OF THE INQUISITIONS OF NAPLES, SICILY, AND MALTA, AND OF THE EVENTS OF
THE TIME OF CARDINAL LOAISA, SEVENTH INQUISITOR-GENERAL.
_Naples._
Charles V. appointed, to succeed Cardinal Pardo de Tabera, Cardinal Don
Garcia de Loaisa, Archbishop of Seville, who was the seventh
inquisitor-general. This prelate had arrived at a great age, since he
had signed different ordinances of the Supreme Council in 1517. He had
been the confessor of Charles V., prior-general of the order of St.
Dominic, Bishop of Osma and Siguenza, and apostolical commissary of the
Holy Crusade. The Court of Rome expedited his bulls of confirmation on
the 18th of February, 1546, and he died on the 22nd of April, in the
same year.
In 1546, Charles V. resolved to establish the Inquisition at Naples,
although his grandfather had failed in the attempt in 1504 and 1510. He
commissioned his viceroy, Don Pedro de Toledo, Marquis of Villa Franca
del Bierzo, to select inquisitors and officers from among the
inhabitants, to send to the government a list of the persons chosen, and
all the necessary documents, that the inquisitor-general might be able
to delegate the necessary powers to the new inquisitors: when these
measures had been taken, the tribunal was to be established with all the
forms of the inquisitorial jurisdiction.
Frederic Munter, professor of theology in the literary academy at
Copenhagen, has supposed that the intrigues of Don Pedro de Toledo were
the causes of the introduction of the Inquisition; but he was not able
to consult the original documents, which are now in my hands, and this
impossibility was the cause of his errors in his history of the Sicilian
Inquisition.
The efforts of Charles V., to establish the Inquisition at Naples, arose
from the progress which Lutheranism made in Germany, and his fear that
it would penetrate into other countries. His inclinations were fostered
by Cardinal Loaisa, and the councillors of the Inquisition: the only
part that Don Pedro took in this affair, was, that he was the first
person to whom the emperor confided his intentions, and the only one who
had sufficient wisdom to advise his master to relinquish his designs,
when he found the evil they would cause. The orders of the emperor were
executed without meeting any opposition; but scarcely was it known that
some persons had been arrested by the new Inquisition, than the people
rebelled, crying, "_Long live the Emperor! Perish the Inquisition!_" The
Neapolitans flew to arms, they compelled the Spanish troops to retire to
the fortresses, and Charles V. was obliged to abandon his enterprise.
It is worthy of remark, that Paul III. openly protected the Neapolitan
rebels; being displeased that the Inquisition of Naples should depend on
that of Spain, he complained that his predecessors, Innocent VIII.,
Alexander VI., and Julius II., had done much evil in not making the
inquisitors entirely dependant on the Popes, and in allowing an
intermediate authority, which rendered that of the holy see of no
effect.
Paul III., without communicating these motives to the Neapolitans, told
them that they were right in resisting the will of their master, since
the Spanish Inquisition was extremely severe, and did not follow the
example of that of Rome, which had been established three years, and of
which no complaints had been made.
In 1563, Philip II. attempted to introduce his favourite tribunal at
Naples, but the inhabitants had recourse to their usual method, and the
despot was obliged to yield.
_Sicily and Malta._
The holy office of Sicily triumphed in the same year still more
completely than it had done in 1543. In 1500, Ferdinand V. endeavoured
to establish the Spanish Inquisition in that kingdom, after having
suppressed that of the Pope's, which was confided to the monks of St.
Dominic; but all his efforts failed, until the year 1503. In 1520,
Charles V. wrote to the Pope to request that he would not admit any
appeals from persons condemned by the Sicilian Inquisition, because they
could apply for that purpose to the inquisitor-general of Spain, in
virtue of apostolical concessions granted by his predecessors, and
confirmed by himself.
This proceeding, and the particular favour which the emperor bestowed on
the holy office, singularly increased the pride of the inquisitors, and
their audacity in abusing the secrecy of their trials. But the hatred of
the people for the Inquisition, and their rebellion in 1535, compelled
Charles V. to revoke the privileges which he had granted, and deprive it
of the royal jurisdiction for five years.
This measure humiliated the inquisitors, but they contrived to
re-establish their authority in 1538, when the inquisitor Don Arnauld
Albertius was viceroy _ad interim_: his presence emboldened them to
persecute all who offended them; but their despotism was not of long
duration. The viceroy returned to Sicily; and finding that the aversion
of the inhabitants for the Inquisition was still the same, he
communicated it to the emperor, who, as an indispensable measure,
prolonged the suspension of their privileges for a fresh term of five
years. The aversion inspired by the holy office was not without a cause,
as will be seen in the following affair, which happened in 1532.
Antonio Napoles, a rich inhabitant of the island, had been thrown into
the secret prisons of the Inquisition: Francis Napoles, his son, applied
to the Pope, and described this act of authority as the result of a
miserable intrigue of some men of the lowest class, of whom the
inquisitors had been the dupes, and had granted them a degree of
confidence which nothing could justify, since his father had acted like
a good Catholic from his infancy. He represented that the dean of the
inquisitors had leagued with his father's enemies, and detained him in
prison five months, to the scandal and discontent of the inhabitants of
Palermo, and without affording him any means of defence; Francis
entreated his holiness not to allow the inquisitor to judge his father.
The Pope referred the affair to his commissioners in Sicily, Don Thomas
Guerrero and Don Sebastian Martinez. Scarcely had the inquisitors of
Madrid received information of this event, than they pressed the emperor
and Cardinal Manrique to write to the Pope, and represent to him that
the existence of this commission destroyed the privileges of the Spanish
Inquisition, on which that of Sicily depended. The weak Clement VII.
hastened to suppress the commission, and caused Guerrero to send all the
writings of the process to the Spanish inquisitor-general. He appointed
Doctor Don Augustin Camargo, inquisitor of Sicily, to continue the
trial, or in his place any other inquisitor, so that Antonio Napoles
fell into the hands of his enemy. He was condemned as an heretic, his
property confiscated, (although he was admitted to reconciliation,) and
to be imprisoned for life. What can justify the conduct of the Pope, the
cardinal, and the judges?
The inquisitors of Sicily depended on the protection of the court of
Madrid, and supposed, that when all fear of rebellion had ceased, their
privileges would be restored: this was really the case; the emperor, in
1543, signed a royal ordinance, which annulled the suspension at the end
of the tenth year. This event inspired the inquisitors with the boldness
to signify to the Marquis de Terranova, that he must accomplish the
penance to which he had been condemned.
An act appeared on the 16th of June, 1546, renewing the former
concessions, and granting new ones. The Inquisition resolved to
celebrate its victory; a solemn _auto-da-fe_ was celebrated, in which
four contumacious persons were burnt in effigy. Similar ceremonies took
place in 1549 and 1551. The inquisitors now became as insolent as
formerly, treated the Sicilians of all classes with so much severity,
that a new sedition was excited in Palermo against the holy office, at
the time when the edict _of the faith_ was about to be published. The
viceroy succeeded in restoring tranquillity, and the inquisitors
appeared more moderate, at least while they were under the influence of
fear, and instead of the solemn _autos-da-fe_ which had caused so much
indignation, satisfied themselves with celebrating them, from time to
time, privately in the hall of the tribunal; but in 1569 they ordained
one which was general, and gave rise to a circumstance which deserves to
be recorded.
Among the prisoners of the Inquisition, was an unfortunate creature who
had inspired the Marchioness of Pescari, the wife of the viceroy, with
some interest. The inquisitors, thinking it necessary to conciliate the
first magistrate of the island, remitted his punishment at the request
of the marchioness, but at the same time informed the inquisitor-general
of the circumstance, to avoid all reproach. The Supreme Council having
deliberated on the affair, addressed a severe reprimand to the
inquisitors, for having assumed a right which they did not possess,
_because, in affairs of that nature, intercession could not be
admitted_.
When the island of Malta belonged to the Spanish monarchy, it was
subject to the Inquisition of Sicily; but when it was given to the
knights of St. John of Jerusalem, 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 an 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 an 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 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.
During the two hundred and seventy-nine years of its existence, the
solemn and general _autos-da-fe_ were celebrated of which Munter speaks,
and several others which were performed in the hall of the tribunal.
In the year 1546, which corresponds with the administration of Cardinal
Loaisa, the number of condemned in the fifteen Spanish tribunals
amounted to seven hundred and eighty individuals.