I, the undersigned Secretary, who, in the absence of the Fiscal of this
Holy Office, exercise his duties, appear before your Excellency, and
declare, that, from the information which I now present, it appears, and
is manifest that Phelippe Leonart, a needlemaker, and a Frenchman by
birth, now resident in the city of Tarragona, is a Lutheran heretic,
commonly swearing, and denying God and the Saints, ridiculing the Holy
Sacraments of the Church, never confessing himself, for which he has
been declared excommunicated, and committing other crimes.
On which account, I request that your Excellency will order him to be
arrested and confined in the secret prison, in order that the ends of
justice may be accomplished.
MATTHEO MAGRE, _Sec’y_.
In the city of Tarragona, on the fifteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord one thousand six hundred and thirtyseven, appeared voluntarily
Tecla Leonarda, wife of Felipe Leonart, needlemaker, a Frenchman by
birth, and inhabitant of this city of Tarragona, of age, as she stated,
fifty years, or thereabout. She made the following declaration.
‘Señor Commissary, I am the wife of Felipe Leonart, needlemaker, a
Frenchman, and have been married to him about twenty years. I cannot
learn that during all this time he has confessed himself once, unless
compelled to do it during Lent. He has many times been declared
excommunicated for not confessing, and for neglecting to comply with the
precepts of the church. He formerly lived in Valencia, in the Calle de
la Mar, Parish of St Tomas. He never confessed himself here, and was
reminded of his neglect by the Rector. Upon being rebuked by me and his
son, and advised to confess, he broke out into blasphemies against God
and the Saints, with such violence that he appeared more like a demoniac
than anything else. It being suggested to him that God did not prosper
him because he did not attend mass, nor wear a rosary, nor hear sermons,
nor confess, but swore, and blasphemed, and that if the Holy Inquisition
knew of this he would be apprehended, he replied that the devil must
help him; that he did not care for me nor the Inquisition, that he would
not confess, and that God gave him nothing which the devil would give.
In particular, last Passion Week his son carried him to the Jesuits to
confess; but, on finding to what place he was conducting him, the said
Felipe abandoned him and refused to confess, greatly offending his son
and the confessor. He has given so many proofs of not being a Christian,
that many of his apprentices have left him, declaring that they would
not live in a house where God was not venerated and worshipped.’
The deponent further declared that on making a full confession last
Lent, of all the sins of her husband and her own negligence in
denouncing him, she was directed to give information of the whole to
this Holy Office, and was refused absolution unless she complied, and
that there were many more things to be told which she could not
recollect, as they happened so long since.
The above is the truth according to the oath of the deponent, and is
stated by her not out of malice, but solely to discharge her conscience.
It was read to her, and declared to be faithfully recorded. She promised
secrecy, and I, the Commissary, sign for her.
The Canon,
JUAN FERRER, _Commissary_.