THE INQUISITION IN PORTUGAL AND THE NETHERLANDS.
Jews in Portugal--Popular hatred against them--The Inquisition
against them--In several cities--Established in Goa--Decree against
the Jews--Even after they professed Christianity--Luther’s
followers in the Netherlands--Inquisitors seek them--Alarm in the
cities--Edicts of Charles V.--Philip succeeds him--Duke of Alva’s
murders--“United Provinces.”
Portugal, as we have seen, received some of the Jews, who had been
persecuted and driven from Spain under the inquisitor-general
Torquemada. Every possible effort, by persecution and cruelty, was
employed to convert them to a profession of Christianity. Their children
were taken from them,--all under the age of fourteen,--and educated in
the Catholic belief. Sismondi states,--“On the occasion of a
newly-converted Jew, in 1506, who had appeared to disbelieve in some
miracle, the people of Lisbon rose, and having assassinated him, burnt
his dead body in the public square. A monk, in the midst of the tumult,
addressed the populace, exhorting them not to rest satisfied with so
slight a vengeance, in return for such an insult offered to our Lord.
Two other monks, raising the crucifix, then placed themselves at the
head of the seditious mob, crying aloud only these words, ‘Heresy!
heresy! Exterminate! exterminate!’ And during the three following days,
two thousand of the newly converted, men, women, and children, were put
to the sword, and their reeking limbs, yet warm and palpitating, burnt
in the public places of the city. The same fanaticism extending to the
armies, converted Portuguese soldiers into the executioners of infidels
and the tyrants of the east. At length, in the year 1540, John III.
succeeded in establishing the Inquisition, which the progress of
superstition had been long preparing.”
King John established the “Holy Office” in Portugal, on the model of
that in Spain. “How great his zeal was to maintain the faith in its
ancient splendour,” says a Catholic historian, “his introducing the
sacred tribunal of the inquisitors of heresy into Portugal, is an
abundant proof, bravely overcoming those difficulties and obstructions
which the devil had cunningly raised in the city, to prevent or retard
his majesty’s endeavours. For he learned experience from others, and
grew wise by the misfortunes of many kingdoms, which, from the most
flourishing state, were brought to ruin and destruction, by monstrous
and deadly heresies. And it is very worthy of observation, that the year
in which the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition against heretical pravity
was brought into Portugal, the kingdom laboured under the most dreadful
barrenness and famine. But when the tribunal was once erected, the
following year was remarkable for an incredible plenty, commonly called
‘_the year of St. Blaze_,’ because before his festival the seed could
not be sown in the ground for want of rain, whereas, afterwards,
provision was so cheap, that a bushel of corn was sold for two-pence.”
Didacus de Silva was the first inquisitor-general in Portugal, and he
erected tribunals in several cities, the first at Evora, A.D. 1537,
appointing John de Mello the first inquisitor in that city. The tribunal
at Lisbon was erected in 1539, by Cardinal Henry, the second
inquisitor-general; and another court at Coimbra, in 1541.
Portugal possessed several foreign provinces, among which was Goa, on
the Malabar coast of India. Francis Xavier, A.D. 1545, signified to King
John III., “that the Jewish wickedness spread every day more and more,
in the parts of the East Indies subject to the kingdom of Portugal; and
therefore he earnestly besought the king, that to cure so great an evil
he would take care to send the office of the Inquisition into those
countries.” Upon this, Cardinal Henry, then inquisitor-general in the
kingdom of Portugal, erected the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition in the
city of Goa, the metropolis, and sent into those parts inquisitors, and
other necessary officials, who should take diligent care of the affairs
of the faith. Alexius Diaz Falcano entered upon his office, as
inquisitor at Goa, A.D. 1541. And from that period this tribunal has
continued, so that by its intolerance, victims, and cruelties, it has
brought the province to the lowest stage of degradation, and a burden as
well as a disgrace to Portugal.
On several occasions, general indulgences were granted to the Hebrew
converts in Portugal, in hope of reconciling them fully to the papacy.
The _first_ was by Pope Clement VII., A.D. 1535; and this was confirmed
by Pope Paul III., A.D. 1536. The _second_ was issued by the same
pontiff, A.D. 1547; at the same time the inquisitors were required to
proceed with greater vigour against judaisers in that kingdom. Still he
granted a general pardon to the new converts and their children.
Sebastian, king of Portugal, on the occasion of his preparation for his
unfortunate expedition into Africa, in which he fell, granted to the
descendants of the Jews, A.D. 1577, for a large sum of money, that their
effects should not be confiscated for ten years. This pretended
liberality, though sanctioned by Pope Gregory XIII., was contrary to the
advice of Philip II., his uncle, the king of Spain; but upon the defeat
of the king’s army by the Saracens, the same year, Cardinal Henry, the
king’s great uncle, succeeding him on the throne, immediately recalled
the said grant, with consent of the Pope, declaring, as the reason of
this revocation, “that after the most mature consultation of learned
men, they all agreed that he was bound to make such revocation, because
the good of the faith required it.”
Cardinal Henry dying in the year 1580, the crown of Portugal fell to
Philip, king of Spain; and the new Christians, as the conforming Jews
were called, offered him a large sum of money, on condition of his
obtaining for them a general indulgence from the Pope; but his divines
declared, “that God was greatly offended with such money; and that he
could not reasonably expect any prosperous success from it.” So Philip
disregarded their offers of money, though he was engaged in an expensive
war with England and France.
These Jewish Christians in Portugal continued for many years to
endeavour, by repeated entreaties, to procure the abolition of the
Inquisition, or at least the mitigation of its laws and policy. But they
were only deluded by empty words and flattering promises: for they have
remained liable to the penalties ordained against heretics, and to the
terrors of the Inquisition, on being accused, as being in every way
opposed to the principles and doctrines of Rome.
Charles V., the famous emperor of Germany and king of Spain, was the
great supporter of the Inquisition in the Netherlands. These provinces,
comprehending Belgium, Holland, and several adjacent countries, he
inherited from his father. At an early period, many of their divines
procured the writings and embraced the doctrines of Luther; and,
therefore, the Inquisition was introduced there, A.D. 1521, by Francis
Vander Hulst, chancellor of the emperor in Brabant, and Nicolas Van
Egmont, a Carmelite friar. These were appointed inquisitors-general;
and their characters and policy we learn from the celebrated Erasmus. He
says, in a letter to the archbishop of Palermo, A.D. 1524, “Now the
sword is given to two violent haters of good learning, Hulst and Egmont.
If they have a spite against any man, they throw him into prison; here
the matter is transacted among a few, and the innocent suffers barbarous
usage, that they may not lose anything of their authority; and when they
find they have done entirely wrong, they cry out, ‘We must take care of
the faith.’” In another letter to a friend, he says, “There reigns
Egmont, a furious person, armed with the sword, who hates me twice more
than he doth Luther. His colleague is Francis Hulst, a great enemy of
learning. They first throw men into prison, and then seek out for crimes
for which to accuse them. These things the emperor is ignorant of,
though it would be worth his while to know them.”
Many followers of Christ, therefore, suffered under these cruel
inquisitors by various torments, and the Emperor Charles endeavoured to
establish the Inquisition in the Netherlands, after the manner of its
operations in Spain. For this purpose he published an edict against
heretics; commanding all magistrates, when required by the inquisitors,
and at the request of the bishops, to proceed against any in the affair
of heresy, and to afford their utmost countenance and assistance in the
execution of their office, discovering and apprehending those who might
be infected with heretical pravity. This decree authorised them to
proceed against transgressors by execution, whatever their dignity or
privileges.
Terror filled the minds of the people on learning the character of this
edict, and the most gloomy apprehensions excited many to prepare to
emigrate from Antwerp. The magistrates, therefore, assembled the chief
merchants and traders, to ascertain from them what losses had been
sustained by the city, and what further damage was expected from the
establishment of the Inquisition. They declared their minds; and a
memorial was prepared and laid before Queen Mary, sister of Charles V.,
and at that time governess of the Netherlands, showing largely, from the
edict of the emperor, from the instructions of the inquisitors, and from
the privileges of Brabant, how many evils appeared to threaten the city
and the whole country. They besought her to intercede with the emperor,
that so rich and flourish a city might not be ruined by the operations
of the Inquisition. The several orders of Brabant united with those of
Antwerp; and the queen was prevailed on to undertake their cause. She at
once proceeded to Augsburg, where she obtained another edict, allowing
the ecclesiastical judges to demand some persons from the imperial
courts to join with them in proceeding against any one accused of
heresy. This did by no means meet the case; it was, therefore, received
at Antwerp under protestation, that this edict should not derogate
anything from the statutes and privileges of the citizens. Still they
were ill at ease, such was the dread of the cruelty which had been
known of the inquisitors; especially as they saw that those who were
privately commissioned by the pope and the emperor to the office of
inquisitors, acted as such by themselves, and by their commissaries. For
several were shortly condemned as heretics, in many cities; of whom some
were beheaded, others hanged, or burned, and some tied up in sacks and
drowned!
King Philip succeeding his father, was appealed to against these
enormities, and petitioned to grant religious toleration in the
Netherlands. But superstition held the mind of the royal fanatic; and he
prostrated himself before a crucifix, solemnly imploring--“I beseech the
Divine Majesty, that I may never suffer myself to be, or to be called,
the lord of those who deny Thee, the Lord!”
Resolved to annihilate the reformation in the Netherlands, Philip
converted the _three_ bishoprics into archbishoprics, and established
seventeen bishoprics, with a court of inquisition, under the direction
of Cardinal Granvile. The Prince of Orange, Count Egmont, and Count Horn
remonstrated with the Duchess of Parma, against the Inquisition and
Cardinal Granvile. This was in vain. The executions of the Inquisition
became more frequent and more rigorous than before; and a general
combination was resolved on, to procure a redress of the common
grievances. The Duchess of Parma remonstrated with Philip; but the
infatuated monarch was deaf to every argument; and the only concession
which he made was, that, for the future, heretics, instead of being
burnt, should be hanged.
Philip, influenced by superstition, and governed by the priests,
supported the policy of the inquisitors in the Netherlands. Their
cruelties, therefore, increased, until the people broke out into open
revolt. The populace made disturbances, throwing down the images in the
churches, and committing other acts of violence. The king threatened
vengeance upon the transgressors; and submitted the case to the supreme
court of inquisition in Spain, to know its judgment concerning the
revolters--information and depositions being given by the inferior
inquisitors among the disaffected, that court determined that the
inhabitants of the Netherlands were guilty of treason.
Philip now indulged his bigotry to the utmost, regardless of the welfare
of his subjects. He sent “the Duke of Alva, of infamous memory,” into
the Netherlands, with a powerful army to destroy the heretics. That
monster, whose bigotry, pride, and stubbornness corresponded with those
of his royal master, is said to have “poured out the Protestant blood as
water on every side; while _one hundred and twenty thousand_ fled from
the persecution.” Throughout all their cities, old and young, men and
women, without any distinction of dignity, age, or sex, might be seen
suffering by the sword, the gibbet, the fire, and other torments, until
the wretched people, roused with indignation, arose as one man, and
totally overthrew the horrid Inquisition. William, prince of Orange,
undertook the deliverance of his native country, which he accomplished
with troops levied among the refugees and the German Protestants. The
mortified King of Spain recalled the Duke of Alva; but that “monster
boasted that he had delivered into the hands of the executioners above
_eighteen thousand_ heretics and rebels, besides those who died in the
war!”
Father Paul reckons the Belgic martyrs at 50,000; but Hugo Grotius
estimates the numbers who suffered by the hands of the executioner at no
less than 100,000. Popery, however, with the accursed Inquisition, was
thus driven from the country, and the civil war terminated only with a
new form of government, which formed a new Protestant state in Europe,
under the title of “THE SEVEN UNITED PROVINCES.”