HISTORY OF TWO AUTOS-DA-FE, CELEBRATED AGAINST THE LUTHERANS IN THE CITY
OF SEVILLE.
An _auto-da-fe_ was celebrated on the 24th of September, 1559, in the
place of St. Francis, at Seville, not less remarkable for the rank of
the condemned, than for the nature of their trials. Four bishops
attended at it; the coadjutor of Seville, those of Largo and the
Canaries, who happened to be in the city, and of Tarrazona, whom the
king had authorized to reside at Seville as vice-inquisitor-general.
The inquisitors of the district of Seville were Don Michel del Carpio,
Don Andres Gasco, and Don Francis Galdo; Don Juan de Obando represented
the archbishop. I make this remark, to show that none of the judges were
named _Vargas_, as the author of a romance entitled _Cornelia Bororquia_
has asserted.
This _auto-da-fe_ was celebrated before the royal court of justice, the
chapter of the cathedral, some grandees of Spain, and a great number of
titled persons and gentlemen; the Duchess of Bejar was present with
several ladies, and an immense concourse of people. Twenty-one persons
were _relaxed_, with an effigy of a contumacious person, and eighty
persons condemned to penances, the greatest number of whom were
Lutherans; I shall mention the most remarkable instances.
The effigy was that of Francis Zafra, the beneficed priest of the parish
of St. Vincent of Seville, who was condemned as a Lutheran, but had made
his escape. Gonzalez de Montes gives a long account of this man, which I
found to be correct, on examining the papers of the holy office. He says
that Francis Zafra was well versed in the Scriptures; for some time he
succeeded in concealing his inclination to Lutheranism, and was employed
by the inquisitors to qualify denounced propositions, and that he was
thus enabled to save many persons from being condemned. He had received
into his house one of the women called _Beates_, who (after obstinately
supporting the new doctrines) became so much deranged, that he was
obliged to confine and scourge her, to calm her violence. In 1555, this
woman escaped, and denounced three hundred persons as Lutherans to the
Inquisition: the inquisitors drew up a list of them; Francis Zafra was
summoned, and although he was mentioned as one of the principal
heretics, proved that they could not receive the evidence of a person
whose mind was so much disordered[20]. As the holy office never
neglected anything that could assist in discovering heresy, this list
caused the conduct of many persons to be strictly observed, and more
than eight hundred were arrested; Francis Zafra was one of the
prisoners, but he contrived to escape, and was burnt in effigy as
contumacious.
The first person I shall mention as condemned to relaxation, was Donna
Isabella de Baena, a rich lady of Seville. Her house was razed to the
ground for having served as a temple to the Lutherans.
I find, among the other victims at Seville, Don Juan Ponce de Leon,
youngest son to the Count de Baylen; he was cousin-german to the Duke
d'Arcos, and related to the Duchess de Bejar, who were both present at
his _auto-da-fe_. He was condemned as an impenitent Lutheran: he at
first denied the charges, but confessed during the torture: the
inquisitors sent a priest, with whom he was well acquainted, to persuade
him that it would be to his advantage if he confessed the truth. Ponce
was deceived, and made the confession they required; but on discovering
his mistake, the day before the _auto-da-fe_, he made one truly
Lutheran, and treated the priest who attended him with contempt.
Gonzalez de Montes pretends that he persisted in his sentiments, but he
is mistaken, for Ponce confessed when he was fastened to the stake, and
strangled before he was burnt.
Don Juan Gonzalez, a priest of Seville, and a celebrated preacher of
Andalusia, embraced Mahometanism at twelve years of age, because his
parents were Moors, but he was reconciled by the Inquisition. Some time
after he was imprisoned as a Lutheran, but obstinately persisted in
refusing to confess, even when tortured; affirming that his opinions
were founded on the Holy Scriptures, and that, consequently, he could
not be a heretic. This example was imitated by his two sisters, who
suffered in the same _auto-da-fe_: When the gags were taken from their
mouths, Don Juan told them to sing the 106th psalm. They died (say the
Protestants) in the faith of Jesus Christ, and detesting the errors of
the _Papists_.
Brother Garcia de Arias (surnamed the _White Doctor_, on account of the
extreme whiteness of his hair) was a Jeronimite of the Convent of St.
Isidore, at Seville; he was condemned as an impenitent Lutheran, and
perished in the flames. He had professed the doctrines of Luther for
several years, but his sentiments were known only to the principal
partisans of the heresy, such as Vargas, Egidius, and Constantine: his
prudence was so great, that he was looked upon as an orthodox theologian
and of the greatest piety: he even carried his dissimulation so far as
to profess to be an enemy to the Lutherans. He was several times
employed to qualify heretical propositions, and appeared to be so
devoted to the inquisitorial system, that though he was denounced
several times, the inquisitors declared that the informers acted out of
hatred to him. However, the informations were communicated to him, that
he might be more cautious in his conversations with suspicious persons.
His conduct towards Gregorio Riuz ought to be recorded. Riuz was
denounced for some explanations of doctrine in a sermon; being obliged
to appear and defend his doctrine before theologians, he applied to his
friend, the White Doctor, who wished to hear his exposition of the
principles he intended for his defence, and the solutions he had
prepared for the difficulties which he might meet with. When the
assembly took place, the Inquisitors commissioned Arias to argue against
Riuz, who was much surprised to see him at this conference, and still
more so, when he heard him speak in such a manner, that the answers he
had prepared were entirely useless. Riuz sunk under this attack, and the
doctor Arias was severely reproached for his treachery by the Lutheran
doctors, Vargas, Egidius, and Constantine.
Arias taught the Lutheran doctrine to some monks of his convent: one of
them (Brother Cassiodorus) made so much progress in it, that he
converted almost all the monks of the community, so that the monastic
exercises were no longer practised. Twelve of these persons being
alarmed at this state of things fled to Germany; the rest who remained
at Seville, were condemned by the Inquisition. The same fate awaited
Garcia d'Arias; the depositions against him continued to multiply, and
he was at last arrested. Foreseeing the result of his trial, he made a
confession of his faith, and undertook to prove, that the opinions of
Luther were founded on the gospel. He persevered in his impenitence, and
no Catholic could convert him, because he understood doctrine better
than those who disputed with him.
Donna Maria de Virues, Donna Maria Cornel, and Donna Maria Bohorques,
also perished in this _auto-da-fe_. They were all young, and of the
highest class of nobility. The history of the last of these ladies ought
to be made known, on account of some circumstances in her trial, and
because a Spaniard has composed a _novel_ under the title of _Cornelia
Bororquia_, which he affirms to be rather a history than a romance,
although it is neither the one nor the other, but a collection of scenes
and events badly conceived, in which he has not even given the actors
their true names, from not having understood the History of the
Inquisition by Limborch. This historian has mentioned two of the ladies
by the names of _Cornelia_ and _Bohorquia_, which means _Donna Maria
Cornel_, and _Donna Maria Bohorquia_. The Spanish author has united
these names, to designate _Cornelia Bororquia_ an imaginary person. He
has supposed a love-intrigue between her and the inquisitor-general,
which is absurd, since he was at Madrid. He has also introduced
examinations which never took place in the tribunal; in short, the
intention of the author was to criticise and ridicule the Inquisition,
and the fear of being punished for it induced him to fly to Bayonne. A
good cause becomes bad when falsehood is employed in its defence: the
true history of the Inquisition is sufficient to show how much it merits
the detestation of the human race, and it is therefore useless to employ
fictions or satire. The same may be said of the _Gusmanade_, a French
poem, containing assertions false and injurious to the memory of St.
Dominic de Guzman, whose personal conduct was very pure, though he may
be blamed for his conduct to the Albigenses.
Donna Maria de Bohorques, was the natural daughter of Pedro Garcia de
Xerez Bohorques of one of the first families of Seville, and from which
sprung the Marquises de Ruchena, grandees of the first class. She was
not twenty-one years of age when she was arrested as a Lutheran. She had
been instructed by the doctor, Juan Gil (or Egidius), was perfectly
acquainted with the Latin language, and understood Greek; she had many
Lutheran books, and had committed to memory the Gospels, and some of the
principal works which explain the text in a Lutheran sense. She was
conducted to the secret prisons, where she acknowledged her opinions,
and defended them as Catholic. She said that some of the facts and
propositions contained in the depositions were true, but denied the
others, either because she had forgotten them, or was afraid to
compromise others. She was then tortured, and confessed that her sister,
Jane Bohorques, was acquainted with her sentiments, and had not
disapproved them. The fatal consequences of this confession will be
shown hereafter. The definitive sentence was pronounced, and Maria
Bohorques was condemned to _relaxation_. As the sentence was not
communicated to the prisoner till the day before the _auto-da-fe_, the
inquisitors desired that Maria should be exhorted during the interval.
Two Jesuits and two Dominicans were successively sent to her. They
returned full of admiration at the learning of the prisoner, but
displeased at her obstinacy, in explaining the texts of Scripture which
they proposed, in a Lutheran sense. On the day before the _auto-da-fe_,
two other Dominicans went with the first, to make a last effort to
convert Maria, and they were followed by several other theologians of
different religious orders. Maria received them with as much pleasure as
politeness, but she told them, that they might spare themselves the
trouble of speaking to her of their doctrines, as they could not be more
concerned for her salvation than she was herself; that she would
renounce her opinions if she felt the least uncertainty; but that she
was still more convinced that she was right, since so many _popish_
theologians had not been able to advance any arguments, for which she
had not prepared a solid and conclusive answer. At the place of
execution, Don Juan Ponce de Leon, who had abjured heresy, exhorted
Maria to do the same. She received his advice very ill, and called him
_ignorant, an idiot, and a babbler_: she added, that it was no longer a
time to dispute, and that the few moments they had to live ought to be
employed in meditating on the passion and death of their Redeemer, to
reanimate the faith by which they were to be justified and saved.
Although she was so obstinate, several priests, and a great number of
monks, earnestly entreated that she might be spared, in consideration of
her extreme youth and surprising merit, if she would consent to repeat
the _Credo_. The inquisitors granted their request; but scarcely had
Maria finished it, than she began to interpret the articles on the
Catholic faith, and the judgment of the quick and the dead, according to
the opinions of Luther: they did not give her time to conclude; the
executioner strangled her, and she was afterwards burnt. Such is the
true history of Maria Bohorques, according to the writings of the
Inquisition.
Paul IV. died at Rome on the 18th of August, 1559, a few days before the
_auto-da-fe_ at Seville. When the Romans learnt this event, they went in
crowds to the Inquisition, set all the prisoners at liberty, and burnt
the house and the archives of the tribunal. It cost much money and
trouble to prevent the enraged populace from burning the convent _De la
Sapienza_ of the Dominicans, who conducted all the affairs of the Roman
Inquisition. The principal commissioner was wounded, and his house
burnt. The statue of Paul IV. was taken from the capitol and destroyed;
the arms of the house of Carafa were everywhere defaced, and even the
mortal remains of the Pope would have been abused, if the Canons of the
Vatican had not interred him secretly, and if the guards had not
defended the pontifical residence[21]. This revolt of the Romans did not
alarm the inquisitors of Spain, where the people had been brought up by
the monks in different principles from those professed by their
ancestors under the reign of Ferdinand, and the first ten years of that
of Charles V.
_Auto-da-fe of the year 1560._
The inquisitors of Seville, who had perhaps depended on the presence of
Philip II., prepared another _auto-da-fe_ for him similar to that of
Valladolid. When they had lost all hope of that honour, the ceremony was
performed: it took place on the 22nd of December, 1560. Fourteen
individuals were burnt in person (_i. e._ relaxed), and three in effigy;
thirty-four were subjected to penances, and the reconciliation of three
other persons was read before the _auto-da-fe_. The effigies were those
of the Doctors Egidius, Constantine, and Juan Perez.
Constantine Ponce de la Fuente was born at _San Clemente de la Mancha_,
in the diocese of Cuenca; he finished his studies at Alcala de Henares,
with the Doctor Juan Gil, or _Egidius_; and with Vargas, who died during
his trial. These three theologians were the principal chiefs of the
Lutherans at Seville, whom they secretly directed, enjoying at the same
time the reputation of good Catholics and virtuous priests. Egidius
preached much in the metropolitan church; Constantine was less ardent in
his zeal, but he obtained as much applause; Vargas explained the
Scriptures in the pulpit of the municipality. Constantine refused the
dignity of magisterial canon, which was offered to him both by the
Chapter of Cuenca and that of Toledo. Charles V. appointed him his
almoner and preacher; in this quality he took him to Germany, where he
made a long stay. On his return to Seville, he directed the College _de
la Doctrina_, and there established a pulpit to preach the Holy
Scriptures, of which he appointed the salary: he undertook to fill the
office, and during this period the Canons' corporation offered him the
place of magisterial canon; exempting him from the usual competition.
Some of the canons recollecting the unfortunate consequences of the
election of Juan Gil (who was appointed in the same manner), wished that
the competition should take place. Constantine was requested to submit
to it, and assured that he would triumph over the competitors. This, in
fact, took place in 1556, in opposition to the appeals and intrigues of
the only person who had the courage to compete with him. While
Constantine continued to enjoy general esteem, the declarations of a
great number of prisoners who were arrested for Lutheranism, caused his
arrest in 1558, some months before the death of Charles V. During the
time that he was preparing his defence, an accident happened which
rendered it useless.
Isabella Martinez, a widow of Seville, was arrested as a Lutheran. Her
property was sequestrated; but it was soon found, that Francis Beltran,
her son, had concealed several chests of valuable effects before the
inventory was taken. Constantine had committed some prohibited books to
the care of this woman, who concealed them in her cellar. The
inquisitors sent Louis Sotelo, the alguazil of the holy office, to
Francis Beltran, to claim the effects which he had concealed. Francis,
on seeing the alguazil, did not doubt that his mother had declared the
concealment of the books given to her care by Constantine, and without
waiting until Sotelo should tell him the cause of his visit, he said,
_Senor Sotelo, I suppose that you come for the things deposited in my
mother's house. If you will promise that I shall not be punished for not
giving information of them, I will show you what there is hidden there._
Beltran then conducted the alguazil to his mother's house, and pulled
down part of the wall, behind which the Lutheran books of Constantine
had been concealed; Sotelo, astonished at this sight, told him that he
should take possession of the books, but that he did not consider
himself bound by his promise, as he only came to claim the effects which
he had concealed. This declaration increased the alarm of Beltran, and
he gave everything up to the alguazil, on condition that he might remain
free in his house. This denunciation had been made by a servant, who
hoped to obtain the benefit of the act of Ferdinand V., which assigns
the fourth part of the concealed effects to the informer.
Among the prohibited books, were found several writings by Constantine
Ponce de Fuente, which treated of the true church according to the
principles of the Lutherans, and proved in their manner, that this
church was not that of the _papists_: he also discussed in them several
other points on which the Lutherans differed from the Catholics.
Constantine could not deny these papers, as they were in his own
hand-writing; he confessed that they contained the profession of his
faith, but refused to name his accomplices and disciples. The
inquisitors, instead of decreeing the torture, plunged him into a deep,
humid, and obscure dungeon, where the air, impregnated with the most
dangerous miasma, soon altered his health. Overcome by this persecution,
he exclaimed, "_My God, were there no Scythians or cannibals into whose
hands to deliver me, rather than to let me fall into the power of these
barbarians!_" This situation could not last long; Constantine fell sick,
and died of a dysentery: it was reported, when the _auto-da-fe_ was
celebrated, that he had killed himself to avoid his punishment. His
trial was as celebrated as his person. The inquisitors caused the
_merits_ or charges against him to be read in a pulpit close to their
seats, where the people could not hear them; the Corregidor Calderon
remarked the circumstance twice, and they were obliged to begin it again
where those of the other trials were read. Constantine had published the
first part of a catechism; the second was not printed. The following
works of Constantine were inserted in the prohibitory Index, published
in 1559, by Don Ferdinand Valdes:--An Abridgment of the Christian
Doctrine; a Dialogue on the same subject, between a Master and his
Disciple; The Confession of a Sinner to Jesus Christ; A Christian
Catechism; An Exposition of the Psalm, _Beatus qui non abiit in concilio
impiorum_. Alphonso de Ulloa, in his Life of Charles V., gives the
highest praise to the works of Constantine, particularly his Treatise on
the Christian Doctrine, which was translated into Italian[22]. The
effigy of Contantine was not like those of the other condemned persons
(which were an unformed mass surmounted by a head); it was an entire
figure with the arms spread, as Constantine was accustomed to do when
preaching, and was clothed in garments which appeared to have belonged
to him. After the _auto-da-fe_, this figure was taken back to the Holy
Office, and a common effigy was burnt with the bones of the condemned.
Another prisoner died in the dungeons of the Inquisition; he was
(according to Gonzalez de Montis) a monk of the Convent of St. Isidore,
named Ferdinand. The same author affirms, that one Olmedo, a Lutheran,
was likewise carried off by an epidemic disease which ravaged the
prisons, and that he uttered groans similar to those of Constantine when
he was dying. I have not found that any Inquisition in Spain has, of
late years, condemned any person to this sort of dungeon, unless the
torture was decreed; the inquisitors of that time cannot be pardoned for
making them a common prison.
The Doctor Juan Perez de Pineda, whose effigy was the third in the
_auto-da-fe_, was born at Montilla in Andalusia; he was placed at the
head of the College _de la Doctrina_, in which the young people of
Seville were educated.
He made his escape when he was informed that the inquisitors were about
to arrest him as suspected of Lutheranism. Proceedings were instituted
against him as contumacious, and he was condemned as a formal Lutheran
heretic. He had composed several works: the Index prohibited the
following: The Holy Bible, translated into the Castilian tongue; a
Catechism, printed at Venice in 1556 by Pedro Daniel; The Psalms of
David in Spanish; and a Summary of the Christian Doctrine. Juan Perez
had attained a great age when he was condemned. Of the fourteen persons
who were reconciled in the second _auto-da-fe_ the most remarkable
were:--
Julian Hernandez, surnamed the _Little_, a native of Villaverde. The
wish to promulgate Lutheran books in Seville induced him to go to
Germany. He gave the books to Don Juan Ponce de Leon, who undertook to
distribute them. He passed more than three years in the prisons of the
Holy Office, and was tortured several times, to force him to discover
his accomplices. He bore the torture with a fortitude far above his
physical strength, and remained faithful to his creed. When he arrived
at the stake he arranged the wood around him so as to burn quickly; the
Doctor Ferdinand Rodriguez, who attended him, demanded that the gag
should be taken from his month, that he might make his confession, but
Julian opposed it, and he was burnt.
Nicholas Burton, born in England, was condemned at an impenitent
Lutheran heretic. It is impossible to justify the conduct of the
inquisitors to this Englishman, and several other foreigners who had not
settled in Spain, and were merely returning to their respective
countries after having transacted their commercial affairs. This man
came to Spain in a vessel laden with merchandise, which, he said, was
all his own property, but of which some part belonged to John Fronton,
who was reconciled in this _auto-da-fe_. Burton refused to abjure, and
was burnt alive; the inquisitors seized his vessel and its freight, thus
proving that avarice was the principal motive of the Inquisition. The
inquisitors were guilty of a great cruelty in this instance, and the
commerce of Spain would perhaps have been destroyed, if the violence
committed against Burton, and some others, had not been protested
against by the different powers, which induced Philip IV. to prohibit
the inquisitors from molesting foreign merchants and travellers, if they
did not attempt to promulgate heretical opinions; but the inquisitors
eluded this order, by pretending that they brought prohibited books into
the kingdom, or spoke in favour of heresy.
Gonzalez de Montes speaks of the arrival in Spain of a very rich
stranger, named Rehukin, whose vessel was finer and better built than
any that had ever appeared at San-Lucar de Barrameda. The Inquisition
arrested him as an heretic, and confiscated his property; the merchant
proved that the vessel did not belong to him, and that it could not be
included in the confiscation; but his efforts to recover it were
useless.
Two other foreigners shared the fate of Burton. One was an Englishman
named William Brook, born at Sarum, and a sailor; the other was a
Frenchman of Bayonne, named Fabianne, whose trade required his presence
in Spain.
The _Beata_ protected by Francis Zafra, who had recovered her senses,
but persisted in her heresy, was burnt in this _auto-da-fe_, with five
women of her family. Thirty-four persons were condemned to penances. The
most remarkable instances were:--
John Fronton, an Englishman of the city of Bristol, who came to Seville,
where he was informed of the arrest of Nicholas Burton. He was the
proprietor of a considerable part of the merchandise taken from Burton,
and after proving this fact by documents which he brought from England
he claimed restitution. He was subjected to great delays and expenses,
but as it was impossible to deny his rights, the inquisitors promised to
restore the merchandise: in the mean time they contrived that witnesses
should appear and depose that John Fronton had advanced heretical
propositions, and he was taken to the secret prisons. The fear of death
induced Fronton to say everything that the inquisitors required, and he
demanded reconciliation. He was declared to be _violently suspected_ of
the Lutheran heresy. This was sufficient to authorize the inquisitors to
seize his property, and he was reconciled, condemned to forfeit his
merchandise, and to wear the _san-benito_ for the space of one year.
This is a remarkable proof of the mischief produced by the secrecy of
the inquisitorial proceedings. If the affair of John Fronton had been
made public, any lawyer would have shown the nullity and falsehood of
the _instruction_. Yet there are Englishmen who defend the tribunal of
the holy office as a useful institution, and I have heard an _English
Catholic priest_ speak in its defence. I represented that he did not
understand the nature of the tribunal; that I was not less attached to
the Catholic religion than he, or any inquisitor might be; but that if
the spirit of peace and charity, humility and disinterestedness,
inculcated by the Holy Scriptures, is compared with the system of
severity, craft, and malice, dictated by the laws of the holy office,
and the power possessed by the inquisitors (from the secrecy of their
proceedings) of abusing their authority in defiance of natural and
divine laws, the orders of the Popes and the royal decrees, it will be
impossible not to detest the tribunal as only tending to produce
hypocrisy.
Gaspard de Benavides was an alcalde of the prison of the Inquisition,
and appeared in the _auto-da-fe_ with a flambeau; he was banished for
life from Seville, and lost his place, for _having failed in zeal and
attention in his employment_. Let this qualification and the sentence be
compared with the crime of which he was accused. He purloined part of
the small rations of the prisoners, the food which he gave them was of a
bad quality, and he made them pay for it, as if it was superior; he did
not take care to prepare it properly, it was badly cooked and seasoned;
he deceived them in the price of wood, and made false bills of
expenditure. If any of the prisoners complained, he removed them to a
dark and humid dungeon, where he left them for a fortnight or even
longer, to punish them for murmuring; he did not fail to tell them that
he did this by the order of the inquisitors, and that they were released
at his intercession. When any prisoner demanded an audience, Gaspard
(fearing that they would denounce him) did not inform the inquisitors of
the request, and told the prisoner the next day that the inquisitors
were so much occupied that they could not grant audiences. In short,
there was no sort of injustice which he did not commit, until the moment
when his conduct was discovered by chance.
Maria Gonzalez, a servant of this man, was condemned to receive two
hundred stripes, and to be banished for ten years. Her crime was, having
received money from some prisoners, and having permitted them to see and
converse with each other.
Donna Jane Bohorques was declared innocent. She was the legitimate
daughter of Don Pedro Garcia de Xeres y Bohorques, and the sister of
Donna Maria Bohorques, who perished in a former _auto-da-fe_. She had
married Don Francis de Vargas, lord of the borough of Higuera. She was
taken to the secret prisons when her unfortunate sister declared that
she was acquainted with her opinions, and had not opposed them; as if
silence could prove that she had admitted the doctrine to be true. Jane
Bohorques was six months gone with child; but this did not prevent the
inquisitors from proceeding in her trial, a cruelty which will not
surprise, when it is considered that she was arrested before any proof
of her crime had been obtained. She was delivered in the prison; her
child was taken from her at the end of eight days, in defiance of the
most sacred rights of nature, and she was imprisoned in one of the
common dungeons of the holy office. The inquisitors thought they did all
that humanity required in giving her a less inconvenient cell than the
common prison. It fortunately happened that she had as a companion in
her cell a young girl who was afterwards burnt as a Lutheran, and who
pitying her situation, treated her with the utmost tenderness during her
convalescence. She soon required the same care; she was tortured, and
all her limbs were bruised and almost dislocated. Jane Bohorques
attended her in this dreadful state. Jane Bohorques was not yet quite
recovered, when she was tortured in the same manner. The cords with
which her still feeble limbs were bound penetrated to the bone, and
several blood vessels breaking in her body, torrents of blood flowed
from her mouth. She was taken back to her dungeon in a dying state, and
expired a few days after. The inquisitors thought they expiated this
cruel murder by declaring Jane Bohorques innocent, in the _auto-da-fe_
of this day. Under what an overwhelming responsibility will these
monsters appear before the tribunal of the Almighty!