_Relation of events in the city of Manila from the year 1635 until
the month of June, 1636_
On the twenty-third of June, 1635, the ships from Castilla arrived at
the port of Capite, in which came Don Sevastian Hurtado de [C]orquera,
knight of the Habit of Alcantara, as governor and captain-general
for his Majesty. On the twenty-fourth of the said month and year, on
St. John's day, about four o'clock in the afternoon, he entered Manila
to take possession of the government--first taking the customary oath,
on entering through the gate of the Bagungaiabar, [1] which is one
of the chief gates of this city, accompanied by the city government
and the cabildo, with the rest of the citizens who escorted him,
until he reached the buildings of the palace, where he was received
with much pomp, as arranged by the regimiento of this city. A few days
after his arrival he reviewed all of the Spanish infantry in the camp
(together with the rest that he brought in his company), where he made
sweeping changes, leaving the four captains in the camp. He named as
sargento-mayor of the regiment Don Pedro de Corquera, his nephew; and
to the man who had held that office he gave the governorship of Ermosa
Island. He likewise appointed, as captain and governor of his company,
Alferez Don Juan Francisco de Corquera, his nephew. He immediately
decided that the ships (which were ready to make the voyage) should
not go to Castilla, saying that it was not expedient for them to go;
and thus it came about, for no one dared to oppose him.
At this time occurred an event which, as it was the beginning of
everything which has taken place, must be remembered. An artilleryman
had a slave girl whom he had brought from Yndia, saying that he was
going to marry her, as he had taken her while she was a maiden. But
she became angry and left the house, going to that of Juan de Aller,
a kinsman of Dona Maria de Franzia, wife of Don Pedro de Corquera, whom
she asked to buy her. The sargento-mayor besought the captain-general
to negotiate with the said artilleryman. He had the latter called,
and asked him whether he wished to sell her. He answered that he
did not keep her for sale, and the matter was left thus for several
days. Then he was again asked to sell her, and answered resolutely
that he did not wish to sell her, as he was keeping her in order to
marry her. Thereupon it was ordered that he be placed in the stocks,
and he was ill-treated. The man cried out that they were unjustly
trying to take his slave from him; and order was given that he be
taken into the house of Pedro Guerrero, and there punished as if he
were mad. There he was so ill-treated that they would have driven him
mad if he was not, until he saw fit to cease his obstinacy in regard
to the slave woman--although he refused to receive the money which he
was ordered to take from the said house, and immediately determined
on a rash plan. On the eighth of August, which was Sunday, at three
o'clock in the afternoon, the governor was going to the residence
of the Society, to see the comedy which the fathers there were
presenting; and with him was riding Dona Maria de Franzia, the wife
of his nephew the sargento-mayor, in a coach, having the slave woman
behind. When they arrived at the corner of the Augustinian church,
the artilleryman came out to meet them; and, seizing the slave woman
by the arm, struck her with a dagger so that she died straightway,
and he retired again into the said convent of St. Augustine. The
news was conveyed to the governor, who had already gone into the
Society's house; and he sent an adjutant and a captain of his guard,
together with the sargento-mayor, and some soldiers, with an order
to surround the church and bring out the guilty man, and take him to
the headquarters of the guard. This was done accordingly; but, as the
religious had hidden him, the soldiers were unable to find him. The
convent was left surrounded with soldiers, who remained there two
days, so that if the artilleryman came out they could get him and
bring him back; and likewise the soldiers were ordered not to allow
any religious to enter or leave, or any food to be brought in to them,
under penalty of death--on which account the religious found themselves
in very hard straits. On the third day the guard was withdrawn, and
on the fourteenth of the said month a decree was published promising
[reward] to whoever should discover where the guilty man was--if he
were a person of quality, an office as sergeant or standard-bearer,
according to his position; or, if he were not such a person, three
hundred pesos and permission to go to Espana. On the twenty-seventh
of this month, a negro belonging to the said convent gave information
that the guilty man was in a cell therein. The governor sent Adjutant
Don Juan de Frias and Alferez Don Diego de Herrero with soldiers,
giving them the order to take away the man, even though the religious
tried to hinder him. This they did, and could not be resisted; and
as a reward for taking him out, a post of sergeant was given to the
adjutant, and a military command to the alferez.
Having taken him out, they brought him the next day to confession,
and on the following day sentenced him to death. The most illustrious
lord archbishop, Don Fray Fernando Guerrero, learning of this, made a
formal demand for the prisoner on behalf of the church; but they were
rebellious, and refused to surrender him. On the sixth of September of
this said year the most illustrious archbishop sent a requisition to
General Molina, who was the judge of this case, directing him to send
back the prisoner, but to no effect; on the contrary, that very day
the gallows was erected in front of the Augustinian convent, so that
the execution would be in sight of the house. When the archbishop saw
this contumacious act, he sent to notify the judge again, at seven
o'clock at night, to send back the prisoner under penalty of major
excommunication, _latae sententiae_. Seeing that he would not do so,
at eleven o'clock at night the archbishop sent another requisition
and notification to General Molina, and from there to the palace to
notify the said governor--who ordered the churchmen who went to do
this to be arrested, and taken to the guardhouse until morning. On
this said day of the said month, four companies marched out with the
prisoner. Fresh notifications were sent that, if he were not returned
to the church within one hour, suspension of religious functions would
be imposed, and heavy pecuniary penalties for the Holy Crusade. All
this did not suffice to keep them from continuing the work; and, the
time set having expired, the interdict was declared when the prisoner
arrived at the corner of the plaza. The night before the bells
had rung for the interdict, and the sound of the bells struck the
Christians with fear. But none of this was sufficient, for at about
twelve o'clock in the morning, they finished hanging him--so close
to the sacred place that the ladder was placed on a level with the
portico, in such manner that it could not help being in the sacred
place. They took him away after hanging him, and threw the body
at the door of the convent, which is at the gate of the church of
St. Augustine. They rapped upon the door, and, as it was not opened,
they left the body there; it remained without burial for two days,
until the brothers of holy La Misericordia buried it in the cemetery
of the cathedral church, so that the body would not be corrupted and
become a disgusting object. The interdict lasted two or three days,
and was raised on the day of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, at about ten
o'clock in the morning. As Don Pedro de Monroy was provisor at the
time, and the one who pronounced the excommunications, the governor
decided to seize him and send him by ship to Machan, [_i.e.,_ Macao]
or to Ermossa Island; but, becoming aware of this intention, he found
a place of safety, to escape from this severe action. An order was
given at all the gates that; if he should go out or enter them, he
should be arrested. But a few days ago he was sent out of the gate
which is called Santo Domingo, in the habit of a friar. When the guard
who recognized him would have seized him, two Franciscan religious,
who were with him, defended him and gave him an opportunity to enter
the Dominican convent. When the governor learned this, irritated
because his order of arrest had not proved effectual, he ordered the
soldiers to be arrested who constituted the guard, and would have
had them garrote the alferez Don Francisco de Rivera, who was in
command at that gate, because they had not killed a friar and taken
prisoner Don Pedro de Monroy. The said governor sent immediately to
the convent of Santo Domingo to have them deliver the said provisor,
and to say that, if they did not do so, he would go in person and take
him away. To this father Fray Domingo Gonzalez, the provincial, and
commissary of the Holy Office, answered that it was not the provisor
who was there, but Don Pedro de Monroy, adviser of the Holy Office,
which was not situated there; and, as such, he had kept him busy with
matters pertaining to that holy tribunal, as might be seen by these
disagreements which existed between the two heads [of government].
The most illustrious lord archbishop decided to call a council of the
most grave and learned men of all the religious orders, in order to
determine what was expedient. When he sent to ask the fathers of the
Society, they refused to go. After this, seeing that things were going
from bad to worse, it was necessary to call another assembly of the
religious orders; and when the said fathers were summoned it was not
possible for them to go. Thereupon, seeing that they were separating
themselves from the affairs of the church, the lord archbishop ordered
that they be notified of an act by which they were deprived of the
right of preaching in all the churches subject to his jurisdiction. The
said fathers, by virtue of a brief which they claim to have from
his Holiness, answered that they could preach without permission,
and _contradicente episcopo_. Without showing the said brief, they
appointed a judge-conservator for the most illustrious archbishop,
who was Don Fabian de Santillan y Avelanes, the schoolmaster of
the cathedral. The latter notified his most illustrious Lordship
that he must revoke the said act within two hours, under penalty of
major excommunication and four thousand Castilian ducados. The lord
archbishop went before the royal Audiencia with a plea of fuerza,
to declare whether the appointment made had been made legally and
justly, as it had been presented before no judge, as is provided by
law. The next day several religious, who were the attorneys of his
illustrious Lordship in the royal Audiencia, having come together
there, [Father] Badilla of the Society took up the case, and through
the continuance given him to inform himself of his rights, the other
religious, who were acting on behalf of the lord archbishop, could do
nothing until the next day, when they pleaded for him. During that
time the said archbishop was posted as excommunicated, the notices
being fixed on the doors of the churches of this city, by order
of the judge-conservator. These notices remained posted until the
twenty-fourth of January, because the royal Audiencia declared that
fuerza had not been committed [by the judge-conservator]. At the end of
this time, which was a period of more than three months, it was decided
to absolve his most illustrious Lordship. The governor went to his
house, on St. Polycarp's day; and together they went to the cathedral,
and made their peace. But meantime, in the proceedings against him,
he had been condemned, by formal act of the judge-conservator, to pay
another four thousand ducados; and the government of the archbishopric
was to be taken from him for four years. All this was declared null
by the lawyers, who said that the judge and the fathers of the Society
had thus incurred the penalties of the law.
Considering the differences which every day arose, the councils
decided that it was necessary to send a despatch to his Majesty
secretly, remitting all the documents--although there was no more in
the affair than as the proverb goes, the fear of a cat scalded with
cold water. The governor began to suspect this, and left an order
at all the gates to arrest father Fray Francisco Pindo and father
Fray Domingo Collado, of the Dominican order; for he thought that,
being persons who were not well disposed to him, it would be they who
would carry the despatches. But his shrewd schemes were frustrated, [2]
and, when no one was thinking about it, a cha[m]pan had left with two
religious--one a Dominican and the other a Recollect of St. Augustine,
named father Fray Nicolas de Tolentino and father Fray Graviel de
Porto Carrero--and a few sailors. These went to the island of Cayo,
where they provided themselves with everything necessary for their
support, without anyone hindering them. On New Year's day they sailed
in the direction of Malaca, as was afterwards learned with certainty,
because they arrived a short time after at Machan. They arrived at
so favorable an opportunity that within a few days they embarked on
an English ship that was about to leave for Yndia, saying that they
were leaving on business of the Holy Office. May God grant them a
good voyage on this occasion.
A ship has come from Machan and brought news that there had been a
great persecution in the kingdom of Japon and the martyrdom of many
Catholic religious. It is also said that Father Christoval Ferreira,
the provincial at that time for the Society of Jesus in that kingdom,
had apostatized; and that he not only had recanted, but had married
a heathen woman, and that the wife of the said Portuguese father had
given birth to a child. Moreover, he had betrayed [to the authorities]
the few other religious who had remained there. Such things as these,
and worse, persons who abandon our holy faith usually do. The emperor
of Japon has ordered that no friar or other religious should enter
[that country], and has promised great rewards to those who should
learn of their entrance into his kingdom, and inform him thereof;
and he threatens severe punishment to those who do not do so.
During these troubles [in the diocese] Don Francisco Valdes resigned
the archdeaconry of this cathedral; and the governor, by virtue of the
royal patronage, appointed as archdeacon Don Andres Arias Giron, and
sent to the most illustrious archbishop to obtain his collation. The
latter answered that Master Don Andres Arias was under visitation;
and that he had exiled and excommunicated him for sufficient causes,
and could not give him possession. When he learned of this, Master
Don Andres Arias Giron presented himself with a plea of fuerza before
the royal Audiencia; and the governor ordered that his illustrious
Lordship be notified that, without fail, he should put Don Andres in
possession. He therefore called a council of religious, and all said
that he should not in conscience comply.
On Friday, the ninth of May, at seven o'clock at night, a royal
decree was issued that within an hour from the viewing of the said
royal decree Don Andres should be put in possession, on pain of the
archbishop being exiled from the kingdoms, and paying two thousand
Castilian ducados. Thereupon his most illustrious Lordship answered
that he would obey the said decree, as in the name of his king and
lord; but as for its fulfilment, there were reasons why he could
not accede to this, that the man was under visitation, and [the
ecclesiastical authorities] must not be hindered. At eight o'clock
at night, seeing that they were going on with the execution of the
decree, and had declared him exiled, fearing some further severity, he
sent for the most holy sacrament to the convent of St. Francis; and,
dressed in his pontifical robes, holding the elements in his hands,
in front of his episcopal chair, with all possible propriety, he
approached an altar, and there remained, waiting for the conclusion of
what had been begun. At ten o'clock at night the captain of artillery
and Alguazil-mayor Tenorio, with Adjutant Don Diego de Herrera,
and thirty musketeers, entered the archiepiscopal dwelling. At this
juncture an interdict was declared; on that night, therefore, the
confusions, disorders, and turbulence were greater than ever before
seen. Guards were posted above and below [the archbishop's house]
on all the street corners, so that no one could enter or go out;
and having found the lord archbishop in the aforesaid state, and
attended by many religious of all orders, word thereof was given to
the governor. He sent an order that all the religious and secular
priests who remained with his most illustrious Lordship should be sent
away. Although this was not executed, because it was not mentioned
in the warrant, the court-alguazil went to the palace to learn the
intention of the governor. The latter rectified the order anew;
and the said alguazil-mayor, coming to the archiepiscopal building,
executed it, directing the religious and secular priests to depart
from the house. As they did not do so, he commanded the soldiers to
obey him, under penalty of three doses of rope; [3] and to take the
religious out, dragging them, or in any way they could. This they
did, maltreating them and giving them rude pushes, tearing their
habits. They left two religious with his most illustrious Lordship,
to aid him to bear the imprisonment. The alguazil-mayor came to take
them away, and hurt one of them with the rays on the lunette, owing
to the force which he applied; for the religious were clinging to the
archbishop, whom they caused to fall to the floor, with the most holy
sacrament. It was only by great good fortune that he did not lose his
grasp upon it at this time. In this confusion a soldier drew his sword,
and threw himself upon it, intending to kill himself--saying that the
man who had seen the most holy sacrament upon the ground was no longer
fit to live. He lay there, wounded, and thus they took him prisoner,
and were about to garrote him; this, however, they did not do, but
sent him to exile at Samboanga. The archbishop was left alone with
the soldiers of the guard, and several of them, as good Christians,
remained on their knees before the most holy sacrament, shocked and
weeping to see that among Catholics such things could take place. At
this juncture the bishop of Camarines told his most illustrious
Lordship that the governor said that if he wished to eat he must
abandon the holy sacrament, and that if he did not do so nothing was
to be given to him; and that these were the orders he had given to
the said adjutant, under pain of death. Thereupon the lord archbishop
answered, with much courage, that he was prepared to die with the
most holy sacrament in his hands, rather than do anything that would
be an offense against it. Thereupon they left him without a servant,
to the great indignation and sorrow of many soldiers, the governor
remaining as hard and obdurate as if he had not been a Christian.
At one o'clock at night there came a new order that the soldiers should
drive from the streets the religious, who had been upon their knees
with candles in their hands, worshiping the Lord of heaven and earth,
since the time when they had been driven from His presence. They
were driven away, by dragging them and tearing their garments; and
the cassock and cross were taken from the cross-bearer of his most
illustrious Lordship. He cried out to God, begging for mercy--a thing
which melted the hearts of all the city, so that nothing was heard
of but "Mercy!" accompanied by the tears and apprehensions of the
faithful. After this was done, at two o'clock at night there came
another order, that the friars should be made to go back to their
convents, which they had not done. The governor sent the sargento-mayor
to tell them to go back, and not cause any more disturbance. To this
they answered that they had left their convents determined to die
for God, and that whether they died there or in Japon was all one;
that they would not leave that place, because they were in front
of the most holy sacrament; and, if it should fall from the hands
of the lord archbishop, the soldiers must not approach to raise it,
as this was not lawful, but they themselves must do so, as priests.
The sargento-mayor went away with this answer; and as the governor was
at the corner of Santa Potenziana, on the square of the archiepiscopal
buildings, in disguise, he heard all that occurred. He sent another
order, commanding, in the name of his Majesty, that the religious
should retire to their convents; and that, if they did not do so,
they would be dragged thither. Seeing his accursed intention, they
thought it best to let themselves be taken away by the soldiers,
but with much sadness and weeping. The Franciscan friars remained in
their portico, to be near the house of the lord archbishop, so that
they might watch what passed. The governor himself came personally,
and made them retire and go within their convent.
The very next day, which was the eve of Espiritu Santo, his illustrious
Lordship, finding that the governor's obstinacy was continuing
and that he was being abandoned (for no one was allowed to enter),
and that he had had nothing to eat for twenty-four hours, and that
all this was in preparation for placing him on shipboard, sent to
call the guardian of the Franciscans, and entrusted to him the most
holy sacrament, which was taken to his convent with great ceremony,
and there deposited. At this time the archbishop was allowed to make
appointments of persons to govern his archbishopric. He appointed the
father reader Fray Francisco de Paula, of the Order of St. Dominic,
and the father reader and definitor Fray Pedro de Santo Thomas, of
the discalced Augustinians, ordering them not to raise the interdict
and suspension of religious functions, or absolve the governor,
Auditor Marcos Capata, and Don Andres Giron, as he reserved their
absolution to himself. Thereupon at eleven o'clock in the morning
the court-alguazil came with a carriage, and his illustrious Lordship
alone was placed in it, all the religious accompanying it with tears
at seeing such cruelty and severity. When they had come to the gate
known as Puerta de los Almazenes, [4] the archbishop alighted, and
again excommunicated all those who had caused his exile, and cursed
the city; and throwing stones at it, and shaking the dust from his
feet, he directed his steps to the water to board a champan. This was
provided with sixteen arquebusiers, and the said adjutant; but they
did not allow any of his servants to embark, nor consent that any
provision of food be placed aboard for the voyage. When he begged for
his cross, the said alguazil-mayor answered that there was no cross for
him. Thereupon he embarked, and although many religious desired to take
leave of him, they were not allowed to come. Thus they conveyed him
to the island of Maribelis, distant from this city some seven leguas,
more or less. Although many private citizens of this city made urgent
request to go in their boats to the champan, they were not allowed
to do so; for it was seen that they were carrying provisions for the
archbishop, being moved to pity by the cruelty with which they were
using him, for one would not expect infidels to do worse.
In this island he was kept prisoner, without being allowed to
communicate or to write letters, his treatment being such as might
be expected from dispositions so obstinate. On the eleventh of
this month of May the said governor appointed the said bishop of
Camarines to govern the archbishopric, contrary to [the law of] God
and with no permission, saying that the lord archbishop was a decayed
limb. The said bishop accepted the appointment, acting contrary to
[decrees of] the Council of Trent, and incurring its penalties. He
absolved the said governor, Auditor Capata, and Don Andres Giron: and
gave the last-named the collation for the archdeaconry, raising the
interdict imposed by the legitimate prelate. Those in the cathedral
and the fathers of the Society, who were followed by other churches,
besides the convents of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and the discalced
Augustinians, at once replied that they would observe the suspension
imposed on them, because they knew that a governor [of the diocese]
could not raise the interdict, or do anything of what he had done; for
he was suspended, interdicted, excommunicated, and under discipline,
for having exercised the pontifical office, raised the interdict,
and absolved the excommunicated--all this being reserved to the
lord archbishop, as was declared by all the learned men of this
city. Although the cathedral, the church of the Society, and the
Observantine convent of St. Augustine said mass, no one went to hear
it; but on the contrary the Catholics were scandalized that these
people should do such things through fear of the governor--things which
caused great scandal, and which it would take a long time to tell. [I
omit them] mainly because most of them are better left unsaid, because
of the cruelty involved in them, rather than told in a relation.
On the twentieth of May there came an order from the lord archbishop,
at the petition of religious and holy persons, that the suspension
should be raised for a fortnight, so that the feast of Corpus Christi,
which was on the twenty-second of the said month, might be celebrated;
and when the said period of time was past, he imposed the interdict
as before--although it was not observed except by the Dominicans,
the Franciscans, and the discalced Augustinians. The governors of the
archbishopric and of the islands respectively gave to the fathers of
the Society [the curacy of] Chiapo, which they demanded, as belonging
to the archiepiscopal court. It was donated to the lord archbishop
by the Franciscan fathers, on condition that it should be conferred
upon no-one, but should remain for the maintenance of the poor and of
secular priests; and that, in case it were given to any other order,
the condition and donation should not be valid which had been made
to the said lord archbishop, and accordingly it should revert again
to the said Franciscan fathers, as it was before. But the fathers
of the Society would listen to none of this, drawn on by ambition;
nor would the governor, who allowed them to demand what they wished.
A few days after this, on the fourth of June, the royal decree was
revoked; and father Fray Domingo Gonzalez, the Dominican provincial,
and other dignitaries, went to the lord archbishop, and asked him
not to change anything which had been done by the said bishop of
Camarines. The lord archbishop would not consent to this, as it was all
void, and opposed to conscience. But on the prayer and supplication of
grave religious, who besought his permission for this until his Majesty
should send a remedy sufficient for so many evils as had occurred,
his illustrious Lordship thereupon consented to this; and he entered
this city on the sixth of June, amid the general rejoicing of all,
for thereby the church was freed from schism and the administration of
an excommunicated bishop. In short, in order to remove greater evils
things remain thus, without anything being changed; we hope that God
our Lord and his Majesty will redress this, and that persons will be
sent to punish the guilty according to their crimes.
PASQUIN QUE SE PUSSO A LA PUERTA DEL GOUERNOR DE MANILA
DON SEUASTIAN VRTADO DE CORQUERA
Quien la yglesia vitupera--Corcuera
y quien la Birtud maltrata--Capata
y quien se cisca de miedo--Ledo
segun esso llorar Puedo
yglesia tu triste suerte
Pues Bienen a darte muerte
Corcuera Capata y Ledo
Quien la birtud a dejado--Collado
quien obliga a tal traycion--ambizion
y quien sigue tal de miedo--Pinedo [5]
de que an labrado rezelo
vna orca como aman
do rabiando moriran
Collado ambicion Pinedo
quien apresta desatinos--tiatinos
en que encubren excesos--en quesos
pues de quesos que se espera--cera
no entiendo aquesta quimera
mas si es cosa de ynteres
quemarlos a todos tres
tiatinos quesos y cera
quien dixo el vien por el mal--vn probinzial
quien la fe dixo sin tino--vn tiatino
y quien su ser tubo en poco--vn cojo
pues a llorar me prouoco
viendo vn tiatino casado
y que fue Por su pecado
probinzial tiatino y cojo
Arcidiano sin razon--Jiron
obispo con poco estudio--Camudio
excomulgado notorio--tenorio
Bien merezen Purgatorio
de ynfierno estos tres amigos
Pues son de Dios enemigos
Jiron Camudio y tenorio
A quien aorco de vn madero--vn artio
en que razon se fundaua--Por la esclaua
que le quita el omizido--la uida
ynjustamte. Perdida
fue pero ya me lamento
que perdiese en vn momento
artillero esclaua y vida
quien bio Pagar de los frutos--tributos
y quien aorcando Peros--yeros
quien dar yco a las mulatas--natas
todas estas papanatas
an de uenir a parar
en que el diablo a de lleuar
tributos yeros y natas
No ay para tanta malizia--Justizia
ni pa tantos agrauios--labios
ni para tantas locuras--Curas
todas estas desuenturas
los Cristianos Padezemos
Pues que ya sin fuerca bemos
Justicia labios y curas
Que resulta en conclusion--Resoluzion
y destas cosas no buenas--Penas
y de tanto descontento--tormento
No en bano yo me lamento
Viendo la yglesia sinzera
a ques otra por corquera
Pasion penas y tormento.
PASQUINADE AFFIXED TO THE DOOR OF THE GOVERNOR OF MANILA,
DON SEVASTIAN VRTADO DE CORQUERA [6]
Who vituperates the Church?--Corcuera.
Who abuses Virtue?--Capata.
Who soils himself through fear?--Ledo.
Therefore, I can weep
Thy sad fate, O, Church!
For they come to deal thee death--
Corcuera, Capata, and Ledo.
Who has abandoned Virtue?--Collado.
What leads him to such treason?--Ambition.
Who imitates that one through fear?--Pinedo.
Hence I fear that they have prepared
A gallows as did Aman, [7]
On which raging will die--
Collado, Ambition, Pinedo.
Who are preparing lawless acts?--The Theatines [_i.e._, Jesuits].
Wherein do they hide their violations of law?--In cheeses.
Therefore, what can be expected from cheeses?--Wax. [8]
I do not understand such an extravagant idea;
But if it is a question of profit,
It would be best to burn them all three--
Theatines, cheeses, and wax.
Who said "Good" instead of "Bad"?--A provincial.
Who explained the faith without discretion?--A Theatine.
And who set little value on his own existence?--A cripple.
Therefore am I moved to tears
To see a Theatine who is married;
And who was, because of his sin--
Provincial, Theatine, and cripple.
Archdeacon with no right--Jiron.
A bishop with little learning--Camudio.
A notorious excommunicate--Tenorio.
Right well they deserve the Purgatory
Of Hell, these three friends;
For they are the enemies of God--
Jiron, Camudio, and Tenorio.
Who was hanged from a beam?--An artilleryman.
On what was that action based?--On the slave-girl.
Of what did the homicide deprive him?--His life.
Unjustly lost
It was; but still I lament
That he should lose in one moment--
That artilleryman--his slave-girl and his life.
He who thought to pay from his profits--tributes;
And he who in hanging dogs saw--fetters;
And he who caused the mulatto women to bear--daughters:
All these simpletons
Must come to a halt;
Because the devil will carry off--
Tributes, fetters, and daughters. [9]
For so great malice, there is no--justice;
Nor for so many injuries--words;
Nor for so many follies--cures. [10]
All these misfortunes,
We Christians must suffer;
For powerless we see--
Justice, words, and cures.
What results finally?--Resolution.
And from these evil things?--Punishments.
And from so great discontent?--Torment.
Not in vain do I lament,
Seeing the sincere [11] Church
Become otherwise because of Corcuera--
Suffering, punishments, and torment.