March, 1730.
[Sidenote: No. 8. Juan Panisso. Prison of the Martyrs. Maintenance, two
sueldos and the bread of the Contractor.]
Juan Panisso, a native and inhabitant of this city, a married man, in
custody in the secret Prison of this Holy Office, with his property
sequestrated, for uttering heretical speeches. Respecting this prisoner,
information was forwarded last January, that proceedings were on foot
for taking the depositions of the witnesses against him, with a view to
their publication. The audience for this purpose was held on the
twentyninth of this month, and the prisoner answered to the charges with
a full denial. In this state the case remains at present.
April, 1730.
The prisoner was furnished with the publication of the testimony, and
allowed to confer with his counsel. He drew up articles of defence, and
in this state the case remains.
June, 1730.
The prisoner’s defence was received on the third of this month, and the
audience for communication with his counsel was held on the eighth, when
his final defence was made. On the ninth, sentence was passed with the
assistance of the Ordinary, unanimously, that the prisoner should be put
to the regular torture, before the execution of which, it was resolved
that the case should be referred to your Highness, which was done on the
tenth. The matter remains in this state waiting for the decision of your
Highness.
August, 1730.
On the first of July we received the order of your Highness to put the
prisoner to the torture _ad arbitrium_. On the twelfth an audience was
held, in which a sentence to that effect was passed. The prisoner was
informed of the same, and admonished in the customary manner, but
persisted in his denial. He was then put to the torture,[18] but
suffered the whole without confessing anything. On the fifteenth, with
the assistance of the Ordinary, his case was definitively judged by a
sentence pronounced unanimously, that the prisoner hear his own
condemnation read in the hall of the Tribunal with open doors; that he
make an abjuration _de levi_, be severely reprehended and warned,
absolved _ad cautelam_, and be banished from this city, Madrid, and the
court of his Majesty, to a distance of eight leagues, for the space of
five years, the three first of which to be spent in the royal garrison
of this city. This sentence was referred to your Highness the same day,
and on the fourteenth of August, the answer received in which your
Highness ordered that the prisoner be brought into the hall of the
Tribunal, and there, with closed doors, be severely reprehended and
warned, that he be admonished to abstain from the like offences in
future, and forthwith dismissed. This was executed on the same day,
together with the audience for binding him to secrecy, and making
inquiries respecting the prison. The prisoner was then dismissed.