicity of the comet which bears his name, in Spain learned
professors of the universities of Salamanca and Saragossa were
publishing tracts to reassure the frightened people, by proving that the
dreadful portent boded evil only to the wicked--to the Turk and the
heretic.[1178] The perfect success of the Inquisition in its work is
manifested in the contrast between the eighteenth and the early
sixteenth century, as illustrated by the statement of Juan Antonio
Mayans y Siscar, that a cartload of the precious MSS. bestowed by
Ximenes on his University of Alcalá was sold to the fire-works maker
Torrecilla, for a display in honor of Philip V, and that several other
similar collections had shared the same fate.[1179] Even after half a
century of Bourbon effort to revitalize the dormant intellect of Spain,
Father Rábago, the royal confessor, grudged the money spent on
historiographers and academies; it was a pure gift, he says, for it
yields no fruits.[1180] In fact, the awakening from intellectual stupor
was slow, for Dom Clemencin tells us that there was less printing in
Spain at the commencement of the nineteenth century than there had been
in the fifteenth under Isabella.[1181]
It is impossible not to conclude that the Inquisition paralyzed both the
intellectual and the economic development of Spain and it is scarce
reasonable for Valera to complain that, when Spain was aroused from its
mental marasmus, it was to receive a foreign and not to revive a native
culture.[1182]
That science and art and literature should thus be submerged was a
national misfortune, but even more to be deplored were the indirect
consequences. Material progress became impossible, industry languished,
and the inability to meet foreign competition assisted the mistaken
internal policy of the government in prolonging and intensifying the
poverty of the people. Nor was this the chief of the evils that sprung
from keeping the mind of the nation in leading-strings, from repressing
thought and from excluding foreign ideas, for the people were thus
rendered absolutely unfitted to meet the inevitable change that came
with the Revolution. To this, in large measure, may be attributed the
sufferings through which Spain has passed in the transition from
absolutism to modern conditions.
* * * * *
We have thus followed the career of the Spanish Inquisition from its
foundation to its suppression; we have examined its methods and its acts
and have sought to appraise its influence and its share in the
misfortunes which overwhelmed the nation. The conclusion can scarce be
avoided that its work was almost wholly evil and that, through its
reflex action, the persecutors suffered along with the persecuted. Yet
who can blame Isabella or Torquemada or the Hapsburg princes for their
share in originating and maintaining this disastrous instrument of
wrong? The Church had taught for centuries that implicit acceptance of
its dogmas and blind obedience to its commands were the only avenues to
salvation; that heresy was treason to God, its extermination the highest
service to God and the highest duty to man. This grew to be the
universal belief and, when Protestant sects framed their several
confessions, each one was so supremely confident of possessing the
secret of the Divine Being and his dealings with his creatures that all
shared the zeal to serve God in the same cruel fashion.
Spanish Inquisition was only a more perfect and a more lasting
institution than the others were able to fashion--as regards
witchcraft, indeed, a more humane and rational one, for no one can
appreciate the service which in this matter it rendered to Spain who has
not realized the horrors of the witchcraft trials in which Catholic and
Protestant Europe rivalled each other. The spirit among all was the
same, and none are entitled to cast the first stone, unless we except
the humble and despised Moravian Brethren and the disciples of George
Fox. The faggots of Miguel Servet bear witness to the stern resolve of
Calvinism. Lutheranism has its roll-call of victims. Anglicanism, under
Edward VI, in 1550 undertook to organize an Inquisition on the Spanish
pattern, which burnt Joan of Kent for Arianism, and the writ _De
hæretico comburendo_ was not abolished until 1676.[1183] Much as we may
abhor and deplore this cruelty, we must acquit the actors of moral
responsibility, for they but acted in the conscientious belief that they
were serving the Creator and his creatures. The real responsibility can
be traced to distant ages, to St. Augustin and St. Leo the Great and the
fathers, who deduced, from the doctrine of exclusive salvation, that the
obstinate dissident is to be put to death, not only in punishment for
his sin but to save the faithful from infection. This hideous teaching,
crystallized into a practical system, came, in the course of centuries,
to be an essential feature of the religion which it distorted so utterly
from the love and charity inculcated by the Founder. To dispute it was a
heresy subjecting the disputant to the penalties of heresy, and not to
enforce it was to misuse the powers entrusted by God to rulers for the
purpose of establishing his kingdom on earth.
[Sidenote: _RETRIBUTION_]
In Spain, under peculiar conditions, this resolve to enforce unity of
belief, in the conviction that it was essential to human happiness here
and hereafter, led to the framing of a system of so-called justice more
iniquitous than has been evolved by the cruellest despotism; which
placed the lives, the fortunes and the honor, not only of individuals
but of their posterity, in the hands of those who could commit wrong
without responsibility; which tempted human frailty to indulge its
passions and its greed without restraint, and which subjected the
population to a blind and unreasoning tyranny, against which the
slightest murmur of complaint was a crime. The procedure which left the
fate of the accused virtually in the hands of his judges was rendered
doubly vicious by the inviolable secrecy in which it was enveloped--a
secrecy which invited injustice by shielding its perpetrators and
enabling them to make a parade of benignant righteousness. It was the
crowning iniquity of the Inquisition that it thus afforded to the
evil-minded the amplest opportunity of wrong-doing. History affords no
parallel to such a skilfully organized system, working relentlessly
through centuries.
The inquisitors were men, not demons or angels, and when injustice and
oppression were rife in the secular courts it would be folly not to
expect them in the impenetrable recesses of the Holy Office. If we have
occasionally met with instances of kindliness and genuine desire to do
right, we have incidentally encountered the opposite too often for us to
doubt its frequency. That the rulers of the Inquisition recognized the
danger of this and sought to diminish it by moral influences is evident
from the admirable prayer the utterance of which, by a carta acordada of
April 13, 1600, was ordered daily after mass at the opening of the
morning session. This implored the Holy Spirit to fill their hearts and
guide their judgements, so that they might not be misled by ignorance or
favor, or be corrupted by gifts or acceptance of persons; that their
decisions might be in unison with His will, so that in the end they
might earn eternal reward by well-doing.[1184] Yet we might feel more
confidence in the sincerity of this attempt to curb by moral influence
the evil tendencies fostered by the system if there had been stern
repression and punishment of official wrong-doing, instead of the
habitual mercy which served as an encouragement.
After all, the great lesson taught by the history of the Inquisition is
that the attempt of man to control the conscience of his fellows reacts
upon himself; he may inflict misery but, in due time, that misery
recoils on him or on his descendants and the full penalty is exacted
with interest. Never has the attempt been made so thoroughly, so
continuously or with such means of success as in Spain, and never has
the consequent retribution been so palpable and so severe. The sins of
the fathers have been visited on the children and the end is not yet. A
corollary to this is that the unity of faith, which was the ideal of
statesman and churchman alike in the sixteenth century, is fatal to the
healthful spirit of competition through which progress, moral and
material, is fostered. Improvement was impossible so long as the Holy
See held a monopoly of salvation and, however deplorable were the hatred
and strife developed by the rivalry which followed the Reformation, it
yet was of inestimable benefit in raising the moral standards of both
sides, in breaking down the stubbornness of conservatism and in
rendering development possible. Terrible as were the wars of religion
which followed the Lutheran revolt, yet were they better than the
stagnation preserved in Spain through the efforts of the Inquisition. So
long as human nature remains what it is, so long as the average man
requires stimulation from without as well as from within, so long as
progress is the reward only of earnest endeavor, we must recognize that
rivalry is the condition precedent of advancement and that competition
in good works is the most beneficent sphere of human activity.
APPENDIX.
I.
ABJURATION OF JOSEPH FERNANDEZ DE TORO, BISHOP OF OVIEDO.
(Bulario de la Orden de Santiago, Libro V, fol. 150). (See p. 75).
Ego Joseph Fernandez de Toro, olim episcopus Ovetensis, coram
Sanctissimo in Christo Patre et Domino nostro Domino Clemente Divina
Providentia papa undecimo humiliter genuflexus vobis E^{mis} et R^{mis}
DD. cardinalibus contra hæreticam pravitatem Generalibus Inquisitoribus
ei assistentibus, sacrosancta Dei Evangelia coram me posita manibus
tangens, sciens neminem salvum fieri posse extra illam fidem quam tenet,
credit, profitetur ac docet Sancta Catholica et Apostolica Romana
Ecclesia contra quam fateor et doleo me graviter errasse quia tenui et
docui respective errores et hæreses formales ac dogmata contra veritatem
ejusdem S. Ecclesiæ, et præcipue quia tenui et credidi quod non
peccaverim nec peccare fecerim ex speciali Providentia Dei in quibusdam
actibus turpibus a me habitis cum foeminis. Quod concussiones et
corporis tremores cum pollutione sequuta attribuendi essent operationi
Dæmonis ideoque absque peccato essent. Quod actus exteriores amplexuum,
osculorum aliarumque operationum inhonestarum essent supernaturales in
causa, adeoque a Deo et a Jesu procederent. Quod prædicta oscula et
amplexus essent immunes a motu libidinis et essent motiva maximæ
humiliationis ex supposita unione cum Deo. Quod facta turpia cum
foemina complici procederent ex redundantia amoris erga Jesum adeoque
a parte inferiore procederent et ex motu ipsius Jesu impellerentur. Quod
stante supposita tam mea quam foeminæ complicis unione cum Deo, posset
utriusque status componi una simul cum exterioribus actibus peccaminosis
omnesque impulsus quos in eandam foeminam habebam, Dei et Jesu essent
impulsus. Quod pessima doctrina a me insinuata Dei esset doctrina. Quod
a Deo haberem donum discretionis, spirituum impulsus et illustrationes
ad agnoscendum spiritualem animæ statum, ipsaque spirituum discretio ac
doctrinarum cognitio, esset lux mihi a Deo infusa, essem super omnes
illustratus, ideoque essem omnibus superior. Quod facta turpia a me
habita cum foemina complici essent exercitium et martyrium a Deo
missum ad utriusque humiliationem et purificationem. Quod deosculando et
amplectendo foeminam complicem in me adesset Jesus ipseque Jesus
mediante me ita ageret et loqueretur. Quod stante dicta supposita unione
cum Deo ab ipso motæ essent potentiæ meæ, memoria, intellectus et
voluntas, ipseque Deus esset meus intellectus, memoria, voluntas et
spiritus idque esset idem, ac tres distinctæ personæ, una Majestas et
unus Deus, et alias credidi propositiones et dogmata mihi in processu
contestata; quæ quidem propositiones tanquam temerariæ, erroneæ,
scandalosæ, Christianæ disciplinæ relaxativæ, male sonantes, periculosæ,
præsumptuosæ, errori proximæ, abusivæ verborum Sacræ Scripturæ,
injuriosæ in Sanctos, insanæ, sacrilegæ, hæresim sapientes, de hæresi
suspectæ, impiæ, blasphemæ, coincidentes cum propositionibus Molinos et
hæreticæ respective censuratæ et qualificatæ fuerunt. Nunc de prædictis
erroribus et hæresibus dolens, certus de veritate fidei Catholicæ, corde
sincero ac fide non ficta abjuro, detestor, maledico, anathematizo et
respective retracto omnes supradictos errores et hæreses, quos et quas
tenui et credidi, et promitto ac juro me nunc toto corde absque ulla
hæsitatione credere et in futurum firmiter crediturum quicquid tenet,
credit, prædicat, profitetur ac docet eadem S. Catholica Ecclesia, et
abjuro, detestor, maledico et anathematizo non solum supradictos errores
et hæreses verumetiam generaliter omnem alium errorem dietæ sanctæ
Ecclesiaæ contrarium, omnemque aliam hæresim et promitto et juro me
neque corde neque voce neque scripto unquam recessurum quacunque
occasione sive prætextu a sancta fide Catholica nec crediturum vel
edocturum aliquem errorem eidem contrarium seu aliquam hæresim. Promitto
etiam me integre adimpleturum omnes et singulas poenitentias mihi a
Sanctitate vestra impositas sive imponendas et si unquam alicui ex
dictis meis promissionibus et juramentis (quod Deus avertat)
contravenero me subjicio omnibus poenis a sacris canonibus aliisque
constitutionibus generalibus et particularibus contra hujusmodi
delinquentes inflictis et promulgatis. Sic me Deus adjuvet et illius
sancta Evangelia quæ propriis manibus tango. Ego Joseph Fernandez de
Toro supradictus abjuravi, juravi, promisi et me obligavi ut supra et in
fidem veritatis præsentem schedulam meæ abjurationis propria mea manu
subscripsi eamque recitavi de verbo ad verbum. Romæ, in palatio
Quirinali hac die, 17 Julii, 1719.--Ego Joseph Fernandez de Toro
Episcopus abjuravi ut supra manu propria.
II.
ABSTRACT OF THE CASE OF CATALINA MATHEO IN 1591.
(Relacion de las causas despachadas en el auto de la fee que se celebro
en la Inquisicion de Toledo, Domingo de la SS^{ma} Trinidad, nueve dias
de Junio, 1591 años.--Königl. Universitäts Bibliothek of Halle, Yc, 20,
T. I.). (See p. 224).
Catalina Matheo, viuda, vezina del Cazar, de edad de cinquenta años fue
presa por el vicario de Alcala con diez y seis testigos de que en la
dicha villa de quatro años a esta parte abian muerto quatro o cinco
criaturas de muertes violentas que era imposible averlas hecho sino
bruxas, y de que la dicha Catalina Matheo y Olalla Sobrina y Joana
Yzquierda eran tenidas por tales publicas, y specialmente la dicha
Matheo. Hizòle proceso y diòle tormento y en el la dicha Catalina Matheo
dixò que era berdad, que podria aber quatro o cinco años que Olalla
Sobrina la abia dicho si queria ser bruxa, ofreciendole que el Demonio
tendria con ella aceso torpe y que era buen officio. Y que una noche por
medio de la dicha Joana Yzquierda la abia llamado a su casa adonde
estando todas tres abia entrado el demonio en figura de cabron, y
hablando aparte primero con las dichas Olalla y Joana las abia abraçado
y despues a la dicha Matheo, porque ellas le abian dicho que tambien
ella queria ser bruxa, y que el dicho Demonio le abia pedido alguna cosa
de su cuerpo, y ella le abia ofrecido una uña de un dedo del medio de la
mano derecha, y que por regozijo del concierto abian bailado con el
dicho cabron y el se abia echado carnalmente con todas tres en presencia
de todas. Y que aquella noche la dicha Olalla la abia untado las
coiunturas de los dedos de pies y manos y en compañia del dicho cabron
abian ydo a una casa y llebando unas brosas en una teja abian entrado
por una ventana a las doze de la noche y echando sueno a los padres con
unas dormideras y otras yerbas puestas debaxo de la almohada, les abian
sacado una niña de la cama y apretandola por las arcas la abian ahogado,
y encendido lumbre con lo que llebaban, y la quemaron las partes
traseras, y quebrantando los braços, y que al ruido abian despertado los
dichos padres, y ellas se abian buelto con el dicho cabron por el ayre a
casa de la dicha Olalla, adonde se abian bestido y ydo cada una a su
casa, y que a la yda y buelta yban por el ayre desnudas, y diziendo de
viga (?) con la yra de Sancta Maria. Y que de alli a pocos dias el dicho
cabron abia ydo una noche a casa de la dicha Matheo y hallandola
acostada la abia forçado y tenido cuenta carnal con ella, diziendo en
esto algunas particularidades y lo mesmo abia tenido otras diez o doze
noches, y en los dichos quatro años otras vezes a menudo, y lo mesmo
abia hecho en las carceles del dicho vicario. Y que a cabo de algunos
pocos dias en casa de la dicha Olalla le abia dado un cuchillo y con el
se abia cortado la uña que le abia mandado y se la abia entregado. Y
otras noches untandose en casa de la dicha Olalla y en compañia de lo
dicho cabron abian ydo a otra casa y ahogado un niño y arrancadole sus
berguenzas, y despues a otras dos casas en diferentes noches y ahogado
otras dos criaturas. Y que una sola vez abia inbocado al demonio
diziendole Demonio ven a mi llamado y mandado. Y pasadas las oras del
derecho se ratifico en la dicha confesion, y el dicho vicario hiço
acareacion de la dicha Catalina Matheo con la dicha Olalla y en su
presencia la dicha Matheo le dixo todo lo arriba dicho, afirmandose en
ello, y la otra negandolo. Y en este estado remitio a la dicha Matheo a
este S^{to} Offº al qual aviendo sido trayda presa en la primera
audiencia que con ella se tubo dixo que pedia misericordia del grave
pecado que havia hecho en lebantarse a si y las dichas Olalla y
Yzquierda lo que dellas avia dicho y de si confessado ante el dicho
vicario lo qual avia dicho por miedo del tormento. Y abiendose
examinados diez y seis testigos en el Cazar consto ser verdad que los
dichos niños abian sido muertos y se hallaron de la misma manera y forma
muertos y maltratados que la sobredicha Matheo lo abia confessado. Y
aviendose substanciado su processo fue puesta a question de tormento, y
abiendose pronunciado la sentencia y abaxadola a la camara para
executarse antes de desnudarse abiendo sido amonestada dixo ser berdad
todo lo que abia dicho antel vicario de Alcala, y en efecto lo refirio
en substancia, aunque en algunas circonstancias mudo alguna cossa,
asegurando mucho ser berdad ansi en la manera del confesar como del
jurarlo, y pasadas las oras del derecho se ratifico en sus confesiones,
y en otras audiencias que con ella se tubieron despues dixo lo mesmo,
negando saber de que fuesen hechos los dichos inguentos ni aber tenido
otro pacto tacito ni expresso con el Demonio mas de que abia dicho, y
dixo las causas que abia tenido de bengarse de los padres en la muerte
de sus hijos que son las mesmas que los padres testificaron, por donde
sospechaban que ellas se los obiesen muerto. Y subtenciose su causa y
votose auto con coroça, levi, doçiento açotes y reclusa por el tiempo
que pareciere.
III.
LETTER OF THE SUPREMA ON THE TUMULT OF MAY 2, 1808.
(Archivo histórico nacional, Inquisicion de Valencia, Cartas del
Consejo, Legajo 17, No. 3, fol. 31). (See p. 401).
Las fatales resultas que se ban experimentado en esta Corte el dia 2 del
corriente por el alboroto escandaloso del bajo Pueblo contra las tropas
del Emperador de los Franceses hacen necesaria la vigilancia mas activa
y esmerada de todas las autoridades y cuerpos respetables de la Nacion
para evitar que se repitan iguales excesos y mantener en todos los
pueblos la tranquilidad y sosiego que exige su propio interes no menos
que la hospitalidad y atencion debida á los oficiales y soldados de una
nacion amiga que á ninguno ofenden y han dado hasta ahora las mayores
pruebas de buen orden y disciplina, castigando con rigor á los que se
propasan ó maltratan á los Españoles en su persona ó bienes. Es bien
presumible que la malevolencia ó la ignorancia haian seducido á los
incautos y sencillos para empeñarles en el desorden revolucionario so
color de patriotismo y amor al Soberano, y corresponde por lo mismo á la
ilustracion y zelo de los entendidos el desimpresionarles de un error
tan prejudicial, haciendoles conocer que semejantes movimientos
tumultuarios lejos de producir los efectos propios del amor y lealtad
bien dirigidos, solo sirven para poner la Patria en convulsion,
rompiendo los vinculos de subordinacion en que esta afianzada la salud
de los Pueblos, apagando los sentimientos de humanidad y destruyendo la
confianza que se debe tener en el Gobierno, que es el unico á quien toca
dirigir y dar impulso con uniformidad y con provecho al valor y á los
esfuerzos del patriotismo. Estas verdades de tanta importancia ninguno
puede persuadirlas mejor que los Ministros de la Religion de Jesu
Cristo, que toda respira paz y fraternidad entre los hombres igualmente
que sumision, respeto y obediencia á las autoridades; y como los
individuos y Dependientes del Santo Oficio deban ser y han sido siempre
los primeros en dar exemplo de Ministros de paz y que procuran la paz,
hemos creydo, Señores, conveniente y muy propio de la obligacion de
nuestro Ministerio el dirigiros la presente carta para que enterados de
su contexto y penetrados de la urgente necesidad de concurrir
unanimemente á la conservacion de la tranquilidad publica la hagais
entender á los subalternos de ese Tribunal y á los Comisarios y
Familiares del Distrito, á fin de que todos y cada uno contribuir (sic)
por su parte con quanto zelo, actividad y prudencia les fuere posible á
tan interesante objeto. Tendreislo entendido, y del recibo de esta
dareis el correspondiente aviso. Dios os guarde. Madrid 6 de Maio de
1808.--Dr. D. Gab^{l} Nevia y Noriega.--D. Raimundo Eltenhard y
Salinas.--Fr. Man^{l} de San Joseph.--Rubricado. Recibida en 9 de Mayo
de 1808.--SS. Bertran, Laso, Acedo, Encina.--Executese como S. A. lo
manda. Rubrica. Valencia.
Certifico el infrascrito Secretario del Secreto del Santo Oficio de la
Inquisicion de Valencia que en el dia once del mes de Mayo del año mil
ochociento y ocho, estando en su audiencia de la mañana los S^{res}
Inquisidores Dr. D. Mathias Bertran, Licen^{do} D. Nicolas Rodriguez
Laso, Dr. D. Pablo Acedo Rico y Dr. D. Fran^{co} de la Encina, entraron
en ella los Ministros, Calificadores, Titulados, Notarios y Familiares
que viven en esta ciudad, á los quales, precedida convocacion para este
fin, se les leyó esta carta de los Señores del Consejo de S. M. de la
Santa y General Inquisicion y en seguida se les exortó por el Señor
Inquisidor Decano á su mas exacto cumplimiento. Y para que lo susodicho
conste doy la presente Certificacion que firmo en la Camara del Secreto
de la Inquisicion de Valencia, en el dia 11 del mes de Mayo de 1808.--D.
Man^{l} Fuster y Bertran, Secretario. Rubricado.
IV.
DECREE OF FERNANDO VII, SEPTEMBER 9, 1814, RESTORING THE PROPERTY OR THE
INQUISITION.
(Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 559).
(See p. 427).
Exc^{mo} Señor:--Por Real decreto de veintiuno de Julio ultimo, se
sirvio S. Magestad mandar restablecer en todos sus dominios el Santo
Oficio de la Inquisicion al pie y estado en que se hallaba el año de mil
ochocientos ocho y que para la subsistencia y decoro de los Ministros y
demas empleados de sus tribunales se restituyesen toda clase de bienes y
efectos pertenecientes á su dotacion, como son frutos, creditos, reditos
de censos, vales y caudales que se hallan impuestos en la Caja de
consolidacion, asi como de los rendimientos de las canongias
perpetuamente anejas al Santo Officio afectas por Brebes apostolicos.
Comunicado este Real decreto al supremo Consejo de Inquisicion para su
observancia consulto á S. Magestad lo que en su razon tubo por
combeniente al cabal cumplimiento de las piadosas Reales intenciones,
manifestando al propio tiempo los ruinosos y destruidos que se hallaban
los edificios destinados al tribunal del Santo Oficio, estravio de sus
papelea mas interesantes, ya de causas de fe, ya de la Hacienda del Real
fisco que fueron presa de los executores de los decretos de abolicion de
los tribunales de Inquisicion. Enterado S. Magestad de todo y deseoso de
llevar á debido efecto su citado Real Decreto de veinteuno de Julio ha
resuelto se pongan desde luego sin demora ni detencion alguna á
disposicion de los tesoreros de los respectivos tribunales de
Inquisicion todas las fincas y efectos de qualquiera clase que sean
pertinecientes al tribunal y que en este concepto hayan sido
secuestrados, confiscados, detenidos ó aplicados á lo que se llama
hacienda publica ó Nacional, devolviendo todos los titulos de propiedad
y legitimacion de creditos que hubiesen recebido y cortando la cuenta el
dia veinteuno de Julio del presente año den razon de las personas
obligadas al pago de sus arrendamientos y obligaciones con expression de
sus cantidades y procedencias.
De orden del Rey lo comunico á V. E. para su inteligencia y puntual
cumplimiento, y á fin de que esta real resolucion la haga circular á los
Gobernadores, Intendentes, Directores del credito publico ó sugetos
encargados de la Real recaudacion de intereses en los Pueblos de sus
distritos. Dios guarde á V. E. muchos años. Madrid, 3 de Setiembre de
1814.
S^{r} Virrey y Capitan General de etc.
V.
DECREE OF SUPPRESSION, MARCH 9, 1820.
(Miraflores, Documentos á los qué se hace referencia en los Apuntes
histórico-criticos, I, 93.--Rodrigo, Historia Verdadera, III, 494). (See
p. 436).
Considerando que es incompatible la existencia del Tribunal de la
Inquisicion con la constitucion de la Monarquia Española promulgada en
Cádiz en 1812 y que por esta razon lo suprimieron las Córtes generales y
estraordinarias por decreto de 22 de Febrero de 1813, previa una madura
y larga discusion: oida la opinion de la Junta formada por decreto de
este dia, y conformandome con su parecer, he venido en mandar que desde
hoy quede suprimido el referido Tribunal en toda la Monarquia y por
consecuencia el Consejo de la Suprema Inquisicion, poniendose
inmediatamente en libertad á todos los presos que estén en sus cárceles
por opiniones políticas ó religiosas, pasandose á los Reverendos Obispos
las causas de estos últimos en sus respectivas Diócesis para que las
sustancien y determinen con arreglo en todo al espresado decreto de las
Córtes estraordinarias. Tendréislo entendido y dispondréis lo
conveniente á su cumplimiento. Palacio, 9 de Marzo de 1820. Esta
rubricado. Al Secretario de Gracia y Justicia.
VI.
THE LAST VOTE OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, FEBRUARY 10, 1820.
(Libro de Votos Secretos, Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 890).
(See p. 437).
Toledo.--Don Manuel de la Peña Palacios.
En el consejo á 10 de Febrero de 1820. Señores Hevia, Ettenhard,
Amarilla, Galarza, Martinez, Beramendi, Prado.--Hagan justicia como lo
tienen acordado.
Voto del Tribunal. En el Santo Oficio de Toledo en 29 dias del mes de
Enero de 1820, estando en la audiencia de su mañana el Señor Inquisidor
Doctor Don José Francisco Bordujo y Rivas (que asiste solo) haviendo
visto esta causa contra Don Manuel de la Peña Palacios, Presbitero Cura
que fué del lugar de Ontoba y actualmente de Torrejon del Rey en este
arzobispado por delitos de proposiciones y propagar doctrinas peligrosas
contrarias al sentir de la Iglesia: Dixo, Que su voto y parecer es que á
este reo á puerta cerrada en la sala de Audiencia y a presencia del
Secretario de la causa se le reprenda amoneste y conmine por las
proposiciones propaladas ya en sus sermones ya en sus conversaciones
familiares; se le absuelva ad cautelam y por quince dias se le exercite
spiritualmente en el convento de Padres Carmelitas Descalzos de esta
Ciudad al cargo de Director que se le señale; se le advierta que por
ahora le trata el Tribunal con toda conmiseracion y clemencia por
haverselo implorado en las audiencias que con él se han tenido y por
esperar su total enmienda en el modo irregular con que hasta aqui se ha
conducido con sus Feligreses y se estará á la mira de su conducta y
operaciones; y antes de executarse se remita á S. A. con todos los
expedientes que han precedido para su aprobacion; y lo rubricó de que
certifico. Está rubricado.--D. Domingo Sanchez Fijon, Secretario.
VII.
DICTAMEN OF THE CONSEJO DE GOBIERNO ON THE DECREE EXTINGUISHING THE
INQUISITION.
(Archivo de Alcalá Ministerio de Estado, Legajo 906, n. 88). (See p.
467).
Señor Secretario de Estado y del Despacho de Gracia y Justicia.
Ex^{mo} Señor: He recibido el oficio de V. E. de 9 del presente con el
proyecto de decreto en que se declara suprimido el Tribunal de la
Inquisicion, se adjudican sus bienes y rentas á la estincion de la deuda
publica y se fija la suerte de los dependientes del Tribunal, cuyo
proyecto remite V. E. de Real orden al Consejo por que lo examine y
esponga su dictamen.
Enterado de todo y despues de una detenida discusion ha acordado el
Consejo manifieste á V. E. que reconoce la conveniencia de coadyubar al
sostenimiento del credito del Estado por cuantos medios esten al alcance
del Gobierno y reconoce asi mismo que los bienes de la Inquisicion
(suprimida á lo menos de hecho por el Rey difunto que nunca permitió que
restableciese) podran proporcionar algun ausilio á la caja de
amortization sin agravio de nadie, pues en el proyecto de Decreto se
establece el conveniente para asegurar á los empleados del Tribunal las
asignaciones que les correspondan segun sus circunstancias y
clasificaciones.
Por estas consideraciones no halla reparo el Consejo en que S. M.
apruebe en lo substancial el proyecto de Decreto aunque en su dictamen
podrian hacerse en el las siguientes modificaciones.
1ª En la parte del preambulo donde hablando de la autoridad Pontificia
se usa de la espresion: _Primado de la Iglesia universal_, cree el
consejo que podria seguirse el uso constante de designar dicha autoridad
Pontificia con el nombre de Santa Sede ó Sumo Pontifice; no porque el
Consejo desconozca la propiedad del titulo de Primado de la Iglesia
universal con arreglo á los sacros canones, sino porque en materia de
denominaciones y fórmulas es siempre preferible el uso de las
establecidas y mas comunes que inovarlas, porque puede darse lugar à que
se crea que la inovacion envuelva algun designio que la malignidad
interpreta segun su antojo.
2ª Cuando en el Artº 1º se dice _que se declara suprimido el Tribuno de
la Inquisicion_ podra darse motivo á que se infiera por esta espresion
que el Gobierno lo había creido subsistente hasta el dia de derecho:
cuya idea no parece enteramente exacta, pues el Señor Don Fernando 7º
resistiendo siempre á las gestiones de alcunas corporaciones para su
restablecimiento, y habiendo restituido á los Arzobispos y Obispos el
conocimiento sobre las causas de fe que les corresponde por derecho
comun dió bastante á entender que su Real animo estaba decidido á la
estincion de la Inquisicion aunque por ciertas consideraciones no la
hubiere pronunciado mas esplicitamente, cree pues el Consejo preferible
que en dicho articulo se haga algun mencion de lo hecho por el difunto
Rey sobre esta materia, á que aparezca dicha estincion como un acto de
la Regencia en su totalidad: Y si no juzga S. M. que haya necesidad de
ello, por lo menos el Consejo cree que al espresado articulo combendra
añadir la palabra definitivamente, para que diga se declara suprimido
definitivamente el Tribunal de la Inquisicion.
3º El consejo entiende que en la actualidad convendria suprimir
enteramente el Artº 4º por el que se autoriza al Señor Secretario del
Despacho de Hacienda para la pronta enagenacion de las fincas: pues
habiendose vendido muchas de ellas en tiempo del Gobierno
constitucional, y no siendo posible todavia hacer distincion alguna
entre las que se enageraron y las que no se enageraron en dicha época
hasta que las Córtes examinen la grave cuestion relativa á los
compradores de bienes nacionales, podria darse motivo á que se
sospechase que se decidia este punto general por el presente Decreto de
una manera indirecta, mandando vender todos los bienes de la Inquisicion
indistintamente y sin hacer diferencia alguna entre los enagenados y los
non enagenados. Parece pues que por ahora combiene limitarse á lo que se
previene en el Artº 2º aplicando la masa de los bienes de la Inquisicion
á la estincion de la deuda publica sin mas esplicacion.
4º El artº 6º en que se ordena que los sueldos de los empleados del
Tribunal se paguen del Tesoro público, cree el Consejo que podria
modificarse mandando que este pago se hiciese por la caja de
Amortizacion pues no parece justo imponer este nuebo gravamen al Real
Tesoro cuando nada es mas natural que satisfacer el gravamen vitalicio
que pesa sobre los bienes y rentas del Tribunal por el mismo
establecimiento adonde han á ingresar sus productos. Esto no ofrecerá
inconveniente aun despues que se vendan todas las fincas que pertenecian
á la Inquisicion, pues siempre quedarán las ciento y una Canongias de
que habla el Artº 3º del proyecto que no son susceptibles de
enagenacion, y con cuyo producto habrá mas que lo suficiente para pagar
a los cesantes del ramo cuyo número se hallará muy reducido por los que
han fallecido ó pasado á otros destinos desde el año de 1823 hasta el
dia, y se reducira todabia mas por las disposiciones de los Art^{os} 5º
y 6º del mismo proyecto de Decreto.
Lo que por acuerdo del Consejo digo á V. E. en contestacion á su citado
oficio con devolucion del Proyecto.
Dios etc. Madrid, 13 de Julio de 1834. El Conde de Ofalía.
VIII.
DECREE OF JULY 15, 1834, ABOLISHING THE INQUISITION.
(Printed by Castillo y Ayensa, Negociaciones con Roma, Madrid, 1859.
Tom. I, Append, p. 165). (See p. 468).
Deseando aumentar el crédito público de la Nacion por todos los medios
compatibles con los principios de justicia: teniendo en consideracion
que mi augusto Esposo (Q. E. E. G.) creyó bastante eficaz al
sostenimiento de la Religion del Estado la nativa é imprescriptible
autoridad de los muy RR. Arzobispos y RR. Obispos, protegida cual
corresponde por las leyes de la Monarquia: que mi Real decreto de 4 de
Enero próximo pasado ha dejado en manos de dichos Prelados la censura de
los escritos concernientes á la fe, á la moral y disciplina, para que se
conserve ileso tan precioso depósito: que están ya concluidos los
trabajos del Código criminal en que se establecen las convenientes penas
contra los que intenten vulnerar el respeto debido á nuestra Santa
Religion; y que la Junta eclesiástica, creada por mi Real decreto de 22
de Abril se ocupa de proponer cuanto juzgue conducente á tan importante
fin, para que provea yo de remedio hasta donde alcance el Real
Patronato, y con la concurrencia de la Santa Sede en cuanto menester
fucre: en nombre de mi excelsa Hija Doña Isabel II, oido el Concejo de
Gobierno y el de Ministros, he venido en mandar lo siguiente: Articolo
Iº. Se declara suprimido definitivamente el Tribunal de la Inquisicion.
2º Los predios rústicos y urbanos, censos ú otros bienes con que le
habia dotado la piedad soberana ó cuya adquisicion le proporcionó por
medio de leyes dictadas para su proteccion, se adjudican á la extincion
de la Deuda pública. 3º Las ciento una canongias que estaban agregadas á
la Inquisicion se aplican al mismo objeto, con sujecion á mi Real
decreto de 9 de Marzo último y por el tiempo que expresan las Bulas
apostólicas sobre la materia. 4º Los empleados de dicho Tribunal y sus
dependencias que posean prebendas eclesiásticas ú obtengan cargos
civiles de cualquiera clase con sueldo, no tendrán derecho á percibir el
que les correspondia sobre los fondos del mismo Tribunal, cuando servian
en él sus destinos. 5º Todos los demas empleados, mientras no se les
proporcione otra colocacion, percibirán exactamente de la Caja de
Amortizacion el sueldo que les corresponda, segun clasificacion que
solicitarán ante la Junta creada al efecto. Tendréislo entendido y
dispondreis lo necesario á su cumplimiento. En San Ildefonso á 15 de
Julio de 1834.--A. D. Nicolás María Garelly.
IX.
PRAYER RECITED DAILY AT OPENING OF MORNING SESSION.
(Biblioteca nacional, Seccion de MSS. D, 122, fol. 1). (See p. 583).
Adsumus Domine, Sancte Spiritus, adsumus quidem peccati immanitate
detenti, sed in nomine tuo specialiter aggregati. Veni ad nos, adesto
nobis, dignari illabi cordibus nostris; doce nos quid agamos, quo
gradiamus; ostende quid officere debeamus ut, te auxiliante, tibi in
omnibus placere valeamus. Esto salus et suggestor et effector judiciorum
nostrorum, qui solus cum Deo patre et ejus Filio nomen possides
gloriosum. Non nos patiaris perturbatores esse justitiæ qui summam
diligis æquitatem, ut in sinistrum nos ignorantia non trahat, non favor
infectat, non acceptio muneris vel personæ corrumpat, sed junge nos tibi
efficaciter solius tuæ gratiæ dono ut simus in te unum et in nullo
deviemus a vero quatenus in nomine tuo collecti, sic in cunctis teneamus
cum moderamine pietatis justitiæque ut hic a te in nullo dissentiat
sententia nostra, ut in futuro pro bene gestis consequamur premia
sempiterna. Amen.
INDEX.
Abad y la Sierra, Inq.-genl., iv, 293, 294
his resignation, i, 321
proposes reform, iv, 393
Abenamir Brothers, case of, iii, 362
Abencerrages leave Spain, iii, 318
Abd-el-mumin persecutes Jews, i, 51
Abderrhaman II, his embassy to Otho the Great, i, 47
Abiatar Aben Crescas cures Juan II, i, 75
_Abito y cárcel_, ii, 411
_penitencial_, iii, 163
Abjuration, _de levi_ and _de vehementi_, iii, 124
formulas, iii, 124
effects of, ii, 143; iii, 125, 126, 178
with acquittal, iii, 106
in sorcery, iv, 198
for propositions, iv, 143
in bigamy, iv, 319, 321
_Abogado de los presos_, ii, 250; iii, 45
_fiscal_, ii, 250.
See also Advocate.
Abolition of Inqn. suggested in 1704, ii, 176.
in 1798 and 1799, iv, 395, 397
by Córtes in 1813, iv, 411
decrees of, in 1820 and 1834, iv, 436, 467, 541, 543, 545
_Abonos_, iii, 63
Abravanel, Isaac, his financial services, i, 131
Absent, prosecution of the, ii, 466, 467;
iii, 80, 86
effigies of, burnt, i, 183
can return and claim trial, iii, 89
disabilities of children of, iii, 176
and dead, procurator for, iii, 50
Absence from duty, ii, 226
Absolution for occult heresy, ii, 20
for formal heresy, ii, 23
under indulgences, ii, 25
revocation of, ii, 591
dependent on denunciation, iv, 106, 108
in solicitation, iv, 121, 126
by accomplice in sin, iv, 95, 113
papal letters of, ii, 104, 113, 590
Absolutism, development of, iv, 249, 473
of Fernando VII, iv, 454
Abu Ishac, his satire, i, 51
Abu Jusuf, i, 54, 56
Abu-l-Haçan provokes war with Granada, i, 21
Abuses repressed by Ferdinand, i, 187
in Barcelona, i, 529
of commissioners, ii, 269
in confiscation, ii, 346
of fines and penances, ii, 397
Academy of History, its censorship, iii, 489
Accomplice, absolution of, by partner in sin, iv, 95, 113
Accomplices, their denunciation essential, ii, 460, 462, 577; iii, 199, 371
torture to discover them, iii, 10, 11
in witchcraft, iv, 213, 234
of familiars, i, 445
Account of a receiver, i, 294; ii, 446 600
Accumulation of cases for autos, iii, 72, 77
_Accusatio_, ii, 479
Accusation, formula of, iii, 41
to be presented within ten days, iii, 76, 78
affects _limpieza_, ii, 311
Accused, protection of, in Aragon, ii, 466
position of, in Inqn., ii, 482
identification of, ii, 553
his genealogy taken, iii, 38
sworn to secrecy, ii, 473
charges withheld from, iii, 39
not allowed to select advocate, iii, 45, 52
can always obtain audience, iii, 37
his examinations, iii, 70
examined as to property, ii, 321
expenses thrown on him, ii, 494; iii, 35
required to answer accusation, iii, 42
his witnesses, ii, 539
treatment of his evidence, ii, 543
kept in ignorance of sentence, iii, 94
Accuser, liability of, ii, 466
sworn to secrecy, ii, 473
Acevedo, Abp., publishes papal decree, iii, 536
Acquittal, iii, 105
decreasing number of, iii, 112
honors paid in case of, ii, 561
with abjuration, iii, 106
with punishment, iii, 107
Activity, diminished in 18th century, iv, 388
change in its objects, iv, 391
political, iv, 248
disappearance of feudalism, iv, 249
trivial use by Ferdinand, iv, 251
the Germanía, iv, 252
case of Jeanne d'Albret, iv, 253
of Antonio Pérez, iv, 254
occasional cases, iv, 273
in War of Succession, iv, 275
used by Bourbons, iv, 276
under the Restoration, iv, 277
export of horses, iv, 278
coinage, iv, 283
Acts of heretics invalid, ii, 325, 327
Acuña, Bp. of Zamora, case of, ii, 44
Adam, cult of, iv, 357
_Ad beneplacitum_, commissions, i, 176; ii, 161
_Adivinas_, iv, 180
Adjuration for mercy, iii, 184, 185, 188
_Ad perpetuam rei memoriam_, ii, 545
Adrian, Cardinal, made inq.-general, i, 181, 216
restores Calcena and Aguirre, i, 215
action in the case of Prat, i, 277
powers of appointment, i, 298
seeks to appoint successor, i, 303
requires episcopal concurrence, ii, 14
refers appeals to Manrique, ii, 121, 126
case of Blanquina Díaz, ii, 122
shares in confiscations, ii, 383
prescribes kindness to prisoners, ii, 524
seeks to relieve Moriscos, iii, 328
suppresses Lutheran books, iii, 413, 421
inaugurates censorship, iii, 481
annexes Military Orders to crown, i, 34
Advocates allowed to accused, iii, 43
papers furnished to, iii, 44, 48
selection of, iii, 45, 52
restrictions on, iii, 44, 48, 49
their functions, iii, 47, 56, 69
become officials, iii, 45
ask places at autos, iii, 46
Affonso V on Jewish ostentation, i, 96
_Afrancesados_, iv, 400
classed as Jansenists, iv, 297
Agde, Council of, on Jews, i, 39
Age requirements of officials, ii, 220, 233, 236, 279
Age of responsibility, ii, 3, 536
minimum, for witnesses, ii, 536
for confiscation, ii, 321
for reconciliation, iii, 150, 206
for prison, iii, 161
for disabilities, iii, 174
Age, old, scourging in, iii, 137
exempts from galleys, iii, 140
no exemption from torture, iii, 13
Agent, Roman, of Inqn., ii, 110
_Agermanados_, iii, 346
_Agraviados_, iv, 456
Agriculture, burdens on, iv, 478
Agueda de Luna, case of, iv, 76
Aguilar, Inq.-genl., his death, ii, 172
Aguirre, dismissed and restored, i, 215
shares in Seville composition, ii, 362
Ailly, Cardinal d', on Jews, i, 82
_Ajodadores_, iv, 180
Albarracin, conversion of Moors of, iii, 345
Albaycin, depopulation of, iii, 339
Alberghini, his definitions of propositions, iv, 139
on witchcraft, iv, 240
on suspicion, iii, 123
Alberoni, Card., i, 317, 318
Albertino, Arnaldo, his works, ii, 475
on mercy to Jews, i, 144
on Time of Mercy, ii, 461
on _consulta de fe_, iii, 73
on the Sabbat, iv, 211, 217
on clerical marriage, iv, 337
Alberto, Miguel, his _Repertorium_, ii, 475
Albertus Magnus on coerced baptism, iii, 349
_Alboraycos_, i, 146
Albornoz, Carlos, ii, 220, 455
Albrecht of Austria as inq.-genl., iii, 265
Albret, Jeanne d', sends missionaries, iii, 450
her prosecution, iv, 253
_Alcaide de las cárceles_, ii, 248
his duties, ii, 515, 519
Alcaide of penitential prison, ii, 249
Alcalá, University of, admits Conversos, ii, 287
MSS. of, burnt, iv, 530
_Alcaldes de Casa y Corte excommunicated_, i, 382
Alcántara, Pedro de, on observances, iv, 3
Alcaraz, Firmin de, iv, 92, 93
Alcaraz, Pedro Rúiz de, a mystic, iv, 8
Alcaraz, tribunal of, i, 541
_Alcavala_, iv, 479
penitents exempt from, iii, 150, 155
officials subject to, i, 377
Alexander II tolerates Jews, i, 88
Alexander III on Jewish synagogues, i, 81
prescribes confiscation, ii, 316
limits canonization, iv, 356
Alexander IV on disabilities of descendants, iii, 173
on sorcery, iv, 184
on usury, iv, 372
Alexander VI praises Torquemada, i, 174
appoints four inqs.-genl., i, 178
grants the penances to Ferdinand, i, 338
rehabilitations, ii, 402
patronage, ii, 416
canonries to Inqn., ii, 423
insists on episcopal concurrence, ii, 12
reserves jurisdiction over bps., ii, 43, 44
his treatment of appeals, ii, 113, 116
his speculative Inqn., ii, 114
allows laymen as inqrs., ii, 234
excludes Conversos, ii, 286
authorizes galley-service, iii, 140
charges bishops with censorship, iii, 480
Alexander VII, his jubilee indulgence, ii, 26
confirms subjection of regulars, ii, 37
on Villanueva's case, ii, 157
objects to fines, ii, 400
opposes relief of New Christians, iii, 284
on absolution in solicitation, iv, 113
condemns Jansenism, iv, 287
on Immaculate Conception, iv, 369
Alexander VIII persecutes Pelagini, iv, 46
attacks Molinos, iv, 54
persecutes mystics, iv, 60
See also Ottoboni.
Alexandria, expulsion of Jews from, i, 38
captured by Muladíes, i, 49
Alfonso VI deports Mozárabes, i, 47
takes refuge with Moors, i, 53
his policy with Moors, i, 58
with Mudéjares, i, 61
Alfonso el Batallador, i, 48
Alfonso X limits spiritual courts, i, 15
is aided by Moors, i, 54
descriminates against Jews, i, 61
patronizes Jews, i, 89, 99
on trade with Moors, i, 56
burning for renegades, iii, 183
on sorcery, iv, 180
Alfonso XI restores order, i, 3
loses Gibraltar, i, 54
policy with Jews, i, 95, 100
claims half of confiscations, ii, 316
Alfonso VI (Aragon) expels Jews from Barcelona, i, 110
Alfonso of Aragon made Archbp. of Saragossa, i, 13
Alguazil, his position and functions, ii, 245
pays prison expenses, ii, 210, 259
Alguaziles of commissioners, ii, 270
of Moriscos, their exactions, iii, 370
_Alguazil mayor_, ii, 246
Alguazilships, sale of, ii, 213
_Alhondiga_, i, 388
Aliaga, Amador de, his defalcation, ii, 452
opposes grants from confiscations, ii, 383
Aliaga, inq.-genl., forced into Suprema, i, 323
his resignation, i, 307
Aliaga, Abp., tries cases of solicitation, iv, 102, 104
Alicante, failure of Christians in, i, 67
_visitas de navíos_, iii, 314, 519
Alienation of property by heretics, ii, 324, 339
Aljafería assigned to the Inqn., i, 255
shops opened in, i, 389
attacked to rescue Ant. Pérez, iv, 259
tribunal ejected, ii, 441
Aljamas responsible for fines, ii, 395
Allende, Fr. Lucas de, case of, ii, 532; iii, 96
Allegiance, renunciation of, i, 1
Aragonese oath of, i, 229
Allowance to prisoners, ii, 531
to families of prisoners, ii, 500
Almaden, service in, as penance, iii, 145
Almagro, Moriscos of, iii, 330
Almanzor aided by Christians, i, 53
Almenara, Count of, iv, 256, 259
Almería, its prosperity under Moors, i, 67
quarrel over its precentorship, ii, 425
_Almirantazgo_, iii, 510
Almohades, their fanaticism, i, 48, 51
_Almojarife_, i, 74, 98
Almoravides, their invasion, i, 47
Alms as pecuniary penance, ii, 320, 389
Alonso de la Fuente attacks Luis de Granada, iv, 17
assails Jesuit mystics, iv, 19
Altamira, Margarita, case of, ii, 187, 497; iii, 67, 137
Alum, cargoes of, confiscated, iii, 463
_Alumbrados_ appear in Spain, iv, 6
of Llerena, iv, 23
errors ascribed to, iv, 24
cases, ii, 135; iii, 62
_Alumbrado y solicitante_, iv, 118, 121
_Alumbramiento_, iv, 4
Alvarado, his _Cartas del Filósofo Rancio_, iv, 405
on calificadores, ii, 264
on solicitation, iv, 135
on witchcraft, iv, 242
on political use of Inqn., iv, 277
on philosophers, iv, 314
Alvárez, Hernando, iv, 20, 21, 23
Alva, Duke of, interferes with Inqn., i, 186
Alzaibar, Manuel, his _Triple Alianza_, iv, 408
Ambrose, St., on Jews, i, 37
_Amin_, i, 593; ii, 566
Amnesty, decree of 1824, iv, 451
and pardon of 1832, iv, 464
Amort, Dr., on revelations, iv, 5
Amusquibar quarrels with abp., ii, 17
Anarchy, virtual, of Castile, i, 4
in 17th century, iv, 511
Ana of Austria, her obsequies, i, 362
Anathema in quarrels with spiritual courts, i, 494
in Edict of Faith, ii, 95
Ancona, Jews invited to, iii, 254
Anchias, Juan de, his Libro Verde, i, 260; ii, 298
as informer, ii, 324
Andalusia, persecution of Conversos, i, 129
expulsion of Jews, i, 131
of Moriscos, iii, 398
effect of Inqn. in, ii, 103
English merchants in, iii, 467
Andorra, subject to Barcelona, i, 543; iii, 460
Andujar, decree of, iv, 448
_Angel Exterminador_, iv, 456
Angelo da Chivasso on the Sabbat, iv, 209
Anger as extenuation, iii, 63
Anglican Catechism in Spain, iii, 451
Angoulême, Duc d', iv, 447, 448, 450
Antequera, capture of, i, 4, 65
quarrel over canonry, i, 342, 348
Antist, Inqr., besieged, i, 466
Antagonism, racial, i, 75, 81, 121, 126
Antonino, St., on the Sabbat, iv, 209
Antwerp, torture in, iii, 3
_Anusim_--unwilling Christians, i, 146
Apartments, autos held in, iii, 221
_Aplacería_, ii, 508
Apollinaris, Sidonius, on Jews, i, 39
Apostate Jews, their bitterness, i, 113
Appeals, devolutionary and suspensive, ii, 187
Appeals from sentence of torture, iii, 6
in secular cases, i, 509
to inq.-genl. become obsolete, ii, 187
to king, how smothered, ii, 26
none from Inqn., i, 341, 356, 437
referred to bps., ii, 108, 110, 112, 113, 116
to Suprema, i, 271; ii, 164; iii, 95
Appeals to Rome, ii, 103
Villanueva's case, ii, 145
forbidden by Philip III, i, 494, 496
about canonries, ii, 422
_Appel comme d'abus_, i, 341
Appellate jurisdiction renounced, ii, 126, 128, 129
Appointees, temporary, ii, 220
Appointments reserved to the crown, i, 158, 290, 300, 302; ii, 237
made by inq.-genl., i, 177, 302; ii, 161, 167
shared by Suprema, i, 298
sale of, ii, 212
nepotism in, ii, 219
_Aquelarre_, iv, 220
Aquinas on consultation of demons, ii, 173
on coerced baptism, iii, 349
on trances, iv, 4
on Immaculate Conception, iv, 359
Arabic, its use prohibited, iii, 332, 335, 340
writers on magic, iv, 180
Aragon, the Hermandad in, i, 31
rates of interest in, i, 97
popular liberties in, i, 229
Court of the Justicia, i, 450
liberties curtailed in 1592, iv, 270
clerics liable to taxes, i, 375
export of wheat, i, 385
of horses, iv, 279
right of asylum, i, 422, 424
coinage, i, 565
protection of accused, ii, 466
rules as to witnesses, ii, 536, 559
torture not used, iii, 2
trials _in absentia_, iii, 81
galley-service forbidden, iii, 139
the _sanbenito_ unknown, iii, 162
usurers not prosecuted, iv, 372
massacre of 1391, i, 108, 112
oppression of Jews, i, 117
early tribunals in, ii, 206
separate Inqn. for, i, 180
its Suprema, ii, 164
Torquemada appointed, i, 236, 238
opposition to Inqn., i, 245
effect of murder of Arbués, i, 252
fate of New Christians, i, 259
contest over Concordia of 1519, i, 277
repetition of complaints, i, 285
special oppression, i, 439
Concordia of 1568, i, 454
conflicts of jurisdiction, i, 452
reforms evaded in 1626, i, 455
privileges compared with Castile, i, 453, 458, 459
Córtes of 1645-6, i, 458, 460, 619
number of familiars reduced, i, 462
troubles over familiars, ii, 274
tribunal impoverished, i, 463
agreement not to appeal to Rome, ii, 118
voluntary conversion of Moors, iii, 344
conversion of Moors enforced, iii, 354, 356
position of Moriscos, iii, 342
their disarmament, iii, 379
their expulsion, ii, 486; iii, 401
extensive confiscations, i, 256
grievances of confiscation, ii, 327
confiscations taxed, ii, 352
composition for confiscation, ii, 354
penance replaces confiscation, ii, 395
Inqn. depends on confiscation, ii, 434
Morisco confiscations, iii, 359
carrying arms at night, i, 408
number of officials in tribunal, ii, 211
absence of Judaism, iii, 309
sorcery, iv, 182, 184
affair of Antonio Pérez, iv, 256
bigamy punished, iv, 316
jurisdiction over blasphemy, iv, 328
unnatural crime, iv, 363, 366
Council of, on familiars, i, 447
Aragon, Antonio de, forced on Suprema, i, 324
his report on Catalonia, i, 477
_Arancel_, or fee-bill, ii, 252
Aranda, Bp. of Calahorra, case of, ii, 43
Aranda, Council of, i, 10, 123
Aranda, Count of, iv, 261, 264, 265, 266, 390
Aranjuez, Tumult of, iv, 390, 399
Arbués, Pedro, i, 244, 249, 251, 252, 255
punishment of his assassins, i, 256
_Arca de tres llaves_, ii, 231, 450, 452
Arce y Reynoso, Diego de, his salary as professor, ii, 252
submits nominations to king, i, 301
resigns see of Plasencia, i, 310; ii, 154
evades the _media añata_, i, 378
strives for independence, i, 489
suppresses Madrid tribunal, i, 545
reopens case of San Placido, ii, 138
admits that appeals lie to Rome, ii, 149
prohibits sale of offices, ii, 215
case of Luisa de Carrion, iv, 38
permits cult of fictitious saints, iv, 358
Arce y Reynoso, Ramon de, his resignation, i, 321
joins the French, iv, 401
Archbishops, visits not to be paid to, i, 358
Archives of the Inquisition, i, 159
Ares Fonseca, his memorial, iii, 279
Arévalo, Pragmática of, i, 121, 123
Argüelles, Fray, consults demons, ii, 171
Arguello, his collection of instructions, i, 182
Arguments of advocates, iii, 69
Arians, their toleration of Jews, i, 38
Arias, Abp., arrested and exiled, iv, 440
his _junta de fe_, iv, 460
Arias, García, case of, iii, 427, 429
Arjona, inquisitorial proceedings, i, 212; ii, 555
Arm nailed to cross as punishment, iii, 133
_Armas alevosas_, i, 402
Arms, right to carry, i, 270, 401; ii, 272
forbidden to Moriscos, iii, 323, 332
Army of the Faith, iv, 443
Army, Inqn. of, i, 541
conflicting jurisdiction, i, 504
Arnaud of Narbonne, his intolerance, i, 59
Arquebuses, flint-lock, prohibited, i, 404
Arquer, Sigismondo, case of, iii, 453
Arrese, Juan de, tries Luis de Leon, iv, 160
suppresses astrology, iv, 193
Arrest by Inqn., complaint of, i, 185
power of, i, 186, 241, 357; ii, 179
its preliminaries, ii, 486
arbitrary, ii, 491
proof required for, ii, 490
without proof, ii, 493; iii, 232
without jurisdiction, iv, 364
segregation of prisoner, ii, 493
sequestration, ii, 496
money seized for expenses, ii, 494
supervised by Suprema, ii, 184
abuses, ii, 492
infamy caused by, ii, 311, 490, 492
Arrogance towards royal judges, i, 519
towards spiritual courts, i, 494
_Ars Notoria_, ii, 142; iv, 185
Art, censorship of, iii, 546
Arts, mechanic, habilitated, iv, 487
occult, iv, 179
_Asalariados_, i, 376
Ashes of culprit scattered, iii, 220
_Aspa de San Andrés_, iii, 163
Assassination of Arbués, i, 251
Assassins of Arbués, their punishment, i, 256
their sanbenitos, i, 258
Assembly of experts, ii, 265; iii, 72
Assent of Suprema to royal decrees required, i, 325
Assessments in compositions, ii, 359
Assessor, the, ii, 232
as judge of confiscations, ii, 350
Assumpçao, Fray Diogo de, iii, 293
Astesanus on sorcery, iv, 181
Astrology, prosecution for, ii, 140
punishment of, iv, 194
taught at Córdova, iv, 180
condemned by Sixtus V, iv, 189
suppressed in Salamanca, iv, 193
Asylum afforded by Inqn., i, 421, 455, 460
Atheism, punishment of, iv, 307
Auction on arrest of accused, ii, 494, 500
of confiscated property, ii, 363
sale of offices at, ii, 214
prebends farmed out at, ii, 430
_Auctorem Fidei_, bull, iv, 286, 293, 295
Audience-chamber, the, ii, 231, 541, 554
sentence read in, iii, 96, 180
Audience granted when asked for, iii, 37
delay in granting, iii, 78
at the auto de fe, ii, 586
_Audiencia de cárcel_, ii, 467, 471
_de cargos_, iii, 40
_de hacienda_, ii, 321, 497
_de preguntas_, iii, 71
Audiencia of Seville, its injustice, ii, 468
Auditor-general, his duties, ii, 366
Auditors of receivers' accounts, ii, 447
Auditorship, price of, ii, 214
Augustin, St., on marriage with Jews, i, 37
Augustinians exempted from Inqn., ii, 31
attacked by Jesuits, iv, 288
Authors, classification of, iii, 500
defence allowed to, iii, 541
Authorship, discouragement of, iii, 549
Authorities must be present at autos, iii, 211
_Autillo_, iii, 220
Auto de fe, the, iii, 209
_Auto particular_, iii, 210, 220
_Auto publico general_, iii, 209
its discontinuance, iii, 222
preparations for, iii, 214
public, as spectacle, iii, 211, 227
the procession, iii, 217
sentences read in, iii, 93
confession during, iii, 191
audience at, ii, 586
oath taken by kings, i, 353
the first at Seville, i, 163
centralized in tribunal cities, iii, 210
in Saragossa, i, 592
Auto controlled by Suprema, iii, 211
reports required of, ii, 183
cases accumulated for, iii, 72, 77
unattractive without burning, iv, 526
in Rome in 1498, ii, 114
Auto-suggestion in witchcraft, iv, 208, 221, 238
_Autos sacramentales of Suprema_, ii, 195, 198
Autocracy, growth of, iv, 250
limited by bureaucracy, i, 346, 418
Avellaneda on witchcraft, iv, 214
Avignon, slaughter of witches, iv, 242
Avila, conversion of Moors, iii, 325
tribunal of, i, 171, 542
Avila, Bp. of, appeals referred to, ii, 113
_Avisos de cárceles_, ii, 515
Avora, Gonzalo de, on Lucero, i, 195
Ayala, Abp., his edict of faith, ii, 8
seeks to instruct Moriscos, iii, 367, 375
Ayerbe, Francisco de, iv, 263, 271
Aymar, Juan, his visitation of Gerona, ii, 239