In the Royal Palace of the Inquisition of Barcelona, on the eighteenth
day of September, one thousand six hundred and thirtyfive, the
Inquisitor, Doctor Domingo Abbad y Huerta being at his morning audience,
ordered the prisoner to be brought from his cell; who, being produced,
was sworn to declare the truth on the present as well as on all other
occasions till the decision of his trial. He was also sworn to observe
secrecy with respect to everything which he might see, hear, or learn,
and everything which should befall him.
Questioned, what was his name, age, occupation, birthplace, residence,
and the period of his arrestation by this Holy Office.
Answered, that his name was Pedro Ginesta, by occupation a brazier,
native of the village of Orliach, bishopric of St Flor, in the kingdom
of France, residing at Orcan, in Catalonia, having exercised the trade
of a brazier in that country more than fourteen years, of age eighty
years or thereabout, and that he was arrested by a Commissary of the
Holy Office, yesterday, in the town of Salas.
Questioned, who was his father, grandfather, paternal and maternal, and
wife; who were his uncles, brothers, and children; what were their
occupations, birthplaces, and residences. [_Here follows a long account
of the prisoner’s relatives, in answer to the particulars specified._]
Questioned, what was the origin and descent of his ancestors and
collateral relatives, and whether any one of them had been punished or
put under penance by the Holy Office of the Inquisition.
Answered, that all his relatives were old Roman Catholic Christians,[13]
and that no one of them had ever been punished or sentenced by the Holy
Office up to the present day.
Questioned, if he was a baptized and confirmed Catholic, and made it a
practice to attend mass, go to confession, and receive the sacrament at
such times as are prescribed by the Holy Catholic Mother Church; at what
time he last attended mass, and from whom he received the holy
sacrament.
Answered, that he was a baptized and confirmed Christian, having by the
grace of God been baptized in the church of Santanti, metropolitan of
the suffragans of Caberna and other places, and that he knew himself to
have been confirmed by a bishop named Panlaza in the city of Huerca in
Arragon, or Poroteo, bishop of that kingdom, more than forty years
since, in the cathedral; that he remembered the fact of the
confirmation very well, being then of full age; that he hears mass every
Sunday and holiday, except when he is travelling; that he confesses and
communicates at every time fixed by the Holy Mother Church; that he has
certificates to this effect; that he believes the last time he confessed
was on Passion Week last, in the town of La Puente de Montania, to a
priest of that church; that he does not remember the name of the person
from whose hands he received the sacrament. The prisoner then made the
sign of the cross, invoking the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and
repeated the four prayers and general confession correctly in Latin, and
stated that he knew nothing more of the christian doctrine.
Questioned, if he could write, or read, or had studied any science or
faculty.
Answered, that he could neither write, nor read, nor had he studied any
science or art.
Questioned, if he had ever left the kingdoms of Spain since his first
arrival, or had any dealings with people of equivocal faith.
Answered, that he had exercised his trade of a brazier for more than
sixty years, in the kingdoms of Catalonia and Arragon, visiting at times
his home in France, where there are no Lutherans, nor any persons of
equivocal faith.
Questioned, what were the events of his life.
Answered, that he was born, as above stated, in the village of Orliach,
and remained with his father till twenty years of age assisting him in
his profession of a brazier; that he had passed his life in France,
Arragon, and Catalonia, his father having brought him while a boy into
this country, where he died, and left him, sixty years since, in the
town of Erla, near Gea, in Arragon, working all this time in various
places, where he became well known; that his wife had never been in
Spain at any time.
Questioned, if he knew or conjectured the cause of his imprisonment.
Answered, falling on his knees, weeping, and beating his breast, that he
had committed an offence against our Lord by eating bacon on the eve of
St Bartholomew in the village of Semiana, and that it was true he had
been told on the day previous, by the hostess of the house where it was
done, that the next day was a fast, but not remembering this intimation,
he had, while the hostess was gone out of the house to her oven, eaten
of the same in company with a certain youth of fourteen or fifteen years
of age, a native of the bishopric of Clermont in France, who had come to
work with him two days before; and that while they were eating, the
hostess returned and again reminded him that it was the fast of St
Bartholomew, and they ought not to eat it, upon which they immediately
abstained from eating; that they were both arrested and brought on the
road to Barcelona under guard of one man, the youth with his hands tied;
that on arriving near a wood he escaped notwithstanding the exertions
made by the guard, who raised the neighbourhood to search for him; and
if in this he had offended our Lord, he begged for pardon and mercy.
The prisoner was then informed, that, in this Holy Office, it was not
customary to apprehend any person without sufficient information that he
had said, done, or witnessed the commission of something really or
apparently offensive against God our Lord, or against his Holy Catholic
faith and evangelical law, taught and preached by the Holy Mother Roman
Church, or against the just and free exercise of the Holy Office;
consequently he was to understand that he was imprisoned on account of
some such information, and he was admonished on the part of God our
Lord, and the glorious and blessed Virgin Mary, to recollect himself and
confess his offences without concealing anything relating either to
himself or any other person, and without uttering false testimony
against any one; by doing all which, his trial should be dispatched with
all brevity, and decided with that mercy which is shown by the Holy
Office to all those who confess freely; otherwise, justice should be
executed.
Answered, that he had nothing more to say, and the above being read to
him, he declared it to be the truth according to the oath which he had
sworn, and that he had nothing to alter or diminish from what is therein
contained, and with this admonition, to bethink himself well, and
declare the truth, he was remanded to prison.