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[Illustration: An Auto Da Fe.]
HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION FROM ITS
ESTABLISHMENT TILL THE PRESENT TIME
by
WILLIAM SIME,
Author of the Histories of the Reformation, Christian
Church, Waldenses, &c.
"Instruments of cruelty are in their habitation."—GEN. xlix. 5.
Philadelphia:
Presbyterian Board of Publication.
PREFACE.
Among the numerous and varied methods which the Popish Church has
adopted, to maintain its usurped sway over the minds and bodies of men,
none has been more effectual than the erection of the Inquisition.
Established for the purpose of taking cognizance of what it styles
heresy, many are the victims which this tribunal has doomed to the rack
and the flames, for endeavouring to regulate their faith and worship
agreeably to the unerring standard of revealed truth. For many ages,
its procedure was comparatively unknown, the conduct of its ministers
having been wrapt up in that mysterious secrecy by which all its
transactions are characterized. What was long concealed is, however,
now unfolded, by the productions of many unexceptionable writers, not a
few of whom were themselves connected with the "holy office," and are
consequently well fitted to give an impartial account of its iniquitous
acts and deeds.
The design, accordingly, of this little volume, is to give a succinct
and connected view of the rise, progress, and present state of that
infamous tribunal, more especially in Spain. Such a work, the writer
conceives, will not be without use, notwithstanding the many detailed
accounts that have been given of an institution, which has been, and
still is, an outrage on humanity. To those whose avocations allow only
of an occasional perusal of books, the following sheets will afford
information on this subject, to obtain which otherwise, the reading
of many large works would be necessary; and to the young student, it
is hoped, they may pave the way for future research, excite an early
abhorrence of tyranny and bigotry, and nurture the spirit of Christian
philanthropy and liberality.
It has been the aim of the writer to condense as much information
within a small compass as possible. Not a few cases of well-attested
individual suffering have also been introduced, illustrative of the
various topics brought forward in the course of the work.
It may also be mentioned, that the utmost care has been taken to insure
the authenticity of the statements which are advanced; though it was
deemed inexpedient to enlarge the volume by notes of reference to the
writers whence it is compiled, these for the most part being embodied
in the text. To enumerate all the authors whose writings have been
consulted, is as unnecessary as it would be tedious. But it may be of
importance to state, that among others whose names will be found in the
work itself, materials have been collected from Limborch, Baker, Hurd,
Montanus, Salgado, Father Paul, Gavin, Dellon, Buchanan, Puigblanch,
Llorente, Blanco White, and Don Juan Van Halen.
EDINBURGH, _July_, 1834.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Persecution for religious opinions, opposed to the spirit
of Christianity, and to the sentiments of the primitive
fathers—it increases with the growth of the Papal
authority—edicts of the synod of Tours and of the Roman Pontiff
against the Waldenses—the foundation of the Inquisition laid by
Regnier and Guy—Innocent III. institutes two new orders of
regulars—birth and education of St. Dominic—his erection of the
Inquisition, and thirst for human blood—procedure of the first
Inquisitors—difficulties which had to be surmounted previous to the
establishment of the Inquisition—edicts of Frederick II. against
heresy—erection of Inquisitorial tribunals indifferent
countries—letter of Pope Gregory IX. to the Inquisitors—successful
resistance of several states against the erection of these Courts, 9
CHAPTER II.
Rise and progress of the Inquisition in Spain—new privileges
conferred on the Inquisitors—their proceedings—sketch of the
government of the ancient Spanish Inquisition—dreadful persecution
of the Jews and Moors at Seville in 1481—they are exposed to
similar persecutions in the other provinces of Spain—Torquemada
appointed Inquisitor-general—he frames laws for the government
of the different tribunals—his audacity and cruelty—proceedings
of his successors Deza and Ximenes—the Reformers' works
proscribed—zeal of the Emperor Charles V. in behalf of the
Inquisition—his son Philip II. is still more superstitious
and intolerant—horrid cruelty of that infatuated monarch—his
efforts to establish the Inquisition in every part of his
dominions—ignorance of the Inquisitors—ludicrous trial of the
famous Galileo before the "Holy Tribunal," 25
CHAPTER III.
Appointment of the Inquisitors in Spain—their extensive
privileges—they pretend to have jurisdiction over the subjects
of other states—imprisonment of Thomas Maynard—dignity
and splendour of the Inquisitors—other officers belonging
to the Inquisition—procedure of the tribunal of the "Holy
Office"—eagerness of the Inquisitors to preserve secrecy in all
their transactions—their manner of receiving and interrogating
informers—their rigorous proceedings towards any of their
servants who may dare to violate in the least their unjust
orders—citing of the witnesses—apprehension of the person
accused—his imprisonment—prisons of the Inquisition—examination of
a culprit—artifice and injustice practised by the judges to induce
a person to criminate himself—striking example of their duplicity
and barbarity, 56
CHAPTER IV.
Examination of the accused by torture—its different
degrees—Puigblanch's description of this inhuman practice—it is
sometimes inflicted on those who are condemned to death—sufferings
of William Lithgow—innocence no protection against Inquisitorial
cruelty—barbarous usage of Johanna Bohorques—different
punishments inflicted by the Inquisition—description of an
auto-da-fé—procession which accompanies the celebration of that
ceremony—burning of heretics—account of the splendid auto-da-fé
which took place at Madrid in 1680—penitential habits which are
worn by the criminals—hypocritical manner in which the Inquisitors
deliver over a culprit to the civil power, 79
CHAPTER V.
Auto-da-fé celebrated at Seville in 1560—the Inquisitor-general
Valdes publishes a new code of laws for the government of the
holy office—proceedings of the Inquisition during the reigns of
Philip III. Philip IV. and Charles II.—state of the nation at the
accession of Philip V.—M. Legal, the French commander, levies a
contribution on the Dominicans in Saragossa—their stratagem to
elude payment—the Inquisitors excommunicate M. Legal—he throws
open the doors of the Inquisition and liberates the prisoners—the
freemasons become the objects of persecution by the holy
office—state of the Inquisition during the reigns of Ferdinand
VI. Charles III. and Charles IV.—the Inquisitors prohibit the
reading of French works at the period of the revolution in that
kingdom—the Inquisition suppressed by Bonaparte and completely
abolished by the Cortes-General—it is re-established by Ferdinand
VII.—persecuting spirit of the modern Inquisition—sufferings
of Van Halen—sentence of death by the pendulum passed by the
Inquisitors in 1820, 102
CHAPTER VI.
The horrid procedure of the Inquisition is never calculated
to make converts—Case of Don Carlos de Sessa—of Isaac
Orobio—the punishments inflicted by the holy tribunal encourage
hypocrisy—examples—the Inquisition frequently condemns
the innocent—trial of Melchior Hernandez—the Inquisitors
proved to be actuated by avarice in their condemnation of
prisoners—examples—Nicholas Burton—a child—other offences besides
heresy taken cognizance of by the Holy Office—its flagrant
injustice—its barbarous proceedings against the dead—Marc Antonio
de Dominis, 128
CHAPTER VII.
Hostility of the Inquisition to the progress of literature and
science—examples—Don Melchior de Macanaz—Luis de Leon—Aonius
Palearius—freemasonry a peculiar object of persecution by the holy
tribunal—interesting trial of M. Tournon—his sentence—cruelty of
the Inquisition in the nineteenth century—affecting account of
the sufferings of Don Miguel Juan Antonio Solano—his death while
confined in the prisons of the Inquisition—he is denied Christian
burial—remarks by Puigblanch on the iniquitous procedure of the
holy office, 152
CHAPTER VIII.
Portuguese "holy tribunal"—imprisonment of Dellon in
the Inquisition at Goa—he is thrice examined before the
Inquisitors—despair impels him to attempt committing
suicide—his fourth examination—sentence of death pronounced on
him—preparations for celebrating an auto-da-fé—the various dresses
which were worn by the criminals—order of the procession—Dellon's
sentence mitigated, and publicly read—ceremonies which are
observed towards those who are condemned to death—penances
enjoined upon Dellon at his liberation, 172
CHAPTER IX.
The Inquisition at Goa has made little improvement since the
time of Dellon—extracts from Dr. Buchanan's Christian Researches
in Asia—he visits Goa—becomes acquainted with the Inquisitor
Joseph a Doloribus—conversation between Dr. Buchanan and the
Inquisitor respecting Dellon's account of the tribunal—attempt
made by the Inquisitor to prove that the procedure of the holy
office is ameliorated—the Doctor visits the Inquisition—he
pleads, in vain, to see the dungeons and the captives—his remarks
on the efforts which ought to be made by Britain to abolish so
odious a tribunal—true picture of the Inquisition by several
writers—conclusion, 191
APPENDIX.
No. I.—Articles of Torquemada, for regulating the proceedings
of the Inquisition, drawn up in 1484, 218
No. II.—Articles drawn up by the Inquisitor-general
Valdes, in 1561, for the better regulation of the holy office, 221
HISTORY
OF
THE INQUISITION.
CHAPTER I.
Persecution for religious opinions, opposed to the spirit
of Christianity—its increase with the growth of the Papal
authority—the foundation of the Inquisition laid by Regnier
and Guy—Birth and education of St. Dominic—his erection of the
Inquisition, and thirst for human blood—procedure of the first
Inquisitors—erection of inquisitorial tribunals in different
countries.
Nothing is more evident to every candid reader of the inspired volume,
than that persecution in any form is utterly opposed to the spirit of
genuine Christianity. "Learn of me," said the Saviour, when he proposed
himself as a model for his followers, "for I am meek and lowly in
heart;" and following up his principles of mildness, he reproved the
indiscreet zeal of James and John, when they sought to call down fire
from heaven to consume the Samaritans, because they refused to receive
them into one of their villages. Nay, so far from giving his disciples
a power to persecute, the Divine Founder of the Christian religion
foretold them that they must suffer persecution for his name. This
they soon experienced; but, instead of rendering evil for evil, they
"approved themselves as the ministers of God, by much patience, by
afflictions, necessities, distresses, stripes, and imprisonments;" thus
showing by example, as well as by precept, that "the weapons of their
warfare were not carnal, but spiritual."
While the objects of persecution, the Christians acted agreeably to
these principles, and for three centuries contended, that persecution
for religious opinions is not only absurd, but unjust and cruel in
the highest degree. "Every one," says Tertullian, "hath a natural
right and power to worship according to his persuasion; for no man's
religion can be hurtful or profitable to his neighbour." "There is no
need of compulsion and violence," says Lactantius, "because religion
cannot be forced, and men must be made willing, not by stripes, but
by arguments." The maxims of mildness towards those who were called
heretics, are also inculcated by Chrysostom, in the following among
many similar passages of his works:—"We ought to fight against
heretics, not to throw down those who are upright, but to raise up
those who are fallen; for the war which is incumbent on us is not that
which gives death to the living, but that which restores life to the
dead, seeing that our arms are meekness and benignity. In dealing with
heretics, we ought not to injure them in person, but seek to remove
the error of the understanding, and the evil of the heart. We ought
always to be disposed to submit to persecution, and not to persecute;
to suffer grievances, and not to cause them. It is in this manner Jesus
Christ conquered, since he was nailed to a cross—he did not crucify
others." Even so late as the fifth century, St. Martin, in France,
excommunicated a bishop, for accusing certain heretics to the usurper
Maximin, by whose means they were put to death; adding, in the spirit
of genuine Christianity, that he looked upon that man as a murderer,
who procured the destruction of a fellow-creature, chargeable, in
strict justice, with nothing else than being mistaken in his opinions.
But in despite of the mild spirit of the gospel, exemplified in every
page of the sacred writings, and of the opinions of the primitive
fathers, who unanimously condemned persecution for conscience sake, it
was not long before those who pretended to be the disciples of Jesus
began to imitate the conduct which they had censured in the heathen
emperors. When the Roman empire became Christian, it still appeared to
the civil magistrate that he was bound to support the religion adopted
by the state.—"Hence it was that laws were enacted against heretics,
subjecting them to fines, imprisonment, and banishment; with this
limitation, however, in every case, that the ecclesiastical judge was
to determine whether the opinions professed were heretical or not.
The party accused, besides, was usually charged at the same time with
the crime of sedition or rebellion; and whenever the punishment was
capital, it was understood to be the result chiefly of a criminal
opposition to the civil authorities." The law and practice respecting
heresy continued in this situation till the commencement of the ninth
century. The trial of the whole case was in the hands of the civil
magistrate; and, with the exception of ecclesiastical censures, it
belonged to councils merely to determine whether the doctrine libelled
was or was not heretical.
In succeeding centuries, however, the power of the ecclesiastical
tribunals, and of the papacy itself, increased in a most extraordinary
degree. The zeal which animated the Church against heretics became
fierce and ungovernable, and all who dared to advance sentiments
opposed to those enjoined by the Romish hierarchy, were subjected to
persecution in every form. "In the following ages," says Limborch,
when speaking of the sixth and subsequent centuries, "the affairs of
the Church were so managed under the government of the Popes, and all
persons so strictly curbed by the severity of the laws, that they
durst not even so much as whisper against the received opinions of
the Church. Besides this, so deep was the ignorance that had spread
itself over the world, that men, without the least regard to knowledge
and learning, received, with blind obedience, every thing that the
ecclesiastics ordered them, however stupid and superstitious, without
any examination; and if any one dared in the least to contradict
them, he was sure immediately to be punished; whereby the most absurd
opinions came to be established by the violence of the Popes."
The chief aim of the Roman Pontiffs, indeed, now was to crush in its
infancy every doctrine which had the smallest tendency to oppose their
exorbitant power. In the year 1163, the Synod of Tours commanded
all the bishops and priests in the country of Toulouse, "to take
care, and to forbid under pain of excommunication, every person from
presuming to give reception, or the least assistance, to the followers
of heresy, wherever they should be discovered." This decree had in
view, more particularly, the Waldenses and Albigenses, an eminent
Christian community who inhabited the valleys of Piedmont and the south
of France, and who held doctrines different from those which were
commanded by the Popes, on pain of death, to be implicitly believed.
The Waldenses, whose religious sentiments were similar to those of
the Protestants at the present day, had long continued to reject the
absurdities of Popery;[1] and though, for several ages, they had
escaped the notice of the Holy See, yet having in the twelfth century
become exceedingly numerous, they excited the utmost hatred of the Pope
and his adherents. About the year 1200, accordingly, Pope Innocent
III. wrote to several archbishops and bishops in Guienne, and other
provinces in France, enjoining them to banish the "Waldenses, Puritans,
and Paternines," from their territories, and commissioned Regnier
and Guy, two zealous monks, to repair to France, for the purpose of
discovering and subduing heresy. These two apostles of the Holy See may
now be considered as having laid the foundation of the Inquisition,
though the honour, or rather infamy, of erecting that horrid court,
is due to another individual no less cruel. Regnier was subsequently
appointed the Pope's legate in the four provinces of Narbonne, Aix,
Arles, and Embrun: but having fallen sick, Innocent joined to him Peter
of Castelnau—one, says Sismondi, "whose zeal, more furious than that of
his predecessors, is worthy of those sentiments which the very name of
the Inquisition inspires."
For many ages the method of proceeding against heretics was committed
to the bishops, with whom the government and care of the churches were
entrusted, according to the received decrees of the Romish church.
But imagining that they did not proceed with sufficient severity
against the opponents of the Romish faith, and especially against the
Waldenses, the Pope had recourse to other methods for the purpose of
more effectually extirpating heresy. With this view, Innocent, in the
year 1204, instituted two orders of regulars, namely, those of St.
Dominic and St. Francis. Dominic and his followers were sent into the
country of Toulouse, where they preached with great vehemence against
all who held opinions different from those of Rome; in consequence of
which, the order of Dominic received the name of Predicants. Francis
and his disciples acted a similar part in Italy. Both saints, as
they are impiously called, were commanded by the Pope, "to excite
the Catholic princes and people to extirpate heretics; in all places
to inquire into their number and quality; and to transmit a faithful
account to Rome." Hence they were called Inquisitors.
The erection of that extraordinary court, "the Inquisition," is,
indeed, uniformly ascribed to Dominic, a man of the most blood-thirsty
disposition, and whose deeds of cruelty may not unjustly be compared
with those of the infamous Nero. Dominic was born at the village of
Cabaroga, in Spain, in the year 1170. Previous to his birth, his
mother, Joanna, is said to have dreamed that she was with child of a
pup, carrying in its mouth a lighted torch; and after its birth, it
put the world in an uproar by its fierce barkings, and at length set
it on fire by the torch which it carried in its mouth. His followers
have interpreted this dream, of his doctrine, by which he enlightened
the world; while others, with far more reason, consider the torch
to be an emblem of that fire and faggot by which an almost infinite
multitude of persons were burnt to ashes. Dominic "was educated for
the priesthood," says a modern writer, "and grew up the most fiery and
the most bloody of mortals. Before his time, every bishop was a sort
of Inquisitor in his own diocese; but Dominic contrived to incorporate
a body of men, independent of every human being, except the Pope, for
the express purpose of ensnaring and destroying Christians. He was well
aware, that however loudly the priests declaimed against heresy, the
lords of the soil would not suffer them to butcher their tenants under
any such vain pretences. In Biscay, the priesthood was at a very low
ebb in the eleventh century, and the clergy complained to the King of
Navarre, that the nobility and gentry treated them very little better
than their slaves, employing them chiefly only to breed up and feed
their dogs. Nearly a century after that time in a neighbouring state,
when the renowned St. Bernard began, in a sermon to a crowded audience
to inveigh against heresy, the nobility and gentry all rose up and left
the church, and the people followed them. The preacher came down and
proceeded to the market-place, where he attempted to harangue on the
same subject; but the populace, wiser than the preacher, refused to
hear him, and raised such a clamour as drowned his voice, and compelled
him to desist. Only one expedient remained. Bernard recollected that
Jesus had ordered his apostles, in certain cases, to shake off the dust
of their feet, and, as though he were an apostle, and had received the
same command, he affected to imitate the example. He left the city,
shook his feet, and exclaimed, "May the Almighty punish this city with
a drought." Thus far went the rage of Catholicism at the beginning of
the twelfth century, and here its proud waves were stayed; but at the
commencement of the thirteenth, about the year 1215,[2] Dominic broke
down the dam, and covered Toulouse with a tide of despotism stained
with human blood. Posterity will scarcely believe that this enemy of
mankind, after forming a race like himself, first called preaching,
and then Dominican friars, died in his bed, was canonized as a saint,
worshipped as a divinity, and proposed as a model of piety and virtue
to succeeding generations."
The Inquisitors, at first, had no tribunals; they simply inquired
after the number, strength, and riches of heretics, and gave
information of all these particulars to the bishops, who at that
time had the sole power of judging in ecclesiastical matters; urging
them to anathematize, or otherwise to punish, such heretical persons
as they brought before them. Sometimes they excited princes to arm
their subjects against those whom they denounced as heretics, and at
other times they inflamed the populace to take up arms and unite in
extirpating them. Nay, in his zeal for the Popish faith, Dominic,
amidst a vast concourse of people, in one of his sermons openly
declared, "That he was raised to a new office by the Pope; that he was
resolved to defend with all his power the doctrines of the faith; and
that, if spiritual and ecclesiastical weapons were not sufficient for
this purpose, it was his fixed determination to call on princes to take
up arms against heretics, that their very memory might be entirely
destroyed. Nor was this an empty threat. Instigated by this inhuman
monk, and by his adherents, armies were raised, styled cross-bearers,
or crusaders, who massacred thousands of the Albigenses, laid their
cities in ruins, and compelled the few who escaped to seek refuge in
other parts of the world."
In course of time the Inquisitors took cognizance of other crimes, from
their being supposed to have some affinity with, or to bear suspicion
of, heresy: such as heretical blasphemy, witchcraft, belief in omens,
confessional seduction, and even polygamy. "The original simplicity
of the Inquisition," says Dr. M'Crie, "soon gave place to a system
of the most complicated and iniquitous circumvention. Inflamed with
a passion for extirpating heresy, and persuading themselves that the
end sanctified the means, they, (the Inquisitors) not only acted upon,
but formally laid down as a rule for their conduct, maxims founded on
the grossest deceit and artifice, according to which they sought in
every way to ensnare their victims, and by means of false statements,
delusory promises, and a tortuous course of examination, to betray them
into confessions which proved fatal to their lives and fortunes. To
this mental torture was soon after added the use of bodily tortures,
together with the concealment of the names of witnesses."
Innocent died in 1216, and was succeeded by Honorius III. who used
every effort to give permanency to the Inquisition; which was not,
however, accomplished till 1227 under the pontificate of Gregory IX.
The growth of the Inquisition was very gradual, and not a few obstacles
had to be surmounted previous to its complete establishment in the
different popish countries of Europe. Two objections in particular
were raised against its erection; the one, that it was an encroachment
on the authority of the bishop of the place; the other, that it
deprived the civil magistrate of the trial and punishment of heretics,
a privilege which he formerly enjoyed. To remove the first of these
difficulties, the Pope appointed the bishop of the place to act in
concert with the Inquisitor: this, however, was but a name, the
Inquisitor having the sole power lodged in his hands. To remedy the
second, the civil magistrate was allowed to appoint the subordinate
officers, and to inflict the legal punishment, after trial and
condemnation by the Inquisitors.[3]
Notwithstanding the opposition of the people to this novel tribunal,
therefore the Popes, aided by the sovereigns of Europe, not only
obtained its erection, but additional authority to the Inquisitors.
These hitherto unprecedented judges were soon afterwards empowered,
as the representatives of the Pope, to sit and pronounce sentence on
those whom they stigmatized by the name of heretics. Their efforts were
greatly assisted by Frederick II., King of the Romans, who, in 1224,
issued no fewer than four edicts against heresy, addressed "to his
beloved princes, the venerable archbishops, bishops, and other prelates
of the Church; to the dukes, marquises, earls, barons, governors,
judges, ministers, and all other his faithful subjects throughout
the empire." In these edicts "he takes the Inquisitors under his
protection, imposes on obstinate heretics the punishment of being burnt
to death, and of perpetual imprisonment on the penitent, committing the
cognizance of the crime to the ecclesiastical, and the condemnation
of the criminals, as well as the infliction of the punishment, to the
secular judges."
The "Holy Office" soon extended its authority, and enlarged the number
of its tribunals, in almost every kingdom of Europe where any were
suspected of heresy. It was established in Toulouse in 1229, where it
was first given in charge to the monks of the Cistercian order, and
afterwards in 1233 to the Dominicans. Innocent IV. extended it to all
Italy, except Naples, where its introduction was always opposed. In
1231, several Waldenses being discovered in the city of Rome, they were
all either consigned to the flames, or imprisoned till they should
retract their errors. It soon declined, however, in Italy, and even in
Rome itself, till, in 1545, it was restored by Paul III. who created
the Congregation of the Inquisition, composed of cardinals presided
over by the Pope. From Toulouse the Inquisition was brought to Spain in
the year 1233; but did not go out of the kingdom of Arragon, till after
its union with that of Castile, when, in 1480, it was established in
Seville by Ferdinand and Isabella, under the authority of Sixtus IV.
It was afterwards extended to more distant provinces, and every where
entrusted to the management of Dominican friars. Germany, Austria,
Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, Dalmatia, Bosnia, and numerous other places,
were soon compelled to receive these bloody tribunals. Portugal was
subjected to its tyranny, in 1536; and, latterly, in 1571, Philip
II. introduced it into America. "During the pontificate of Gregory,"
says the author of "Sketches of the Spanish Inquisition," "it was
introduced into the Christian kingdoms of Spain, (meaning those parts
of Spain where Christianity was professed, to distinguish them from
those possessed by the Moors;) and the Dominicans of that country
soon found an ample field for the exercise of their office among the
Jewish and Moorish proselytes, whom interest or fear had drawn within
the pale of the Catholic Church. From this period the institution went
on increasing in extent and activity, till Ferdinand and Isabella
became the sovereigns of all Spain. During their reign, it became the
subject of much controversy between the courts of Spain and Rome.
Isabella, a woman of considerable talents, appears to have foreseen
the encroachments which the Inquisition would make upon the royal
prerogatives, but her resistance was overruled, and, in 1482, the
famous Torquemada was appointed Inquisitor-general of Castile. In the
succeeding year his commission was extended to Arragon; and following
the successes of Ferdinand and Isabella, he successively planted the
Inquisition in the Moorish kingdoms of Seville, Cordova, Jaen, and
Villa Real."
The following letter from Pope Gregory IX. to the Inquisitors of
Navarre, may serve as a specimen, both of the cruelty of the papal see,
and of the horrid use which these designing men made of the Scriptures
of truth. "Since, therefore," says his Holiness, "according to the
office enjoined us, we are bound to root out all offences from the
kingdom of God, and, as much as in us lies, to oppose such beasts, (the
Waldenses and other heretics,) we deliver into your hands the sword of
the word of God, which, according to the words of the prophet, Jer.
xlviii. 10, ye ought not to keep back from blood! but, inspired with a
zeal for the Catholic faith, like Phineas, make diligent inquisition
concerning these pestilent wretches, their believers, receivers, and
abettors, and proceed against those who, by such inquisition, shall be
found guilty, according to the canonical sanctions and our statutes,
which we have lately published, to confound heretical pravity, calling
in against them, if need be, the assistance of the secular arm!"
Similar directions were given to the Inquisitors in other countries,
all of whom, actuated by the same spirit, obeyed the barbarous orders
of their master with the utmost alacrity. To regulate the procedure
of these courts, the Pope framed thirty-one rules, defining their
jurisdiction and powers; and all rulers and magistrates were commanded,
by a Papal bull, issued for the purpose, to give, under the pain of
excommunication, the most punctual obedience, and every possible
assistance to these spiritual courts of judicature.
Notwithstanding all the efforts of the Sovereign Pontiff, however,
many of the Roman Catholic states of Europe successfully resisted the
introduction of the Inquisition. Though it was brought into France at
a very early period, yet it was soon afterwards expelled, in a manner
so effectual, as to preclude any renewal of the attempt. In several
other countries, the inhabitants sometimes proceeded to open violence,
and had they not been overawed by an armed force, they would have put
the Inquisitors to death, and demolished their iniquitous tribunals.
These commotions were excited partly by the conduct of the Inquisitors
themselves, whose severity, avarice, extortion, and cruelty, were quite
unbearable, and partly by the great expenses which that extraordinary
court entailed on the community.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A History of the Waldenses having been already published, the
author considers it unnecessary to give here any particular account
either of the history or doctrines of that interesting people, more
especially as that work contains a full account of the crusades against
the Albigenses, and of the persecutions carried on by the Popish Church
against their brethren in Piedmont.
[2] Although Dominic was both the projector of the Inquisition, and the
first Inquisitor, historians differ as to the year when that iniquitous
court was first erected; some fixing the date of its establishment
so early as in 1208, others in 1212, and not a few in the year above
mentioned. This, however, can be but of little moment. It was in the
beginning of the thirteenth century, "in an evil hour," to use the
words of a late eminent and lamented author, "and under some planet of
malignant aspect and of disastrous influence," that St. Dominic, the
father of the Inquisition, arose.
[3] On this privilege enjoyed by the civil magistrate, Dr. Jortin
humorously remarks, that "the priest was the judge, and the king was
the hangman!" A third part of the property of heretics, was, however,
allowed to belong to the magistrate for the benefit of the community;
but out of this again he had to defray the expenses of keeping up the
prisons and supporting the prisoners.