Rise and progress of the Inquisition in Spain—sketch of
the government of the ancient Spanish Inquisition—dreadful
persecution of the Jews and Moors—Torquemada appointed
Inquisitor-general—proceedings of his successors Deza and
Ximenes—zeal of the Emperor Charles V. in behalf of the
Inquisition—his son Philip II. is still more superstitious and
intolerant—ludicrous trial of the famous Galileo before the "Holy
Tribunal."
In no place in the world have the dreadful effects of the Inquisition
been more severely felt than in Spain. Although, therefore, some
account of its establishment in that kingdom has been already given,
it is necessary to enter somewhat more particularly into its origin
and progress in that superstitious and afflicted country, where this
scourge and disgrace to humanity long existed.
As already noticed, the Inquisition was introduced into Spain in 1233.
At that period Spain was divided into four kingdoms, namely, Castile,
which comprehended Seville, Cordova, and Jaen; Arragon, comprehending
Valencia and Majorca; Navarre; and Portugal. The Dominicans were
the chief order of monks in these kingdoms, and by them, under the
authority of the Pope, the Inquisition was at first erected, and widely
extended. In 1254, Innocent IV. conferred many additional privileges
on the Dominicans, and at the same time extended the prerogatives of
the inquisitors, permitting them to take the depositions of witnesses
although their names were unknown. These prerogatives were subsequently
enlarged by the kings of Arragon, who in 1292 published a decree,
"commanding the tribunals of justice to assist the Dominicans, to
imprison all who might be denounced, and to execute the judgments
pronounced by the monks." From that period till 1474, when Isabella
ascended the throne of Castile, a succession of inquisitors continued
to burn and banish great numbers, not only of Moors and Jews, but of
Christians, whom they suspected, or pretended to suspect, of holding
heretical opinions.
Such procedure was sanctioned by the Sovereign Pontiff, even under the
rules of the old Inquisition. Imagining that many crimes which came
under the jurisdiction of the civil magistrates, could not be committed
unless accompanied by the holding of heretical principles, the Popes
enjoined the Inquisitors to proceed with vigour against all _suspected_
persons. Numbers were accordingly dragged before the tribunal of the
"Holy Office," charged with blasphemy, sorcery, and schism. Nay,
to remain excommunicated for a year, without seeking absolution, or
performing the penance which had been imposed, was reputed heresy. The
Inquisitors also proceeded against concealers, favourers, and adherents
of heretics, as being suspected of holding the same opinions. Hence
all nobles who refused to take an oath to banish the heretics from
their states—lawyers who assisted heretics by their advice—persons who
declined taking an oath in the trial of heretics, &c. &c., were liable
to suspicion; and in order to render the crime of heresy still more
odious, the bodies of such persons as had held opinions different from
those of Rome, were disinterred and burnt, their property confiscated,
and their memory pronounced infamous.
Before proceeding with the history of the modern Spanish Inquisition,
we shall give here some account of the government of the old tribunal,
and the proceedings of the ancient Inquisitors. "The first Inquisitors
had no fixed salary," says Llorente; "the Holy Office was founded on
devotion and zeal for the faith; its members were almost all monks,
who had made a vow of poverty, and the priests who were associated in
their labours were generally canons, or provided with benefices. But
when the Inquisitors began to make journeys, accompanied by recorders,
alguazils, and an armed force, the Pope decreed that all their
expenses should be defrayed by the bishops, on the pretence that the
Inquisitors laboured for the destruction of heresy in their dioceses.
The expenses of the Inquisition were afterwards defrayed by the fines
and confiscation of the condemned heretics; these resources were the
only funds of the Holy Office; it never possessed any fixed revenue."
No sooner was an Inquisitor appointed by the Roman Pontiff, than
the magistrates of the place were commanded to arrest all persons
suspected of heresy, to furnish the Inquisitor and his attendants with
lodgings, and to protect them from every insult. One of the first acts
of the Inquisitor, was to publish an order, requiring all heretics
voluntarily to confess themselves to be such, and promising them
absolution, accompanied by slight penance, provided their confession
was made within a stated period. Those who were accused, and did not
appear within the time prescribed, were shortly afterwards arrested
and lodged in the Inquisition. The examination of the accused person
soon followed, and his answers were compared with the testimonies of
the informer and witnesses against him. If he confessed himself to be
guilty of one heretical word, he was immediately asked to abjure all
his errors, as the admission of one was considered an acknowledgment of
all the crimes laid to his charge. If he consented, he was reconciled,
after undergoing various penances; but if he refused, he was delivered
over to the secular judge as an obstinate heretic. When an accused
person denied all the charges, he was furnished with a copy of the
process, but the names of the accuser and witnesses were carefully
concealed. Many questions were asked at his examination; such as,
if he had any enemies; if he knew their motives for hating him; if
he suspected any particular person of wishing to ruin him, &c. In
the event of his still denying the charges, notwithstanding he was
convicted or strongly suspected, he was tortured to make him confess
his heresies. If the crime imputed to the accused was not proved, he
was acquitted, but still the name of the accuser was withheld.[4]
On the union of the several kingdoms of Spain, by Ferdinand and
Isabella, the boundaries of the Inquisition were extended, and its
privileges enlarged, in every corner of their dominions. At that
period it was principally intended to prevent the relapse of the Jews
and Moors who had been, or pretended to be, converted to the Romish
faith. In Seville, especially, many of the Jews, not withstanding
their profession of Christianity, still continued to practise in
secret their ancient rites, which having come to the ears of the
archbishop, great numbers of that unhappy nation were arrested in
1481, and thrown into dungeons.[5] After a tedious examination, in
some cases by torture, the Inquisitors condemned some of them to the
stake, and others to perpetual imprisonment. "By divers ways and
means," says Bernaldez, "Inquisitors began to arrest men and women,
the most guilty, as well as the most honourable, some from among the
magistrates, jurists, bachelors, and lawyers, and also men of great
reputation. These they sentenced to be burnt with fire, and brought for
the first time, to be consumed on the platform, (a burning place which
they had constructed in a field in the vicinity of the city,) six men
and women, whom they cast into the flames. A few days afterwards they
burnt three of the principal, that is, the richest, persons in the
city, viz: Diego de Susan, a great rabbin, whose property was said to
be worth ten millions; the others were Manuel Sauli, and Bartholomew
Toralva. Pedro Fernandez Benedeba, steward of the church of the dean
and chapter, was next arrested, who was one of the principal of them,
and had in his house arms to equip a hundred men; also Juan Fernandez
Abalasia, who had long been a chief justice, and was a great lawyer,
as well as many other principal persons, and very rich, whom they also
burnt. At this all the confessed heretics were alarmed, and cast into
great consternation, and fled from the city and archbishopric; but
an injunction was laid for no one to abscond from Seville under the
penalty of death, and guards were placed at the gates of the city; in
short, they arrested so many, that there was no place to put them in,
and many fled to the estates of lords, to Portugal, and to the country
of the Moors."[6]
This persecution of the Jews and Moors at Seville, was followed in
every other province of the kingdom of Spain. Encouraged by Ferdinand
and Isabella, the Inquisitors daily dragged several miserable victims
before their tribunal; and summarily consigned to the rack all whom
they suspected, and to the flames those whom they pretended to have
convicted, of still adhering to the Jewish faith. But even this was
not enough. In 1482, the Inquisitors appointed a particular time for
all the Jews to appear before them, and make confession of their
errors. Alarmed for their safety, seventeen thousand appeared on the
day appointed, who having pretended to embrace the Christian religion,
were pardoned. But many others refusing to act in the same hypocritical
manner, were seized and lodged in prison. Having been put to the
most excruciating tortures, numbers of these unhappy persons abjured
Judaism, and were consigned to the flames, some of them acknowledging
Christ, and others calling on the name of Moses! Such indeed was the
satanic zeal which animated the Inquisitors, that in the short space
of forty years after the Inquisition had been established in Seville,
four thousand persons were burnt in that bishopric alone! A hundred
thousand were reconciled and banished in Andalusia;[7] and the bones
of multitudes, which were dug out of their graves, were burnt, their
property confiscated, and their children disinherited.
In 1483 the famous, or rather infamous, Thomas de Torquemada was
appointed Inquisitor-general of Arragon,—a man every way fitted
for increasing the prerogatives and revenues of the holy office. He
first created four inferior tribunals—at Seville, Cordova, Jaen, and
Villa Real; and then persuaded Ferdinand to create a royal council
of Inquisition, at the head of which was placed Torquemada himself,
who was assisted by two eminent counsellors. In order to arrange laws
for the new council, Torquemada convoked a junta, composed of the
Inquisitors of the four tribunals above mentioned, the two assistants,
and the members of the royal council. This assembly was held at Seville
in 1484, and published a code of laws consisting of twenty-eight
articles,[8] which were the first laws of the Spanish Inquisition. The
tyranny, extortion, and cruelty of the various tribunals, excited the
indignation of the Jews, and plans were formed, in Arragon especially,
to assassinate the Inquisitors, and free the country from their
iniquitous yoke. These plans, however, being frustrated, still greater
cruelties were inflicted on that unhappy people. From time to time
additional laws were made, all tending to abridge the liberty of the
people, and to advance the authority, and increase the revenues of the
Inquisition. The severity of these laws obliged more than a hundred
thousand families to emigrate to other kingdoms.
In order to avert the danger which threatened them, the Jews in 1492,
offered to supply Ferdinand with thirty thousand pieces of silver to
assist him in his wars; they also promised to live peaceably, to comply
with the regulations which had been formed for them, in retiring to
their houses in the quarters assigned to them before night, and in
renouncing all professions which were reserved for the Christians.
Ferdinand and Isabella were willing to listen to these propositions;
but Torquemada, being informed of their inclinations, had the audacity
to appear before them with a crucifix in his hand, and to address them
in these words:—"Judas sold his master for thirty pieces of silver,
your highnesses are about to do the same for thirty thousand; behold
him, take him, and hasten to sell him!" The fanaticism of Torquemada
wrought so sudden a change in the minds of the sovereigns, that they
immediately issued a decree, by which all the Jews were compelled to
quit Spain before the end of the following July, on pain of death.
In consequence of this decree, all the Jews and Moors either fled or
were banished from Spain.[9] The greater part of them took refuge in
Portugal, where they suffered cruelties little short of those from
which they had just escaped.
The jurisdiction of the Inquisition was not, however, confined to the
Jews and Moors, but extended to all those who in their opinions or
practice differed from the Church of Rome. The insolent Torquemada even
subjected bishops to trial, and actually procured the condemnation
of Don Pedro, bishop of Calahorra, under the usual pretence of being
a heretic. This fanatic, who was the first Inquisitor-general of
Spain, died in 1498.—"The miseries which were the consequences of
the system which he adopted," says Llorente, "and recommended to his
successors, justify the general hatred which followed him to the tomb,
and compelled him to take precautions for his personal safety. It is
not surprising that many should have conspired against his life, when
his cruel administration is considered; the Pope himself was alarmed
at his barbarity, and the complaints which were made against him; and
Torquemada was obliged to send his colleague, Antonio Badoja, three
times to Rome, to defend him against the accusations of his enemies."
Don Diego Deza, a Dominican, succeeded Torquemada as Inquisitor-general
in December 1498. No less cruel than his predecessor, Deza, during the
period of eight years, punished thirty-eight thousand four hundred
and forty individuals; two thousand five hundred and ninety-two of
whom were burnt in person, eight hundred and ninety-six in effigy,
and thirty-four thousand nine hundred and fifty-two were condemned to
different penances. The audacity of this tyrant rose at length to such
a height, that Philip I. who then filled the throne, ordered Deza, in
1506, to retire to his archbishopric of Seville, and to invest another
in his room. But unhappily for Spain, the death of the king that same
year, restored Deza to his office, which so terrified the inhabitants
of Cordova, that they rose in a tumult, broke open the prisons of the
Inquisition, and liberated an immense number of prisoners. These events
alarmed the Inquisitor-general to such a degree, that he resigned his
office, which immediately restored tranquility in Cordova.
Two new Inquisitors were now appointed, namely, Ximenes de Cisneros
for Castile, and Don Juan Enguera for Arragon. The former of these
prelates, considering it unnecessary to have as many Inquisitorial
tribunals as there were bishoprics, "established the Inquisition at
Seville, Cordova, Jaen, Toledo, in Estremadura, at Murcia, Valladolid,
and Calahorra, and appointed the extent of territory for the
jurisdiction of each tribunal; he also sent Inquisitors to the Canary
isles. In 1513, the Inquisition was introduced at Cuença; in 1524, at
Grenada; under Philip II. at Santiago de Galicia; and under Philip
IV. at Madrid. Cisneros also judged it necessary, in 1516, to have a
tribunal at Oran, and soon after in America. The Inquisitor-general of
Arragon adopted the same system, and sent Inquisitors to Saragossa,
Barcelona, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia, and Sicily." Ximenes was eleven
years at the head of the Inquisition, during which period, fifty-two
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five persons were condemned; three
thousand five hundred and sixty-four of whom were burnt in person, one
thousand two hundred and thirty-two in effigy, and forty-eight thousand
and fifty-nine suffered various other kinds of punishment.
Numerous attempts were made both by the Cortes and the people,
during the reign of the Emperor Charles V. to obtain a reform of the
"holy office:" but all their efforts were of no avail. Adrian, the
successor of Ximenes, who was Inquisitor-general only for five years,
condemned no fewer than two hundred and forty thousand and twenty-five
individuals; and the yoke of that monstrous institution, instead of
being made lighter, was daily rendered more galling.
At the commencement of the Reformation, the most strenuous efforts were
made by the Inquisitors to check its progress, and various methods
were taken to prevent the circulation of the Reformer's works, and
especially the Bible, among the people. In 1522 the Pope enjoined
the governors of Castile to prevent the works of Luther from being
introduced into the kingdom; and orders were given to the Inquisitors
to seize and burn all such obnoxious publications! The Emperor Charles
V. commissioned the University of Louvain to form a list of dangerous
books, a measure which was cordially approved of by the Pope, in a bull
which he issued on this subject, in 1539. "The Index was published in
1546," says Llorente, "by the University in all the states of Flanders,
six years after a decree had been issued to prohibit the writings
of Luther from being read or bought, on pain of death. In 1549, the
Inquisitor-general, with the approbation of the Supreme Council, added
some new works to the list of those which had been prohibited, and
addressed two ordinances to the Inquisitors, enjoining them in the
first, not to allow any person to possess them, and in the second,
commanding the consultors of the holy office neither to read nor keep
them, though the execution of the decrees might throw them into their
hands. In 1546, the Emperor commanded the University of Louvain to
publish the Index, with additions. This work appeared in 1550, and the
prince remitted it to the Inquisitor-general, and it was printed by
the order of the Supreme Council, with a supplement composed of books
prohibited in Spain, some time after the Council framed another Index,
which was certified by the secretary. All the Inquisitions received
copies, and a bull from Julius III. which renewed the prohibitions
and revoked the permissions contrary to the new bulls: he charged
the Inquisitors to seize as many books as they could; to publish
prohibiting edicts, accompanied by censures; to prosecute those who
did not obey them, as suspected of heresy; and to give an account of
the books which they had read and preserved. The Pope added, that he
was informed that a great number were in the possession of librarians
and private persons, particularly Spanish Bibles mentioned in the
catalogue."
Nor were the Inquisitors dilatory in obeying the injunctions of
his Holiness, and of their superstitious monarch. In 1558, the
Inquisitor-general published a very severe edict against all who should
retain a single volume of any of the works proscribed. Every Bible was
ordered to be strictly examined; nay, the professors in the University
were compelled, on pain of excommunication, to give up their Hebrew and
Greek Bibles to the commissaries of the Inquisition; and even works on
medicine were seized, although they were not mentioned in the Index.
In 1558, Philip II. issued a most sanguinary law against all "who
should sell, buy, keep, or read, any of the books prohibited by the
Holy Office"—a law which not only affected the property, but the lives
of those who dared to infringe it. From that period till the present,
the utmost vigilance has been exercised by the Spanish Inquisition to
prevent the people from seeing any work, which, in the plenitude of its
usurped authority, it has declared to be heretical. The Index was from
time to time either revised or renewed, and the utmost care was taken
to prevent the circulation of the word of God, unless that word was
disfigured and corrupted by the votaries of Rome.
But it was not the works of the Protestants only, which were obnoxious
to the Inquisition. Their persons were equally hateful, and not long
after the commencement of the Reformation, many of the followers of
Zuinglius and Luther were committed to the flames by the lords of
the "Holy Inquisition." The Emperor Charles V. so decidedly seconded
all their endeavours to extirpate heresy, that, having with great
difficulty introduced the Inquisition into the Netherlands, he
bequeathed in his will the care of that infamous tribunal to his son
Philip II., in the words following: "Out of regard to my duty to
Almighty God, and from my great affection to the most serene prince,
Philip II., my dearest son, and from the strong and earnest desire I
have, that he may be safe under the protection of virtue, rather than
the greatness of his riches, I charge him, with the greatest affection
of soul, that he take especial care of all things relating to the
honour and glory of God, as becomes the most Catholic king, and a
prince zealous for the divine commands; and that he be always obedient
to the commands of our Holy Mother, the Church. And, amongst other
things, this I principally and most ardently recommend to him, highly
to honour and constantly to support the office of the holy Inquisition,
as constituted by God against heretical pravity, with its ministers and
officials, because by this single remedy the most grievous offences
against God can be remedied. Also, I command him, that he would be
careful to preserve to all churches, and ecclesiastical persons, their
immunities." And again, "I ardently desire, and with the greatest
possible earnestness beseech him, and command him by his regards to me,
his most affectionate father, that in this matter, in which the welfare
of all Spain is concerned, he be most zealously careful to punish
all infected with heresy, with the severity due to their crimes, and
that, to this intent, he confer the greatest honours on the office of
the holy Inquisition, by the care of which the Catholic faith will be
increased in his kingdoms, and the Christian religion preserved."
Philip was possessed of a temper haughty and cruel, and gave full proof
of his zeal to obey his father's commands. He conferred new powers on
the Inquisitors throughout the Netherlands, and published the most
sanguinary edicts against all who maintained or even seemed to favour
the Protestant doctrines. In vain did the states of the Low Countries
remonstrate against the Inquisition being established among them.
Having taken an oath to devote the whole of his reign to the defence
of Popery, that cruel and superstitious monarch haughtily replied,
"that he would be rather no king at all, than have heretics for his
subjects." Notwithstanding his obstinacy, however, he ultimately failed
in his attempts to force the Low Countries to receive the Inquisition.
The Flemings persisted in opposing every thing resembling that cruel
tribunal, and their resistance was the cause of long and bloody wars,
which exhausted the treasures and armies of Spain during half a
century, and eventually ended in favour of the people.
But it was not in the Low Countries only that Philip showed himself the
patron of the Inquisition. In Spain he not only supported, but urged on
its "ministers and officials" to the commission of the most appalling
deeds of cruelty. On the 18th of October, 1559, an auto-da-fé[10] was
celebrated at Valladolid, at which Philip himself was present, and gave
most unequivocal proofs of his zeal in defence of the prerogatives of
that tribunal. The Inquisitor-general having demanded of the king to
continue to them his support, in these words, "Lord, continue to help
us;" Philip grasped his sword, and unsheathed part of it, to intimate
his readiness at all times to obey the mandates of these ghostly
fathers,—a pledge, which, alas! he more than faithfully fulfilled.[11]
The horrid ceremony of putting to death twenty-eight faithful
followers of the Redeemer, was conducted with great apparent solemnity,
Philip, his son, and courtiers, sitting within sight of the prisoners.
Among the Protestants condemned, there was a nobleman of the name of
Don Carlos Sessa, who, when the executioners were conducting him to the
stake, called to the king for mercy, saying, "And canst thou, O king!
witness the torments of thy subjects? Save us from this cruel death;
we do not deserve it." "No," replied Philip, sternly, "I would myself
carry wood to burn my own son, were he such a wretch as thou!"[12]
After which he beheld the bloody spectacle that followed, with a
composure which showed that he possessed a heart destitute, not only of
Christian feeling, but of the least spark of humanity.
No fewer than eighty individuals, professing the Protestant religion,
having been discovered in Seville, were all committed to the flames,
in companies of fifteen or twenty. In 1560, the same punishment
was inflicted on many other eminent persons, who, at the place of
execution, justly upbraided their judges with their ignorance and
hardness of heart, and "resisted even unto blood," all the efforts of
their persecutors to bring them again under the yoke of antichristian
bondage. Among the sufferers on this occasion were eight females, of
irreproachable character, and some of them distinguished by their rank
and education, who were condemned to the most cruel death by their
unhallowed judges. The most distinguished of these martyrs was Maria
Gomez, who appeared on the scaffold along with her three daughters and
a niece. After the reading of the sentence which doomed them to the
flames, one of the young women went up to her aunt, from whom she had
imbibed the Protestant doctrine, and, on her knees, thanked her for
all the religious instructions she had received from her, implored her
forgiveness for any offence she might have given her, and begged her
dying blessing. Raising her up, and assuring her that she had never
given her a moment's uneasiness, the old woman proceeded to encourage
her dutiful niece, by reminding her of that support which their Divine
Redeemer had promised them in the hour of trial, and of those joys
which awaited them at the termination of their momentary sufferings.
The five friends then took leave of one another with tender embraces,
and words of mutual comfort. The interview between these devoted
females was beheld by the members of the "holy tribunal" with a rigid
composure of countenance, undisturbed even by a glance of displeasure;
and so completely had superstition and habit subdued the strongest
emotions of the human breast, that not a single expression of sympathy
escaped from the multitude at witnessing a scene which in other
circumstances would have harrowed up the feelings of the spectators,
and driven them into mutiny. These, and numerous other sufferers, not
only in Spain, but in every country of Europe where this tribunal had
been erected, "counted not their lives dear unto them," but rejoiced,
amidst torments the most agonizing, and in a death the most dreadful,
that they were "considered worthy to suffer" for their Redeemer's sake.
The zeal of Philip was equally conspicuous in Portugal. Having ascended
the throne of that kingdom in 1580, at a period when the office of
Inquisitor-general was vacant, Philip wished to place the Inquisition
of Portugal under the dominion of that of Spain. Though this attempt
was unsuccessful, yet numerous acts of cruelty were committed during
the reign of that monarch, on those who dissented, or were suspected to
dissent, from the received doctrines of the Popish Church.
Under the protection of Philip, the Inquisition flourished also in
Sicily and Malta. The audacity of the Inquisitors in Sicily had
formerly raised a rebellion, which was not quelled without the
greatest difficulty. Depending, however, on the court of Madrid, and
supposing that all fear of the rebellion had ceased, the Inquisitors
of Sicily celebrated an auto-da-fé in 1546, in which four persons
were burnt in effigy. Similar ceremonies took place in 1549 and 1551.
The Inquisitors now became as insolent as formerly, and treated the
Sicilians of all ranks with so much severity, that a new rebellion was
raised in Palermo. The viceroy succeeded in restoring tranquillity, and
the Inquisitors, while under the influence of fear, were for some time
more moderate, celebrating their autos-da-fé privately in the hall of
the tribunal.
In regard to Malta, again, when that island belonged to the Spanish
monarchy, it was subject to the Inquisition of Sicily; "but when it
was given to the knights of Jerusalem," says Llorente, "it would
have been contrary to the dignity of the grand-master, to permit the
exercise of foreign jurisdiction in it, after having received that of
ecclesiastical power from the Pope. A man was arrested in the island
as a heretic, and the Inquisition of Sicily took informations on
the affair. The grand-master wrote to demand them; the Inquisitors
consulted the council which directed them, in 1575, not only to refuse
them, but to claim the prisoner. The grand-master resolved to defend
his privileges, caused the man to be tried in the island, and he
was acquitted. This act displeased the Inquisitors, who, to revenge
themselves, took advantage of an occurrence which took place in the
following year. Don Pedro de la Roca, a Spaniard, and a knight of
Malta, killed the first alguazil of the Sicilian Inquisition, in the
city of Messina. He was arrested and conducted to the secret prisons
of the holy office. The grand-master claimed his knight, as he alone
had a right to try him. The council being consulted, commanded the
Inquisitors to condemn and punish the accused as a homicide. The
Inquisitor-general communicated this resolution to Philip II., who
wrote to the grand-master to terminate the dispute."
"The quarrels between the secular powers and the Inquisition,"
continues the same author, "were not less violent in Sicily. In 1580
and 1597, attempts were made to appease them, but without success;
and in 1606, the Sicilians had the mortification of seeing their
viceroy, the Duke de Frias, constable of Castile, prosecuted and
subjected to their censures. In 1592, the Duke of Alva, who was then
viceroy, endeavoured by indirect means to repress the insolence of
the Inquisitors. Perceiving that the nobility of all classes were
enrolled among the familiars of the holy office, in order to enjoy its
privileges, and to keep the people in greater order, he represented to
the king, that the power of the sovereign and the authority of his
lieutenant were almost null, and would be entirely so in time, if these
different classes continued to enjoy privileges which had the effect
of neutralizing the measures of government. Charles II. acknowledged
that this state of things was contrary to the dignity of his crown, and
he decreed that no person employed by the king should possess those
prerogatives, even if he was a familiar or officer of the inquisition.
The people then began to feel less respect for the tribunal, and this
was the commencement of its decline. In 1713, Sicily no longer formed
a part of the Spanish dominions, and Charles de Bourbon, in 1739,
obtained a bull, which created an Inquisitor-general for that country,
independent of Spain; and in 1782, Ferdinand IV. who succeeded Charles,
suppressed this odious tribunal."
Not contented with exercising his cruelty in every corner of his
dominions, "Philip established the Inquisition also in the ships. In
1571, a large fleet having been drawn together, under the command of
John of Austria, and manned with soldiers of various nations, Philip,
with consent of Pope Pius V., to prevent any corruption of the faith,
deputed one of the Spanish Inquisitors of Spain, to discharge the
duties of his office at sea; and gave him power to preside in all
tribunals, and to celebrate "acts of faith," in all places and cities
to which they sailed. This erection of the Inquisition at sea, was
confirmed by Pius, in a bull which he sent to the Inquisitor-general of
Spain."
Instances of the conduct and cruelty of the Inquisitors will be
afterwards given, in treating of their manner of proceeding towards all
who are unhappily lodged within the walls of their "holy," or rather
unholy edifice. In the meantime, we shall give here the following
example of gross ignorance displayed by these spiritual guides, in
their zeal to suppress not only true religion, but even philosophy
and science, under the pretext of labouring to extinguish heresy.
Galileo, the chief mathematician and astronomer of his age, was the
first who applied the telescope to any valuable purpose in the science
of astronomy. Having become a convert to the system of Copernicus, or
what is now called the Newtonian system, that is, that the sun is the
centre of motion to a number of planets, and among others the earth,
which revolve round the sun at different periods, Galileo attracted the
attention of the Inquisitors, was arraigned before their tribunal, and
in danger of being put to death.
In order to give the reader a specimen of the manner of drawing up a
criminal's indictment by the lords of the Inquisition, the following
amusing extracts are taken from the libel against Galileo:—"Whereas
you, Galileo, of Florence, aged 70, were informed against in the year
1615, in this holy office, for maintaining as true, a certain false
doctrine, held by many, namely, that the sun is the centre of the
world, and immovable, and that the earth moves round it with a daily
motion; likewise, that you have kept up a correspondence with certain
German mathematicians concerning the same; likewise, that you have
published some letters concerning the solar spots, in which you have
explained the same doctrine as true, and that you have answered the
objections which in several places were made against you, from the
authority of the Holy Scriptures, by construing or glossing over the
said Scriptures, according to your own opinions; and finally, whereas
the copy of a writing under the form of a letter, reported to have been
written by you to one who was formerly your scholar, has been shown
to us, in which you have followed the hypothesis of Copernicus, which
contains certain propositions contrary to the true sense and authority
of the Holy Scriptures:—
"Now this holy tribunal, being desirous to provide against the
inconveniences and dangers which this statement may occasion, to the
detriment of the holy faith, by the command of the most eminent lords,
&c. of the Supreme and Universal Inquisition, have caused the two
following propositions concerning the immovability of the sun, and the
motion of the earth, to be thus qualified by the divines, viz.
"'That the sun is the centre of the world, and immovable, with a local
motion, is an absurd proposition, false in philosophy, and absolutely
heretical, because it is expressly contrary to the Holy Scriptures.
"'That the earth is neither the centre of the world nor immovable, but
that it possesses a daily motion, is likewise an absurd proposition,
false in philosophy, and, theologically considered, at least, erroneous
in point of faith.'
"But as it pleased us in the first instance, to proceed kindly with
you, it was decreed in the said Congregation, held before our Lord N.
Feb. 25. anno. 1616, that the most eminent lord cardinal Bellarmine
should command you, that you should entirely depart from the said false
doctrine, and in case you should refuse to obey him, that you should
be commanded by the commissary of the Holy Office to abandon the same,
and that you should neither teach it to others, defend it, nor say any
thing concerning it; and that if you should not submit to this order,
you should be put in jail," &c.
"Thus, for merely entertaining and expressing an opinion with regard to
the system of the universe," says an eminent modern writer, "was the
greatest philosopher of his age subjected to be imprisoned in the jail
of the Inquisition, which imprisonment almost necessarily inferred the
forfeiture of life by means of burning; and if the Holy Inquisitors,
in their great mercy, were pleased not to burn him to death, the
circumstance of being imprisoned by them, necessarily inferred the
forfeiture of all his property, and the consigning of his name to
infamy."
After a long account of the errors of Galileo's writings, their
condemnation of the same, and their dealings with the author, in order
to his recantation, the inquisitors proceed in the words following:—"
Invoking, therefore, the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
of his most glorious mother Mary, ever a virgin, we do, by this our
definitive sentence, &c. &c. judge and declare, that you the said
Galileo, have, upon account of those things, which are produced in
the written process, and which you have confessed as above, subjected
yourself to a strong suspicion of heresy in this holy office, by
believing and holding to be true a doctrine which is false, and
contrary to the sacred and divine Scripture; viz. that the sun is the
centre of the orb of the earth, and does not move from the east to the
west; and that the earth moves, and is not the centre of the world, and
that these things may be considered and defended as probable opinions,
although they have been declared and determined to be contrary to the
sacred Scripture; and consequently that you have incurred all the
censures and penalties appointed and promulgated by the sacred canons,
and other general and particular acts against such offenders; from
which it is our pleasure that you should be absolved, provided that
you do first, with a sincere heart, and a true faith, abjure, curse,
and detest, before us, the afore-said errors, and heresies, and every
other error and heresy contrary to the Catholic and apostolic Roman
Church, in the form which shall be presented by us to you."
In consequence of these proceedings, Galileo, contrary to his
conviction, made a formal abjuration of his opinions, swearing that,
"by the aid of God, he would in future believe every thing which the
holy Catholic Church held, preached, and taught. But whereas," he adds,
"notwithstanding, after I had been legally enjoined and commanded by
this holy office to abandon wholly that false opinion, which maintains
that the sun is the centre of the universe, and immovable—I do, with a
sincere heart, and a true faith, abjure, curse, and detest, not only
this heresy, but every other error and opinion, which may be contrary
to the holy Church; and I swear, that for the future, I will never
more say or assert, either by word or writing, any thing that shall
give occasion for a like suspicion, and that if I know any heretic,
or person suspected of heresy, I will inform against him to this holy
office, or to the Inquisitor, or ordinary of the place in which I shall
then be. Sworn at Rome, in the convent of Minerva, this 22d day of
July, anno 1633."
Though Galileo, by denying on oath what he believed to be true,
appears here in a very contemptible light, yet it is evident that
he had no alternative between this and suffering death. Had he been
actuated by Christian principle, he would rather have died than have
sworn to a falsehood, though it had been a matter of no more importance
than that two and three make five. But if the philosopher appears
contemptible in this matter, what shall we say of the holy Church of
Rome (and of the Inquisition,) that imposed such a hardship upon the
wisest of her children! She appears not only as the enemy of truth and
righteousness, but also as the enemy of science and literature.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] A more particular account of the government and proceedings of what
is called the modern Inquisition, will be given afterwards.
[5] "No object can be presented to the imagination more gloomy,"
says Puigblanch, "than the period of the regeneration of this
establishment in Seville. It seems as if at sight of it nature herself
had shuddered, or that she wished to consummate the infelicity of
Spain, so unseasonable and great was the hurricanes of the year 1481,
when the Inquisition began to display its fury." "This year of 1481,"
says Andrew Bernaldez, an eye witness, "was a year of great rains and
inundations commencing at Christmas, and continuing onwards in such
manner, that the Guadalquiver bore away and destroyed the village of
Copero, in which were eighty families, as well as many other places
upon the banks, and the flood rose up through the battlements of
Seville and the outlet of Coria, higher than it was ever known, where
it remained stationary for three days, and the whole city was under
the greatest apprehensions of being destroyed by water." According to
this very author, a distemper also broke out in the same year, which
desolated this southern part of the kingdom, till 1488. "This year,"
says he, "was quite out of the common order of nature in Andalusia,
being, on the contrary, marked with a great and general pestilence,
which occasioned an extreme mortality in all the cities, towns,
and villages. In Seville, more than fifteen thousand persons died,
and in Cordova the same number; and Xerez and Ecija lost each from
eight to nine thousand, and the other towns and villages in the same
proportion." He afterwards adds, "that a similar distemper returned
with more or less activity, till at last it raged with great fury,
causing the same destruction and ravages as in the first. Thus ominous
were the auspices under which the re-organized Inquisition hoisted its
bloody standard."
[6] "In this same burning place of Seville," says Puigblanch, "which
the Inquisition used for the first time in 1481, on the persons of six
men and women of the Jewish persuasion, the tribunal performed its last
tragedy in 1782, by the execution of a woman for being a Molinist.
Persons who were there present, relate, that the prisoner was placed
on a raised platform, sustained by four beams, resting on the four
pillars; that these, and the works which served as a base, were adorned
with a lining painted black, on which were seen the usual fooleries,
of dragons and devils in white, and on the tops of which were four
figures in penitential garments; finally, that the prisoner, after
being strangled, (she had been converted while going to the place of
execution, and therefore met with this favour!) was burnt, together
with the whole platform and frame, for which purpose, barrels of pitch,
faggots of vine-cuttings, and a large quantity of wood, had been placed
underneath. The above six followers of the Jewish rites, (who were put
to death in 1481) were executed, according to Pedro de Torres, canon of
Calahorra, and also a contemporary author, on the 10th of January, as
well as seventeen others on the 26th of March, and a great many more on
the 21st of April; those who died up to the 4th of November, amounting
to two hundred and ninety-eight; and besides seventy-nine others were
condemned to perpetual imprisonment."
[7] More than five thousand houses remained shut in Andalusia, whose
inhabitants had been exterminated, in one way or another, by the
Inquisition.
[8] See Appendix, No I.
[9] A hundred and seventy thousand families are said to have left
Spain at this period. Nay, some writers make the number of expatriated
Jews to amount to eight hundred thousand persons, whose immense riches
were distributed among their persecutors. If the Moors, who emigrated
to Africa, are added to the number, Ferdinand and Isabella lost two
millions of subjects by these cruel measures.
[10] An auto-da-fé, or "act of faith," of which a more particular
account will be given afterwards, is the burning of those persons whom
the Inquisitors are pleased to pronounce defective in their belief of
any of the articles of faith commanded to be believed by the Popish
Church.
[11] To give the reader some idea of the sermons, or rather blasphemous
rhapsodies, which the friars deliver at an auto-da-fé, the following
extracts are given from one which was preached on this occasion before
Philip at Valladolid. "And thou, oh! most holy tribunal of the faith,
for boundless ages mayest thou be preserved, so as to keep us firm and
pure in the same faith, and promote the punishment of the enemies of
God. Of thee can I say what the Holy Spirit said of the Church, 'Thou
art fair, my love, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon!'
But what parallels, similes, or comparisons are these? What praise, or
what heightened contrast can that be which compares a delicate female,
an unequalled beauty, to the tents of Kedar, and the spotted skins of
Solomon? Saint Jerome discovered the mystery, and says, that the people
of Kedar being fond of the chase, therein took great delight; and, for
this purpose, had always their tents pitched in the field; on which,
in order to prove the valour of their arms, they spread the skins of
the animals killed in chase, and hung up the heads of the wild beasts
they had slain. This was the greatest beauty of their tents; to this
the Holy Spirit compares the beauty of the Church, and this is also
to-day the glory of the holy tribunal of the faith. To have killed
these horrid wild beasts and enemies of God, whom we now behold on this
theatre, some by taking life from their errors, reconciling them to our
holy faith, and inspiring them with contrition for their faults; others
by condemning them through their obduracy to the flames, where losing
their corporeal lives, their obstinate souls will immediately burn
in hell; by this means God will be avenged of his greatest enemies,
dread will follow these examples, and the holy tribunal will remain
triumphant," &c.
[12] Philip was afterwards as good as his word. Under the plea of
religion he caused the Inquisition to institute proceedings against
his eldest son Charles; and in the most unnatural and cowardly manner
procured his death in a secret manner by means of poison.