AN ATTEMPT MADE BY THE CORTES OF CASTILE AND ARAGON TO REFORM THE
INQUISITION.--OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS UNDER ADRIAN, FOURTH
INQUISITOR-GENERAL.
The Inquisition was never in so much danger as during the first year of
the reign of Charles V. When the young monarch arrived in Spain, he was
disposed to abolish the Inquisition, or at least to regulate the
proceedings according to those of other tribunals. In 1518 a general
assembly of the Cortes was held at Valladolid, when the representatives
solicited that his highness would command the office of the holy
Inquisition to conform to the rules of the canons and the common law.
The Cortes likewise sent ten thousand pieces of gold to the chancellor
Selvagio, and promised the same sum when the decree which they solicited
should be put in execution. The king replied that he would take proper
measures to remedy the evil of which they complained: in consequence, he
engaged the Cortes to publish the abuses which had been introduced, and
to indicate the means of abolishing them.
When the assembly at Valladolid had terminated their labours, Charles
convoked the Cortes of Aragon at Saragossa, where he was accompanied by
the chancellor Selvagio, who had prepared a royal ordinance, to be
published according to the demand of the Cortes of Castile. It was
composed of thirty-nine articles: the proceedings of the tribunal were
regulated in it, with the ages, the rank, and salaries of the judges and
subaltern officers.
The result of this new code was, that the inquisitors could not question
a witness to obtain information on any subject but that for which he was
summoned.
That each denouncer should be subject to a strict examination, to
discover his motives for the accusation.
That the order for imprisonment could not be given without the
concurrence of the diocesan in ordinary, or until they had examined each
witness a second time.
That the prisons should be public, neat, and convenient.
That the prisoners should be allowed to see their relations, their
friends, and their counsel.
That they might choose a lawyer or procurator in whom they placed
confidence.
That the accusation should be immediately communicated to them, with the
name of the place where, and the time when, the witnesses had declared
the crime to have been committed.
That if the accused demanded a copy of the accusation and the
examination, it should be given to him.
That when the proofs and the depositions were all received, they should
be communicated entirely to the prisoner, _as in the present time there
are no persons powerful enough to inspire the witnesses with fear,
except in cases where the prisoner is a duke, marquis, count, bishop, or
in possession of some other dignity of the church_.
That in this case, in order to conceal the names of the witnesses, the
judge shall draw up a writing, declaring upon oath, that he believes
this measure to be necessary for the preservation of the lives of the
witnesses; that this act shall deprive the prisoner of his right of
appealing against it.
That if it is considered absolutely necessary to make use of the
torture, it shall only be administered in moderation, and without
recurring to the cruel inventions hitherto employed.
That it shall only be employed once for what personally concerns the
accused; never to obtain from him information of other individuals; and
only in the case of persons mentioned in the law.
That the definitive sentences, and even the interlocutory orders, shall
be subject to the right of appeal, as to their double effect.
That when the preparatory examination of the judgment is commenced, the
parties and their counsel may attend at this revision of the process,
and demand that the reading may be made in their presence.
That if the proof of the crime is not then established, the prisoner
shall be acquitted, without being liable to a punishment as being still
suspected.
That if the accused desires to clear himself, on oath, he shall be
allowed to seek witnesses, and to converse with them in private; and
that their being descendants of the Jews shall not prevent their
admission.
That the challenge of witnesses shall be permitted; and if one of those
called by the procurator-fiscal is convicted of giving false testimony,
he shall be subject to the punishment of retaliation, according to a law
of Ferdinand and Isabella, in the beginning of their reign.
That when an accused person has been reconciled, he shall not be
arrested for things which he has not confessed, because it is to be
supposed that he forgot them.
That no persons shall be molested or imprisoned for a simple presumption
of heresy, arising from their having been brought up among Jews or
heretics.
That the San-benitos shall be taken out of the churches, and that they
no longer be worn in the streets.
That the punishment of perpetual imprisonment shall be abolished,
_because the prisoners die of hunger, and cannot serve God_.
That the statutes recently established to prevent _New Christians_ from
being admitted into convents, shall be considered as null and void,
because they are contrary to all laws, human and divine.
That where an individual is sentenced to imprisonment, an inventory
shall be taken of his property, and they shall not be sequestrated or
sold.
That he, and his wife, and children, shall possess his revenues during
his detention, and shall be allowed to employ them to prepare his means
of defence against the Inquisition.
That when a man is condemned, his children shall inherit his property.
That no donation shall be made on their property, until it has been
definitively confiscated.
That the spirit and letter of the canons shall be complied with in all
things, without regard to any particular custom previously in use.
That the king shall be supplicated to obtain a bull from the Pope to
ratify these measures.
That until this bull is obtained, the king shall be requested to command
the inquisitors to conform to these regulations, in the trials already
commenced, and in those which may begin from this time.
This excellent code of laws was never put in execution, because the
chancellor Selvagio, who framed it, died before its publication; and
Cardinal Adrian so totally changed the ideas and inclinations of Charles
V. that he became an ardent defender of the Inquisition.
Charles V. had sworn at Saragossa, in 1518, to respect the privileges
and customs of the Aragonese, particularly the resolutions of the Cortes
at Saragossa, Tarazona, and Monzon, and consequently that he would not
suffer the inquisitors to commence any trials for usury.
But a new assembly of the Cortes having been convoked at Saragossa,
towards the end of the year 1518, the deputies of Aragon represented to
the king, that the agreement of the Cortes at Monzon, in 1512, was not
sufficient to remedy the abuses which the inquisitors had introduced;
they therefore entreated his Majesty to add to it thirty-one articles
which they had adopted. These articles differed little from those of the
Cortes of Castile.
The king, after having consulted his council, replied, "_that it was his
pleasure that the holy canons, and the decrees of the holy see, should
be conformed to in regard to all the articles which had been presented
to him. That if difficulties or doubts should occur, which required
explanation, they should apply to the Pope_; that if any person wished
to accuse an inquisitor of abuse in the exercise of his office, he might
do so by applying to the inquisitor-general, who would pronounce
sentence according to equity; and that the king would cause them to be
punished as an example; _that he engaged by oath to observe himself, and
cause others to observe, the order and declaration which he addressed to
the assembly, as well as the articles which the Pope might add to those
of the Cortes_; that he also promised, upon oath, never to demand a
dispensation from his promise; and that if one was addressed to him he
would never make use of it, as he at that time renounced all the rights
which might arise from it."
This reply induced the Cortes to believe that the king had granted all
their requests; they considered that the trials would be there conducted
as before other ecclesiastical tribunals. Persuaded that this was the
king's intention, the Cortes resolved to show their gratitude by a
voluntary contribution of money.
Some time elapsed before the agreement was approved by the Pope. The
Emperor wrote the following letter from Cologne, in 1520, to his
ambassador at Rome:--"In regard to the transactions of the Cortes, it
will be sufficient if his Holiness will approve an act sent to Don Louiz
Carroz, and afterwards to Don Jerome Vich, which is written by the hand
of the venerable Cardinal of Tortosa, and that of the great chancellor,
without any extension or interpretation, as I have often demanded
earnestly."
The Aragonese, who did not even believe it possible to obtain this last
point, entreated the inquisitor-general to command the inquisitors of
Saragossa to conform immediately to the regulations of the agreement,
without waiting for the confirmation of the Pope, because almost all the
articles were the same as those in the convention of 1512, which the
Pope had approved.
Cardinal Adrian complied with the request, and wrote to the inquisitors.
They replied, that they thought themselves obliged to take the orders of
the king before they obeyed him. Charles addressed an ordinance to them,
in which he commanded them to execute all that he had promised and sworn
in the preceding year.
At last the Pope confirmed the resolutions by a bull, which was
proclaimed with great solemnity. However, it soon appeared that this
publication would have no effect, because the promise of the king was,
that the canons and apostolical ordinances should be strictly observed
in regard to the articles; and in conforming to this they only executed
the bull of 1515.
On the 21st of January, 1521, the Emperor ordered the secretary of the
Cortes to be set at liberty; for although the inquisitor-general, in
1520, had decreed that he should be _relaxed_, and the prisoner had been
informed of it, yet he refused to quit the prison, affirming that the
decree which set him at liberty, tended more to make him appear guilty
than innocent, by the use of the word _relaxed_.
Similar debates took place in Catalonia, where the king convoked a
Cortes at Barcelona, in 1519, to take the oath of maintaining the
privileges of the province. The Catalans, informed of the effect
produced by the representations of the Cortes of Aragon, likewise
demanded a reform of several abuses of their Inquisition relative to the
taxes, as well as usury, bigamy, and other crimes of that class. The
king, after having heard their remonstrances, made nearly the same reply
as to the Cortes of Saragossa, and wrote to the Pope to demand a
ratification of the articles. The Pope approved them in a bull in 1520;
but Charles did not wait for its arrival to enforce the execution of his
promise, which is proved by his order to Don Diego de Mendoza, his
lieutenant-general in Catalonia. Yet he declares in his letter to his
lieutenant, that he only made these promises _on account of the
importunities of some representatives_ of towns, and some _men who were
among the members of the Cortes_.
In consequence of some events in Aragon, during the period which elapsed
before the bull of confirmation was issued, Leo X. was on the point of
destroying the Inquisition; but intimidated by the policy of Charles V.,
he left the hydra in the same state.
John Prat, the secretary of the Cortes of Aragon, drew up the
proposition of the representatives, and the reply of the king, to be
addressed to the Pope; the chancellor of the king had done the same.
This proceeding particularly displeased the inquisitors of Saragossa;
and to avoid the danger which they believed themselves to be in, they
began to intrigue at court, and soon succeeded in rendering the king
averse to the cause of the deputies of Aragon. They insinuated that Prat
had drawn up the act which was to be sent to Rome, in such a manner, as
to represent the reply of the king as obligatory, not only in the
literal sense of the words, but in supposing that he had admitted the
articles as being conformed to the common law; and that they,
consequently, only wanted the ratification of the Pope, which there was
no doubt of obtaining, as it was known that the deputies of Aragon were
supported by several cardinals, and had sent them considerable sums of
money.
The papers which contained these details were sent to Cardinal Adrian,
who communicated them to the king, and obtained permission to order the
inquisitors of Saragossa to make an inquiry if this recital was true,
when they would be authorized to arrest Prat. Everything happened
according to the hopes of the inquisitors.
Prat was arrested on the 5th of May, 1509, and the next day the king
wrote to the Pope, to request that he would not expedite the bull. It
was intended that the prisoner should be transferred to Barcelona, but
the _permanent deputation_ (who then represented the Aragonese during
the intervals of the assembling of the Cortes) wrote to the king, that
this proceeding was contrary to the statutes which he had sworn to
maintain. The deputation also judged it necessary to convoke a new
Cortes, who represented to the king the dangerous consequences of the
removal of Secretary Prat, whose fidelity had been particularly remarked
during the reign of Ferdinand; and entreated him to set Prat at liberty,
not only because they believed him to be just, faithful, and loyal, but
that it was impossible to levy the supply which had been offered to the
king, unless this request was granted. The king prevented the removal of
the prisoner, but would not liberate him.
The deputation of the Cortes sent commissioners to Barcelona, to say
that the sum of money offered to the king was conditional, and at the
same time convoked the _tiers-etat_. Charles being informed of it,
commanded the dissolution of the assembly, which replied, that the kings
of Aragon had no right to use so violent a measure, without the consent
of the people; it decreed that the levy should not be raised, and
applied to the Court of Rome for the ratification of the articles of
Saragossa.
Leo X. was at that time displeased with the Inquisition of Spain, on
account of its refusal to admit certain briefs of inhibition in the
tribunals of Toledo, Seville, Valencia, and Sicily; and forgetting the
consideration which he owed to Charles (who was then emperor of
Germany), he resolved to reform the holy office, and to compel it to
submit to the rules of common law.
In consequence of this resolution he expedited three briefs addressed to
the king, the cardinal inquisitor-general, and the inquisitors of
Saragossa, in which, after explaining his intention, he decrees that the
inquisitors shall be deprived of their offices, and that the bishops and
their chapters should present two canons to the inquisitor-general, who
should appoint one: he added that this choice should be confirmed by the
holy see, and that these new inquisitors should be subjected every two
years to a judicial censure.
The deputies received these briefs, and immediately required the
inquisitors to conform to them; they replied that they would await the
orders of their immediate chief. The king wrote to his uncle Don
Alphonso of Aragon, Archbishop of Saragossa, to enter into an agreement
with the deputies, and at the same time he sent an
ambassador-extraordinary to Rome to demand a revocation of the briefs.
The Aragonese then promised to levy the supply if the secretary Prat was
liberated, but protested that they would not admit any proposition
contrary to the promise which the king had made.
This prince instructed his ambassador to inform the Pope of all that had
passed in the Cortes of Castile, but to keep silence on the most
important circumstances, and to assure his Holiness that no complaints
had been made of the Inquisition since Cardinal Adrian had been
inquisitor-general. Charles also required that no brief should be
expedited to cause the _San-benitos_ to be removed from the churches, or
to prohibit them from being worn in the streets.
The Pope, seeing the importance which Charles attached to these things,
wrote to Cardinal Adrian, that although he was perfectly informed of all
that was passing, and that he had resolved to do justice to the claims
of the Cortes, yet he would not carry the affair further without the
consent of the King, to whom he promised to make no innovations; but he
requested him to pay great attention to what was passing, as he heard
serious complaints every day from all parts of the kingdom, of the
avarice and injustice of the inquisitors.
This brief offended the deputies, but they continued their importunities
at the Court of Rome with so much ardour, that their credit balanced the
power of Charles V.; and though they did not obtain the extension of the
articles, they prevented the revocation of the reforming briefs, and
Charles was obliged to be satisfied with that addressed to Cardinal
Adrian.
Leo X. died on the 1st of December, 1521, and Cardinal Adrian succeeded
him on the 9th of January, 1522: he did not quit his office of
inquisitor-general until the 10th of September, 1523, when he bestowed
it on Don Alphonso Manrique, Archbishop of Seville.
According to the most moderate calculation from the inscription at
Seville, it appears that 240,025 persons were condemned by the
Inquisition during the five years of the ministry of Adrian; 1620 were
burnt in person; 560 in effigy; and 21,845 subjected to different
penances. If the year 1523, which may be considered as an interregnum
until the inscription of Seville, which is of the year 1524, is added to
this, the number of victims sacrificed by the Inquisition may be
estimated at 234,526 persons, an immense number, though it is far below
the truth.